The Dallas Cowboys may have been the biggest underdog of any NFL team in Week 1, but it didn’t seem to bother them. They played physical football and were going toe-to-toe with the reigning Super Bowl champions all night, even after an hour long rain delay.
In the end, though, Dallas fell just short of shocking the world. It was a close, hard-fought game that was ultimately decided by a handful of key plays. These five, in particular, loom large when thinking back on the game.
Missed hold on Jalen Hurts’ scramble leads to touchdown
Early on, this game was an offensive bonanza, with each team marching down the field and scoring points at will. It felt like the first team to get a stop on defense may win by default, but neither defense seemed ready to do that.
On the Eagles’ second possession, though, there was a moment that stands out still. Dallas led 14-7 and the Eagles were driving. A gain of one yard set up a second and long, and the Cowboys secondary took everything away for Jalen Hurts. The quarterback then scrambled for a first down, but the Dallas sideline was beside themselves over a perceived missed call for holding.
Donovan Ezeiruaku looked to have Jordan Mailata beat before being completely wrapped up. A holding call there would have resulted in a second and 19, and put the Eagles just outside of Dallas territory, giving the defense a real shot at getting the first stop of the game. Instead, first down Philadelphia, and a touchdown four plays later.
Deep shot to Jahan Dotson flips field
Following that touchdown, the Cowboys went back down the field again, but were ultimately forced to settle for a field goal. Still, they were up 17-14, and a muffed kick return from the Eagles started them off in poor field position with just over two minutes until halftime. Two quick plays brought up a third and six for the Eagles, with Dallas needing just one stop to really take control of the game.
They got the exact opposite of that. Hurts launched a deep shot to Jahan Dotson on a post route. Kaiir Elam was in Dotson’s hip pocket, but Hurts put the ball in the perfect spot, where only Dotson could get it.
Just like that, the Eagles had flipped the field and were in prime scoring range. Just a few plays later, Saquon Barkley ran it in for a touchdown to put Philadelphia up. One perfectly thrown deep shot is all it took for the Eagles to go from punting down three to taking a lead into halftime.
Miles Sanders’ poorly timed fumble
Everyone knew this was going to be on here. Miles Sanders helped put the Cowboys in great position to score and take the lead after a 49-yard run on the Cowboys’ first drive of the third quarter. Unfortunately, he also killed that drive a few plays later.
After a series of penalties that backed the offense up, and then moved them forward, Sanders got the carry on first down from the 11-yard line, and immediately fumbled the ball.
Were it not for a heroic tackle from Dak Prescott, the Eagles would have surely returned this for a touchdown. Even with that crisis averted, the Cowboys were robbed of sure points, and they never got that close to the endzone for the rest of the night.
CeeDee Lamb screen gets blown up
While much of the focus of this game will be the fumble and CeeDee Lamb’s dropped passes, there were other moments that played a part in the game, too. One play involving Lamb turned out to be pretty huge. The Cowboys had just reached Philadelphia territory, thanks to a Javonte Williams run, in the final seconds of the third quarter.
Playing with tempo, Dallas ran one more play before the quarter ended. It involved a screen to Lamb out on the side, with some window dressing to draw the defense’s attention the other way. However, a couple Eagles defenders sniffed it out, and Lamb ended up being tackled for a loss of three.
That set up third and 10 to start the fourth quarter, which unsurprisingly brought up a punt. If the screen had worked, though, Lamb would have easily moved the chains and may have even been able to score. Instead, it killed yet another second half drive for the Cowboys.
CeeDee Lamb’s two huge drops
Obviously we can’t talk about this game without talking about those drops from Lamb. In total, he was credited with four drops, but the last two were easily the biggest, as both came on the Cowboys’ final offensive possession. The first was a deep shot that would have completely flipped the field, similar to the Dotson throw, but the ball went right through Lamb’s hands.
The second was a harder catch, but still one that Lamb needs to make. Going for it on fourth down, Lamb had a step on his man and Prescott led him out in front, but the receiver couldn’t haul it in. Lamb took full responsibility for it after the game, too.
Either one of those catches could have easily popped up on this list as a reason why the Cowboys won, had Lamb been able to come down with the ball, but instead we’re talking about the reverse of that. It’s hard to stomach your best receiver – who’s also one of the best in the league – disappearing in crunch time, but Lamb was unfortunately a big part of the Cowboys’ season opening loss.
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