The Dallas Cowboys did it! We didn’t think they could do it, but they did it! In a game that went from excruciatingly painful to unbelievably exciting, the Cowboys pulled off the unthinkable, beating the Philadelphia Eagles 24-21. It was a crazy game that looked hopeless at first, but to the surprise of many, the resilience of the Cowboys went to a whole new level. Brian Schottenheimer came away with his biggest win to date and kept the Cowboys’ playoff hopes alive. Here are ten thoughts on the wild Cowboys comeback.
1. What a horrible start
One couldn’t have scripted a worse start if they tried. The Cowboys’ offense got the ball to start the game, moved the ball to the 50-yard line, and then turned the ball over on downs. On their next possession, the offense went three-and-out. And then on their third possession, they appeared to be moving the ball, but coughed the ball up when KaVontae Turpin tripped and ran into the legs of his offensive lineman. In each of those instances, the Eagles took the ball and drove down the field and scored a touchdown. Just like that, it was 21-0. And if that wasn’t enough, the Cowboys’ offense took the ensuing drive all the way down to the one-yard line before Dak Prescott was picked off in the end zone. What was this mess we were watching? Football is stupid!
2. The no challenge
On the Eagles’ second possession of the game, it looked like they were going to go three-and-out after the Cowboys’ defense made the stop, but unfortunately, the Eagles got a fresh set of downs after the Cowboys were called for roughing the kicker. Ryan Flournoy pleaded to anyone who would listen on the sideline that he had gotten a piece of the ball, which would have negated a penalty, but the coaches wouldn’t listen. They didn’t throw the challenge flag, nor did they call a timeout to give them a better chance to look at it. When the game came back from commercial, the broadcast team showed a slo-mo replay clearly showing that Flournoy was telling the truth. The Cowboys botched a chance to retain possession of the ball by not challenging the play.
3. A comedy of errors
Things went so bad in the first half that it almost drove us to hysteria. And each time you thought it couldn’t get any worse, it did. Let’s recap…
- Turnover on downs on the opening drive
- Roughing the kicker penalty, no challenge, new set of downs
- Lining up offsides, another chance to convert (and they did)
- Turpin trips and fumbles the ball
- 1st-and-goal at the one-yard line, false start, Dak intercepted in the end zone, no points
All of this led to 21 points for the Eagles and no points for the Cowboys.
4. Defense came through
It’s so weird to say this, but the Cowboys’ defense was the hero in this game. After falling behind 21-0, it looked all but over for the Cowboys, but as the game progressed, more and more life crept back in thanks to the defense. After allowing three touchdowns on their first three possessions of the game, the defense hunkered down and didn’t allow any more points. In the process, they forced the Eagles to punt four times, forced two fumbles, and kept Philly from getting too deep into Cowboys’ territory, resulting in a Jake Elliott field goal attempt to go wide right. With 11:32 left in the second quarter, the Eagles wouldn’t score again, and it paved the way for the Cowboys to do the impossible.
5. 24 unanswered
It took them a while, but the Cowboys’ offense finally decided to show up to the party. The team got their first points with 21 seconds left in the first half after putting together a nice six-play, 72-yard touchdown drive, capped off with a one-yard reception by George Pickens. The offense failed to score on their next two possessions, but made up for it by scoring touchdowns on their next two subsequent possessions. Both drives were assisted with big 40+ pass plays, first to CeeDee Lamb, then to Pickens. Add on the Brandon Aubrey game-winning field goal, and that’s 24 unanswered points by the Cowboys.
6. The Cowboys can stop the run
The Cowboys’ incredible defensive stand was made possible by forcing the Eagles’ offense to become one-dimensional. The Eagles had no success running the ball as the Cowboys’ defense held Saquon Barkley to just 22 yards on 10 carries (2.2 ypc). This is Barkley’s lowest rushing total as a member of the Eagles. This comes a week after the Cowboys held rookie Ashton Jeanty to his career low of seven yards. Call it Quinnencidence, but suddenly this Cowboys’ defense can stop the run.
The Cowboys had a terrible start to the game. They turned the ball over twice, missed a field goal, and fell behind 21-0. Weirdly enough, the Eagles endured the same misfortunes in the second half. They turned the ball over twice, missed a field goal, and allowed the Cowboys to go on a 21-0 run of their own. It was essentially a tale of two halves as all the zany misfortunes that fell upon the Cowboys early in the game abruptly changed and made their way to Philly.
8. Another red zone let down
While the Cowboys managed to finish the fight and complete this crazy comeback, there was a moment late in the game when they made us second-guess their intentions. The momentum of the game took a huge turn after Alijah Clark and Markquese Bell popped Eagles’ punt returner Xavier Gipson, causing the ball to come loose and land in the arms of longsnapper Trent Sieg. Just like that, the Cowboys had the ball 1st-and-goal at the eight-yard line with 5:09 remaining in the game. They were in a prime position to take control of the game, especially after Javonte Williams rushed for six yards, creating second-and-goal at the two. Unfortunately, the offense couldn’t punch it in, despite going for it on fourth down. Brian Schottenheimer opted to not take the points and go for the jugular, and after failing to convert, it looked as if that decision would have dire consequences.
9. Aubrey’s redemption
It’s not often that Aubrey misses a field goal, and the way things were going early, it only seemed fitting for this to be the game to do it. Why not? Everything else seemed to be going wrong. Fortunately, Aubrey got a chance to redeem himself with the game-winning 42-yard field goal. Props to Aubrey for being so awesome, but also props to Pickens for his 24-yard reception across the middle that put the Cowboys in a much better position to knock down the field goal.
10. We have a new leader
The Eagles’ defense has been outstanding this season. And Dak Prescott has been outstanding against the Eagles defense at AT&T Stadium throughout his career. That meant something had to change. Prescott held serve, throwing for 354 yards and two touchdowns, while rushing for another. It was the most passing yards the Eagles have allowed this season, and the first time an opposing team has had over 400 yards of offense against them (the Cowboys had 473 on Sunday). Prescott also became the Cowboys’ new all-time leader in passer yards with 34,378 yards, surpassing Tony Romo (34,183). Congrats, Dak!
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