Photo by Cooper Neill/Getty Images What did you make of the Cowboys rookies last week? The final road game of the 2024 season for the Dallas Cowboys had an end result that was an embarrassing defeat against the Philadelphia Eagles. Injuries played a part but so did poor performances. But how did the rookies do during the Week 17 loss? OT Tyler Guyton Chuma Edoga once again started at left tackle last week. But Tyler Guyton did come in and take over the position and played a total of 32 snaps on offense. The pass blocking by Guyton was actually pretty good. He played 17 passing sets and allowed zero pressures and zero sacks. The run blocking, however, still looked a little clunky and had issues helping pave the way on outside runs for Rico Dowdle. It’s certainly an area for development this season for Guyton after he had the same problem in Week 16. DE Marshawn Kneeland Marshawn Kneeland played 27 snaps on defense in rotation and was largely silent. He had no pressures or sacks, and only managed record one tackle. Kneeland has made one tackle in the last three games. C Cooper Beebe Cooper Beebe played all 62 snaps on offense last week and had to deal with the unrelenting pressure from the interior of the Eagles defensive line. He allowed one pressure but managed to keep clean in terms of sacks. His one weakness was once again in run blocking and struggled with the competition. LB Marist Liufau Marist Liufau played as the starting Will linebacker and was in on 62 total snaps. It was one of Liufau’s quietest games since exploding onto the scene in recent weeks. He managed only one pressure and three tackles but he also whiffed on one tackle attempt making it a subpar game for the young linebacker. CB Caelen Carson Injured reserve WR Ryan Flournoy Ryan Flournoy played 13 snaps on offense and was targeted twice making one reception for three yards. The majority of his work came on special teams. T Nathan Thomas Injured reserve TE Brevyn Spann-Ford Brevyn Spann-Ford played only nine snaps and was in to play as an extra blocker in the run game. Much like the majority of the offense, Ford struggled to be consistent on his limited snaps. He added seven snaps on special teams. S Emany Johnson Inactive LB Brock Mogensen Inactive DT Denzel Daxon Inactive

Kara Durrette/Getty Images Jerry Jones appears to be setting the stage to let things drag out with Mike McCarthy when the season ends. We have known for over a week now, in terms of formalities, that there will be no postseason football for the Dallas Cowboys. Such news has meant that when Sunday’s game against the Washington Commanders is over, the offseason will fully begin and important decisions will have to be made. Chief among the priorities for the Cowboys this coming offseason is an extension for Micah Parsons (getting one done with DaRon Bland might be wise as well), but before the team can get to anything to do with players, they have to figure out the state of their coaching staff. Jerry Jones infamously let Mike McCarthy float in the wind throughout the entire calendar year of 2024, proven by the fact that this post is being published on New Year’s Eve. The Cowboys had an all-time playoff loss at the beginning of 2024 and extending Mike McCarthy after it would have surely been a tough scene, but some could argue that it would have been preferable to the daily drama that has surrounded the subject over this leap year. Daily drama is sort of par for the course around The Star in Frisco and it appears that Jerry Jones is ready to unleash it when the calendar turns to 2025. In his appearance on 105.3 The Fan on Tuesday morning, Jerry noted that he is not under any unusual timeframe relative to Mike McCarthy and any would-be decision. How quickly does Jerry Jones want to decide whether to extend Mike McCarthy or go another direction for 2025 Cowboys coach? “I’m not under any unusual time frame at all,” Jerry tells @1053thefan. — Jori Epstein (@JoriEpstein) December 31, 2024 You would think that a decision has already been made about Mike McCarthy and that Jerry is just saying the proper things until it comes time to unveil it one way or another. Consider that FOX’s Jay Glazer reported recently that McCarthy’s contract runs out a week after the season formally ends so this could go on for some time. That idea may sound familiar to you and if it does it is for a reason. Consider what happened the last time the Cowboys moved on from a head coach in Jason Garrett. The 2019 Cowboys season ended on December 29th, coincidentally also at home against Washington and it was the last time Dallas hosted them in a regular season finale, and a formal decision on Garrett did not come until January 5th. That was a full week later which lines up with the timing reported surrounding when McCarthy’s contract runs out. While it makes some sense to allow time for exit interviews and procedural things, as soon as next week hits is when many teams are going to already be on the hunt for their next head coach. Waiting a week – for the second time in which Dallas would have been looking for a new head coach – seems difficult to justify from a competitive standpoint. That is also par for the course relative to this team. Given how the Cowboys have operated, expect that they will drag this out across all of next week.

Photo by Cooper Neill/Getty Images Just about everything on Sunday was bad for the Cowboys. It never feels good losing to the Eagles, and that never rang more true than this Sunday. Seemingly all the good vibes the Cowboys had been feeling the past month-and-change were vanquished in Philadelphia, thanks to a 41-7 drubbing. There aren’t many good grades to hand out after this one, but that doesn’t stop them from being dealt. Quarterbacks It seems that Cooper Rush’s kryptonite is another green thing: the Eagles. Coming off arguably the best game of his career, Rush put up one of his worst. And if it wasn’t his very worst, it’s only because of his other two games against this franchise. Rush barely completed over half of his passes for 147 yards and had two brutal interceptions, one of which was returned for a touchdown. It wasn’t all bad, though, throwing a touchdown and making a few big third-down throws. Still, this was a stinker of a performance. Grade: D Running backs All things considered, Rico Dowdle continued his hot run. The running back got right back in the 100-yard rushing club following a brief hiatus against the Buccaneers. More importantly, Dowdle crossed the 1,000 yard rush mark with a game to spare, an impressive feat considering the narrative around his position group earlier in the year. Of course, it wasn’t a perfect day for Dowdle: he fumbled on the Cowboys’ lone red zone appearance in the second half. Beyond Dowdle, Ezekiel Elliott took three carries for a total of two yards, reminding everyone why Dowdle is now the lead back. Grade: B- Pass catchers As it turns out, the Cowboys got a steal with CeeDee Lamb’s new contract. Life after Lamb proved to be exceptionally harder, as there were very few big plays to be had in the passing game. Brandin Cooks led the team with four catches for 52 yards. Jalen Tolbert caught a touchdown, and now leads the team in touchdown receptions, and Jalen Brooks had a nice highpoint catch to convert a third down. Jake Ferguson fumbled away one of his three catches on the day. All in all, it was a pretty unimpressive game for this group. Grade: C- Offensive line All things considered, this was a banner day for the offensive line. The Cowboys were effectively in a two-minute drill for the entire second half, and Rush finished the game with just one sack and only three hits. That’s a good day against this Eagles pass rush. Things were equally good in the run game, opening up holes consistently for Dowdle to run through. They also helped KaVontae Turpin bust open for a 12-yard run that may have gone for longer if he didn’t trip on Tolbert’s legs. Grade: B+ Run defense There’s a caveat to be had here: the second half saw the Eagles pretty much exclusively running the ball. In fact, Philadelphia attempted just five passes in the entire second half. Few offenses have run right at this defense like that in the past month, and the Eagles had great success in doing so. Saquon Barkley finished with 167 rushing yards and crossed the 2,000 yard mark for the year. If there’s a bright side, though, it’s that only 40 of those rushing yards came in the first half. Of course, that still means he ran for 127 yards in just one half of football, so the grade for this run defense is not going to be great. Grade: D- Pass rush The pass rush had come alive in recent weeks for the Cowboys, and the Eagles were downgrading at quarterback, especially in terms of mobility, in going from Jalen Hurts to Kenny Pickett. Yet Dallas finished the game without a single sack. They only had one hit on the quarterback, too. Pickett rarely felt pressure, and when he did the quarterback was able to escape with ease. This was a major step back for the pass rush unit. Grade: F Pass coverage Andrew Booth Jr. wasn’t the only defender who gave up passes, but it sure felt like it. Getting the start in place of Amani Oruwariye, who was added to the injured reserve earlier in the week, Booth was targeted early and often in this one. He gave up several big plays and generally looked lost in coverage. It wasn’t all on him, though, as Pickett completed 66.7% of his passes. Shoot, Tanner McKee came in later and hit on three of his four passes, with two of them being touchdowns. Grade: D Special teams There wasn’t anything egregious for the special teams units in this game. Bryan Anger dropped two of his four punts inside the 20. KaVontae Turpin had a pair of solid kick returns, and another big one that was wiped out by a penalty. Brandon Aubrey banged a 61-yard attempt off the goalpost, but kicking such a long try in the cold weather of Philadelphia in late December is no easy feat. The Cowboys were also down 41-7 at that point, so it’s not like it mattered. It’s enough to drop them a letter grade. Grade: B Coaching It’s fair to wonder what exactly the coaching staff was supposed to do in this game. Beating the Buccaneers last week was a bit of a miracle, but the Eagles are a much better team and Philadelphia is a tough place to play in late December. Losing CeeDee Lamb doesn’t make it any easier. Still, though, the offense was moving the ball in the first half and the defense forced consecutive three-and-out punts to start the game. Coaching didn’t make Cooper Rush throw those two interceptions or force Andrew Booth Jr. to transform into a turnstile. Could they have done more? Perhaps, but the Cowboys came into this game wildly overmatched and they played like it. Grade: C

Eric Hartline-Imagn Images All the Dallas Cowboys news that’s fit to print. Does Mike McCarthy want to return to the Cowboys? He said it’s a discussion for next week – Charean Williams, Pro Football Talk The fact that Mike McCarthy’s contract will run out after one more early kickoff against the Commanders is hard to believe, even though it’s been a reality all season. Executive vice president Stephen Jones said on his radio show on 105.3 on Monday it was a discussion for next week, and McCarthy said the same thing later in the day when asked if he wants to stay with the Cowboys. “I need to make sure I’m doing exactly what I’m asking everybody else to do: We need to finish the race,” McCarthy said, via Nick Harris of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. “We’ll have time to talk about that next week.” McCarthy has received support from former players, including Troy Aikman, and current players, including Dak Prescott and Micah Parsons. Prescott endorsed McCarthy again this week. “Thank you,” McCarthy said of the support. “It’s a reflection of what we have here. . . . We do things the right way. I can attest to that. “That’s what the offseason is for. I don’t think this week is the time for those discussions.” Dallas Cowboys insider brings up a great point about Mike Zimmer’s future that everyone has been ignoring – Mauricio Rodriguez, A to Z Sports Will the Cowboys be able to build on some of the progress they’ve made under Mike Zimmer on defense next year? “I think one caveat to remember with the Mike Zimmer discussion though, and I think it really came to a head this week, Mike Zimmer was asked by Ed Werder (ESPN), ‘Are you having fun this year?’ and Zimmer joked ‘Oh yeah, I’m having a blast’ (…) In terms of potentially coming back, Zimmer said ‘We’ll see at the end of the year.” “I don’t think it’s a guarantee that Mike Zimmer is really having a great time being a defensive coordinator in the NFL again,” Hoyt added. Zimmer will be 69 years old when the 2025 NFL season kicks off. It should be noted that he spent 2021 and 2022 as an analyst/consultant to Deion Sanders at the college football level after parting ways with the Minnesota Vikings. If Zimmer truthfully didn’t enjoy his return to the NFL, he could always move on. There’s no contract stopping him from doing so. “It’s been hard, I’m not going to lie about that,” Zimmer candidly said last week. “It’s hard, it’s been hard.” Cowboys big loss against Eagles shouldn’t change perceptions about Mike McCarthy – Jess Haynie, Blogging The Boys What’s one more blowout loss on this 2024 season anyway? The recent 4-1 run seemed to create new believers in McCarthy’s leadership, or at least allowed existing ones to be more vocal. And while Dallas’ enduring fight in a lost season has been admirable, some were too easily forgetting why the Cowboys were 3-7 to begin with. There was a bit of fool’s gold in those four wins, particularly in the form of the Giants and Panthers. The victories over Washington and Tampa Bay certainly weren’t void of virtue, nor was the narrow loss to the Bengals. But Sunday’s trip to Philly was the first time since the last Eagles game in Week 10 that Dallas had to go up against an elite squad, and the disparity showed. As you know, Jalen Hurts didn’t even play. But that didn’t stop the Eagles from embarrassing the Cowboys in a big way. Somehow, it was an even bigger blowout than the first meeting when Rush was getting his first start of 2024 and Hurts was active. That’s how out of sorts Dallas was in Philadelphia, struggling with turnovers, penalties, and a lack of offensive firepower made worse by poor situational decisions. But that’s Mike McCarthy, folks. That’s the guy Packers fans weren’t sorry to see leave in 2018. That’s the coach who’s had his rear handed to him in three straight playoff eliminations. Once an opposing coaching staff has his number, he doesn’t know how to change the equation. Cowboys somehow lead the NFL in this important stat – Mario Herrera Jr., Inside The Star Despite losing a lot of pass rushers in free agency and doing little to replace them, the Cowboys have seen in-house options step up on the defensive line. Pressure on the quarterback is the name of the game, and even though the Cowboys didn’t get to Kenny Pickett, you’d be surprised to hear that the Cowboys lead the NFL in sack rate percentage this season. Mind you, these stats are from before the conclusion of week 17, so they have likely changed. However, you can’t deny the Cowboys leading the NFL with a whopping 9.45% sack percentage over the last three games. That stretch is likely what catapulted them to #1 in the league. How Could They Have Accomplished This? To the casual fan, the Cowboys leading the league in sack percentage while Micah Parsons is on the team is not a remarkable feat. However, to those fans who keep up with the team all year long, and not just when the lights are bright, we know that the Cowboys overcame insurmountable odds. The position most responsible for pressuring the quarterback and generating sacks is the defensive end position. Dallas was hit hard by free agency and the injury bug in that exact position room. Trey Lance, Will Grier are ‘ready’ as Cowboys contemplate roadmap for finale – Patrik Walker, DallasCowboys.com The Cowboys final game at AT&T Stadium for the year may feel more like a preseason exhibition. And as the Dallas Cowboys look to wrap up their tumultuous 2024 season against the Washington Commanders, head coach Mike McCarthy faces the question regarding the status of Trey Lance — i.e., will the former third-overall pick see significant playing time against in the finale? “I really like

Junfu Han / USA TODAY NETWORK Who wins tonight… Detroit or San Francisco? The Detroit Lions play the San Francisco 49ers on Monday Night Football. FanDuel has the Lions as 3.5-point favorites over the 49ers. Final score prediction: Lions 24 – 49ers 13. Check out FanDuel for all of your NFL betting needs. This is an open thread for game chat.

Photo by Mitchell Leff/Getty Images For the first time in well over a decade, the Dallas Cowboys were swept by their fiercest division rival in Philadelphia. Losing 41-7 to the Eagles on Sunday afternoon, the Cowboys allowed the home team to start the celebration for winning the NFC East early despite also playing with a backup quarterback. Any semblance of the Cowboys playing complementary football that made them a feel-good story in recent weeks was nowhere to be found after Dallas fell behind 7-0 despite starting with the ball. In his third career start against the Eagles, Cooper Rush was intercepted for the fourth time on the seventh play of the game. He would finish with multiple interceptions for just the second time in his career, both times against the Eagles on the road. Faced with their first attempt on third down of the game, C.J. Gardner-Johnson may as well have been the intended receiver instead of Brandin Cooks as he caught Rush’s throw and took it back 69 yards for the game’s first touchdown. Gardner-Johnson would have another interception in the second quarter that led to the Eagles scoring on the last play of the first half, more than putting a Jalen Tolbert touchdown behind them and going to the locker room up 24-7. The Eagles have been built all year to get on top of teams and control games with the lead, something they were desperate to get back to after blowing a 14-point lead on the road at the Commanders last week. Philadelphia did so while missing not only starting QB Jalen Hurts, but later in the game backup Kenny Pickett, who got the start but was injured. Third-string Eagles QB Tanner McKee came in for the first time in his NFL career as a 2023 sixth-round draft pick. The Cowboys defense allowed two of his first four ever attempts to go for touchdowns to A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith. It was Smith that broke this game wide open for the Eagles, winning just about every one-on-one matchup against Cowboys reserve cornerback Andrew Booth to average 20 yards a catch on six receptions for 120 yards and two scores. Now locked into the number two seed in the NFC with a statement win to clinch the division for the second time in three years, the Eagles became the latest team to remind the Cowboys who they really are this season. The Cowboys had put on a valiant effort to rewrite their season-long narrative in recent weeks with wins against the Commanders and Giants, a close loss to the Bengals, and wins against the Panthers and Bucs. The problem is, in a conference on the cusp of having a potential 14-win Lions or Vikings team be a road wild card team as the five seed in the playoffs, none of these recent Cowboys results have come against the playoff contenders they swore they’d be themselves in 2024. If it is the Lions that earn the NFC’s top seed, the Cowboys will have lost to the top two conference seeds by a combined score of 88 to 16 this year. Photo by Emilee Chinn/Getty Images There will be very few positives the Cowboys can take from yet another loss where the turnover differential gave them no chance. The fight and leadership they were showing on the field despite being eliminated from the playoff picture two weeks ago was absent, at the same time star receiver CeeDee Lamb was out of the lineup to provide this and more on offense. The defense had a few flashes in the first half following the Cowboys tying the game at seven, but found themselves the victim of yet another opponent that knew how to target their weakest link in the secondary. The Cowboys offense has not had this same ability with Mike McCarthy as play-caller, especially against a Vic Fangio defense that frustrated them for the third time in two seasons. Fangio was with the Dolphins last season for a 22-20 win over the Cowboys, and now was a big part of sweeping two games against Cooper Rush without much push back. This loss also ensures the Cowboys will finish with a losing record for the first time since 2020, McCarthy’s debut season. Dallas will be looking to close the season with their fourth NFC East win by sweeping the Commanders at home. They have not won less than four games against their division, currently sitting on a sweep of the last-place Giants and road win at the Commanders, also since that 2020 Covid season. Setting expectations for McCarthy’s first season under those circumstances was difficult then, but didn’t have to be so difficult here in 2024. It may feel like ancient forgotten history that this Cowboys team was supposed to be a viable NFC contender to keep their core in place. With all that’s left to play for being avoiding another harsh reminder of how much they missed this mark before the offseason, all of the Cowboys failures throughout this season were on full display in front of hostile fans in Philadelphia. For the penultimate time this season, here are a few further notes on the Cowboys 41-7 loss to the Eagles, their worst since week 17 of 2008 to Philadelphia. Photo by Emilee Chinn/Getty Images On both first half possessions that ended in interceptions for the Cowboys offense, they had plays prior to it for first downs to Brandin Cooks. Acting as the team’s top receiver without Lamb, Cooks was able to run sharp routes and come back to the ball for a few easy completions for Rush. Cooks looked explosive in and out of his breaks and was able to sell vertical routes before creating separation to take advantage of a Fangio defense that wants to take away space downfield as their top priority. The fact the Cowboys were not able to find any consistency at all in this area and make this a decent game to evaluate their

Photo by Mitchell Leff/Getty Images Sunday’s beatdown in Philadelphia felt so meaningless and that is a big problem. The Philadelphia Eagles had a party on Sunday afternoon. Wearing their throwback uniforms (I hate them as much as you do, but that is a great look), the Philly faithful saw their team officially take the NFC East title away from the Dallas Cowboys while playing America’s Team and blowing them out 41-7. Philly was able to drop that score despite starting the game with Kenny Pickett, not Jalen Hurts, at quarterback and eventually having to turn to Tanner McKee. The Eagles also saw their prized free agent running back (who they did not even have to break the bank to sign) reach 2,000 yards rushing on the season as Saquon Barkley positioned himself to chase the single-season record in their final game of the season next week. The point in saying all of this is that the game was about as soaking wet in fun and fandom for the Philly side of things which should be a highly annoying thing to us as Cowboys fans; however, this season (and much time before then) has broken us in certain respects so all of this unfolding just felt like random things happening. This leads our day after thoughts from the drubbing. Blowouts in general, but certainly to division rivals, should mean something It goes without saying that 41-7 is not 44-6. And I imagine that it also goes without saying that if you know what I am talking about with the latter that this overall point resonates with you. When the Cowboys got blasted 44-6 in the final game of the cursed 2008 season it ate at all of us. It was a kick in the teeth after getting smashed in the face the week before by the Baltimore Ravens in what was the final game ever played at Texas Stadium. It was insult upon injury. Did Sunday in any way feel like that for you? Sure, maybe you were annoyed on some level. But this Dallas Cowboys season has been so DOA and it was the case well before the regular-season ever began. Sure this sounds hyperbolic, but the overall calendar year of 2024 was among the least enjoyable in following the Cowboys that many of us have experienced in quite some time. It all reached such a low point that getting destroyed while the Eagles were laughing and partying didn’t move the needle one bit. Consider that during this game the aforementioned Tanner McKee threw his first career touchdown and that Eagles wideout A.J. Brown threw the ball into the stands after in celebration. Brown getting the ball back, with the help of the infamous Big Dom, became a bigger storyline during the broadcast and commanded the attention of so many people on the Eagles sideline because it did not need to be on the Cowboys that they were destroying so easily. It should not be this way. Recent efforts are nice, but they cannot be what is remembered most Early in the game on Sunday we saw Jalen Tolbert catch an impressive touchdown. It was nice. Later on in the contest Rico Dowdle hit 1,000 rushing yards on the season. That was objectively great to see. Tolbert and Dowdle have been important soldiers in the final weeks/months of this lost season and have given admirable efforts. The failures of the organization are in no way their fault and shouldn’t associate them with any negative slant or light. Acknowledging that Tolbert, Dowdle and other similar players have nothing to do with this personally or specifically, the Cowboys cannot let themselves fall in love with recent form or play from any coaches or players. The point here is not to say that the front office should completely ignore what has happened since whenever they determine the season was ultimately lost, but they cannot allow themselves to let the emotion of certain things inhibit their decision-making to the point that it further contaminates the future. The Cowboys are at a point where they are so far and away behind teams like the Eagles and would do themselves such a disservice if they do not fully acknowledge and admit this to themselves. It is imperative that they stay calm and reasoned in the final days here. Maybe a Brandon Aubrey 70-yard field goal is never going to happen This is a little tongue-in-cheek, but if you rewind the clock back to August we all believed on some level that Brandon Aubrey was at the very least going to set the NFL record for longest field goal ever recorded in 2024. To be clear, Aubrey tied the record (66 yards) in the preseason against the Las Vegas Raiders. We all remember that. To be even more clear, attempts from that deep downtown are circumstantial and depend on a variety of factors and they just were not in the cards this season for the team. Brandon Aubrey is one of the best things that the Cowboys have going for them these days and the focus in no way should be splitting the uprights from 70 or even 66-67 yards out at any point in time. But it sure would be cool to see!

Photo by Cooper Neill/Getty Images Things were close… until they weren’t The Dallas Cowboys finally got back to looking like they have most of the year, getting blown out by the Philadelphia Eagles 41-7. It’s easy to forget now, but things were actually pretty close in this one early on. But a deluge of plays in the second quarter that all broke Philadelphia’s way opened things up. These five plays were especially devastating for the Cowboys. Missed pass interference penalty sets up pick-six The Cowboys got the ball to start and the offense did a surprisingly good job of moving the ball down the field. Before long, they had reached the Philadelphia 35-yard line and had second and short. Cooper Rush opted for a deep shot to Brandin Cooks, who was closely covered by Darius Slay and couldn’t bring it in. When the replay came up, though, it was revealed why: Slay had a fistful of Cooks’ jersey, but no flag was thrown. That set up third down, and Rush was picked off by C.J. Gardner-Johnson, who returned it 69 yards for a touchdown. However, if the pass interference flag had been thrown, the Cowboys would’ve been looking at first and goal and the pick-six never happens. Deep shot to Jonathan Mingo doesn’t connect The Cowboys, namely Rush, managed to bounce back from the pick six. Rush hit Jalen Tolbert for a touchdown and the defense forced back-to-back three-and-out punts. Two big plays from Rush helped overcome a first down holding penalty and set up third and one. Rush dropped back and saw that Jonathan Mingo had beaten his man on a go route down the sideline. Rush launched the ball, but it fell incomplete. Mingo was looking for it to be laid out in front of him, while Rush threw more of a back shoulder fade. The miscommunication between backup quarterback and backup receiver (who, remember, joined the team in November) led to a fourth-down situation. With the ball on the Dallas 41, it was a bit of a toss-up over whether or not to go for it, but the Cowboys opted to punt. Had Mingo caught the ball, though, it may very well have been a touchdown. Grant Calcaterra makes ridiculous bobbling catch on third down That incompletion to Mingo can easily be seen as the point where things fell apart for the Cowboys. At the time, they were tied 7-7 and the Dallas defense had yet to give up a first down. They did on the ensuing drive, but they still put the Eagles into a tough third-and-long at their own 46. Zimmer dialed up a pressure, which has been so lethal in recent weeks for the Cowboys, but Kenny Pickett managed to evade the rush and roll out of the pocket. With a defender bearing down on him, Pickett threw to Grant Calcaterra, who made a bobbling catch through tight coverage from Israel Mukuamu. Grant Calcaterra with the sick one-handed grab! : #DALvsPHI on FOX : https://t.co/waVpO8ZBqG pic.twitter.com/DeoEIyFkQZ — NFL (@NFL) December 29, 2024 The big play picked up 34 yards, extending the drive and flipping the field in the process. Had the Cowboys managed to get a stop here, the Eagles would have punted for the third time in as many drives. Instead, they scored a touchdown three plays later. Jake Ferguson’s costly fumble The touchdown gave the Eagles the lead again, but they were only up 14-7 and the Cowboys offense had been getting some opportunities against a very stout defense. All they needed to do was capitalize on them. That didn’t happen. In fact, the exact opposite happened. On the very first play, Rush hit Jake Ferguson on a play-action bootleg play, and Ferguson let the ball pop out. An Eagles defender managed to snatch it away underneath the pile, too. It marked just the second time in Ferguson’s career that he’s lost a fumble, and it couldn’t have come at a worse time. Philadelphia took over right on the cusp of field goal range, and they ultimately settled for three points. Still, though, it extended the game from a one-score deficit to a two-score deficit, all because of Ferguson’s fumble. Cooper Rush throws awful interception The Cowboys got the ball back, down 17-7, with just under two minutes left in the first half. With the Eagles getting the ball to start the third quarter, Dallas desperately needed points before the break if they wanted to preserve any chance of coming back. After a few plays and a first down, the Cowboys had third-and-six at their own 42-yard line. Rush stepped up and launched a deep shot supposedly for Brandin Cooks that flew far past his receiver and into the arms of Gardner-Johnson for another pick. Gardner-Johnson then returned it for an additional 25 yards, setting the ball up at the Philadelphia 35 with 36 seconds and two Eagles timeouts left. Even if Rush intended this to be an arm punt, the return negated any of that benefit. The Eagles then managed to score a touchdown on the final play of the second quarter, going up 24-7 and sucking any remaining life force out of this team.