Andy Dalton leads Dallas Cowboys’ offensive resurgence in must-win against Eagles
Andy Dalton played his best game of the season and the Dallas Cowboys offense played with a spark not seen in months in Sunday’s 37-17 win over the Philadelphia Eagles at AT&T Stadium.
Dalton threw for a season-high 377 yards and three touchdowns while completing 22 of 30 passes. The Cowboys’ 514 total yards are their most since they had 566 in Week 4 against the Browns when Dak Prescott was still healthy.
The Cowboys (6-9) have won three consecutive games and kept their playoff hopes alive while eliminating the Eagles (4-10-1). The Washington Football Team (6-9) lost to Carolina on Sunday. If Washington loses to Philadelphia next week and the Cowboys beat the Giants, the Cowboys would win the NFC East with a 7-9 record.
Dalton had his most passing yards since he threw for 396 for the Bengals on Dec. 22, 2019, and the fifth most passing yards in his career.
It’s the 26th time Dalton has thrown for at least three touchdowns and second this season. He also threw three touchdown passes in a win against the Vikings last month.
Dalton had three passes for at least 50 yards, including a 52-yard scoring pass to CeeDee Lamb in the first half.
“I thought Andy did an excellent job,” Cowboys coach Mike McCarthy said. “We wanted to get the ball outside and take advantage of some of the matchups that were favorable to us.”
And they did that, especially in the first half.
Michael Gallup and Amari Cooper both had over a 100 yards receiving. Lamb added 65 receiving yards on three catches. He also scored on a 19-yard run in the final two minutes to ice the win for the Cowboys.
The diversity of the offensive attack has been the goal, Gallup said, and it felt good to see it show up against the Eagles.
“Loads of fun. Everyone was eating. It was a fun game and we needed it,” said Gallup, who had 121 yards on six catches. “That’s how it’s really supposed to go. The defense doesn’t know who to double up or put their best corner on. It really doesn’t matter.”
Cooper said a mutual appreciation between himself, Gallup and Lamb has helped them work well together on the field.
“I absolutely love being in the same room with Michael and CeeDee,” said Cooper, who had 121 yards on six catches. “We all have potential to go out there and dominate the game and it feels good when we do it all in the same game.”
Ezekiel Elliott rushed for 105 yards on 21 carries, including crucial big gains in the fourth quarter with Dallas holding a two-score lead and trying to milk the clock in the fourth quarter. His longest run of the game — 31 yards — came on the Cowboys’ final scoring drive to clinch the win. It was the first time he felt healthy in the past couple of weeks, Elliott said.
Dalton’s confidence has proven to be an important factor during the three-game win streak, Elliott said.
“He goes out there and leads us and gets us in the right spots,” Elliott said of Dalton. “He’s a great leader and definitely been a big reason we’ve been able to win these past three games. We know what we have in front of us and we’re just focused on handling what we need to handle.”
This story was originally published December 27, 2020 at 6:43 PM.
