Clarence Hill’s 5 Things from Dallas Cowboys’ 26-17 loss to Philadelphia Eagles
Cooper Rush’s golden run at quarterback for the Dallas Cowboys finally crapped out in a 26-17 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles in what was a showdown for first place in the NFC East.
Rush had won five straight starts as Cowboys quarterback, including a 4-0 mark in 2022 in place of the injured Dak Prescott largely because he played mistake-free football.
But he was undone Sunday night by three interceptions, two in the second quarter that sparked the Eagles to a 20-0 lead and one in the fourth that killed any comeback hopes by the Cowboys (4-2).
There was simply no recovering for the Cowboys against a still undefeated Eagles team at 6-0 looking to make a statement against their NFC East rivals.
The Cowboys had won seven of the last nine and three straight in the series before Sunday’s game.
Rush gets credit for rallying the Cowboys from a 20-3 halftime deficit to 20-17 in the fourth quarter.
But the Cowboys defense, which has led the way all season, couldn’t stop the Eagles offense when called upon.
Quarterback Jalen Hurts to direct a 13-play, 75-yard drive, capped by a 7-yard touchdown pass to Devonta Smith.
Rush tossed his final interception to safety Chauncey Gardner-Johnson on an errant toss to receiver CeeDee Lamb.
The Cowboys (4-2) should have Prescott back at quarterback against the Detroit Lions (1-4) next Sunday at AT&T Stadium.
Coach Mike McCarthy said the turnovers and penalties killed the Cowboys but he liked the fight they showed and believes it’s something they can build on for the rest of the season.
“I think there is always value when someone cracks you in the jaw and you fight back and have a chance to win the game. Absolutely,” McCarthy said. “And frankly you can’t get to where we want to go without going through it. What I liked about the sideline is there was great confidence at half time. There was a lot of confidence obviously in the third quarter as we felt like we were flipping the game.
“We feel that games that go into the end of game sequences just because of our commitment and the comfort and the confidence our guys have we felt like that’s been a strength and it has been to this point. Our fourth quarter wasn’t what it needed to be.”
That the Cowboys finished 4-2 in the toughest stretch of the season — including wins of both Super Bowl participants of a year ago in the Los Angeles Rams and Cincinnati Bengals as well as a win against the 5-1 New York Giants to go long the valiant effort on the road against the undefeated Eagles — with Prescott missing five games is a boost in itself.
Clarence Hill’s 5 Things from the Dallas Cowboys 26-17 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles:
Cooper Rush’s luck runs out
You knew this day was coming for Cooper Rush.
Making mistakes and adversity are part of football.
After seemingly being able to do no wrong in leading the Cowboys to four straight wins in place of the injured Dak Prescott following a season opening loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, disaster struck early and often for Rush against the Eagles.
His accuracy was the worst it’s ever been and he was burned by two second-quarter interceptions that helped spark the Eagles to a 20-3 halftime lead.
Rush was 5 of 16 for 36 yards with a quarterback rating of 1.0 in the first half.
“I think [they] were obviously the deciding factor,” Rush said of his interceptions. The first one was a bang-bang play. Ball bounces up in the air and you’re like ‘Oh, crap.’ The next ones, can’t do it right. But I think that was the difference in the game because I think we moved the ball when we were on schedule. But we gave them two or three short fields versus a very good offense that they’ve got. Our defense did a great job holding them to three points a couple of times. But can’t have those, right?”
But the thing the Cowboys like about Rush as a backup quarterback is his calm demeanor.
And he showed as much in the second half by leading the Cowboys on touchdowns drives of 79 and 93 yards in the second half.
His 7-yard strike to tight end Jake Ferguson make the score 20-17 early in the fourth quarter, making the crowd at Lincoln Financial go quiet.
After the Eagles responded with a touchdown drive to make the score 26-17, Rush was errant on a pass to CeeDee Lamb and was intercepted for a third time.
“I obviously didn’t get enough on it,” Rush said. “Kind of got hit there. I obviously want that one back. It was a big one.”
It ended any real comeback hopes for the Cowboys.
Rush ended 18-of-38 passing for 181 yards and one touchdown and the three picks, with a rating of 37.3.
The best number if that Rush was 4-1 as a starter with Prescott expected back next week.
Bad decision-making from Mike McCarthy
The decision-making of coach Mike McCarthy has been a boost for the Cowboys through the four-game winning streak with fourth down gambles to give his team confidence.
His luck ran out against the Eagles.
Down 14-0 in the second quarter, McCarthy did not challenge a pass to CeeDee Lamb that was ruled short of the line to gain, even though he appeared to get it in real time and on replay.
A NBC replay analyst said the play would have been overturned on replay.
“You know the communication was originally first-down,” McCarthy said. “And then we went turbo on the ball for a quick play. And then the communication when they pulled it back fourth-down, [Down Judge] Robin [Delorenzo] on the sideline told me she had the knee down before he extended. So my history has been when the official tells you that, it’s usually pretty clear. My experience has been when I’m communicated with by the official, I’m usually discouraged from challenging that play.
The Cowboys didn’t challenge and chose to rush to the line and go for it on fourth-and-1 from their own 34.
A pass by Cooper Rush fell incomplete.
The Eagles turned it into a 51-yard field goal and a 17-0 lead.
“We were in turbo because of the other side of the fence,” McCarthy said. “We were in turbo because if we didn’t get the first-down because of the spot. We had plenty of time to make the next decision. There was no replay in that sequence and there wouldn’t have been in the 40 seconds, let’s be honest there. Then when we had plenty of time to see their defense, which we were expecting man and they were in man, so that’s actually why I stayed with the call that I did. Obviously it didn’t work out and put our defense in terrible field position.”
Defense was strong at times, hurt by mistakes
The three interceptions by Cooper Rush were a huge difference in the game.
But the Cowboys defense was not without blame.
The Eagles’ first touchdown of the game can be directly blamed on a mental mistake by defensive end Dante Fowler.
On fourth-and-4 from the Dallas 10, the Eagles went to the line of scrimmage with no intention of running a play. The were waiting for the clock to run out on first quarter and hoping a Cowboys player would jump off sides.
Fowler jumped into the neutral zone, giving the Eagles a first down. Miles Sanders scored on the next play, giving the Eagles a 7-0 lead. A Rush interception set up the Eagles’ second touchdown, a 15-yard pass from Jalen Hurts to A.J. Brown.
But after the Cowboys offense got the team back in the game, making it 20-17 early in the fourth quarter, the defense couldn’t get a stop.
The Eagles drove 75 yards on 13 plays, capped by a 7-yard touchdown pass from Hurts to Devonta Smith.
The Cowboys proved to be their own worst enemy as the were penalized 10 times for 72 yards in the game, including unsportsmanlike conduct penalties on linebacker Micah Parsons and cornerback Trevon Diggs.
“They [the defense] have been big for us all year,” McCarthy said. “This is the most productive football team we’ve played to date. We knew it was going to be a challenge and we just have to take a hard look at some of the things. The biggest thing we have to be much better at is we have to eliminate the discipline penalties. We had way too many discipline penalties throughout the whole game, especially in the fourth quarter.”
The Eagles rushed for 136 yards on 39 carries and Hurts passed for just 155 yards.
The Cowboys also registered four sacks and now have 24 on the season.
Said defensive end DeMarcus Lawrence: “What I saw was us beating ourselves.”
Elliott and Pollard help spark comeback
There needs to be no more discussion about how the Cowboys use running backs Ezekiel Elliott and Tony Pollard.
Both continue to be the important to what the Cowboys do on offense and it doesn’t matter who goes out first and who gets the most touches.
The Cowboys’ ability to turn a perceived blowout into a ballgame was founded on their continued reliance on the run game, despite a 20-3 halftime deficit.
Elliott and Pollard combined for nine carries for 37 yards in the first half. But they made their presence felt in the second half.
It was was Pollard who got the bulk of the load early, pounding for 2, 8, 3 and 5 yards on their opening drive of the third quarter. Elliott came in and a run for 6 and then 14 for the score.
The Cowboys had 79 yards offense on that drive after getting just 81 total in the first half.
Elliott rushed for 81 yards on 13 carries in the game. Pollard added 11 carries for 44 yards.
Turpin finally provides spark
If you are looking for a bright spot then consider kick returner KaVontae Turpin, who gave the Cowboys some life at the end of the second quarter with a 62-yard kickoff return.
It set up a 30-yard field goal before the end of the half, allowing the Cowboys to take some momentum into halftime after being down 20-0.
Turpin also had a big punt return in the third quarter but it was called back because of a questionable holding call on cornerback Kelvin Joseph.
The kickoff return was the longest of the season for Turpin and it another example of the game-changing threat he provides on for the Cowboys.
This story was originally published October 16, 2022 at 10:34 PM.
