Clarence Hill’s 5 Things from the Dallas Cowboys 40-34 win vs. Philadelphia Eagles
With Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts out with a sprained right shoulder and the Dallas Cowboys coming off a loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars, the Christmas Eve battle lost a little luster.
But while it wasn’t the game everyone expected, it proved to be an enjoyable present for Cowboys fans at AT&T Stadium while possbily turning many Dak Prescott critics into respectful pundits.
Prescott, the much-maligned $40 million quarterback, rallied the Cowboys from deficits of 10-0, 20-17 at halftime, 27-17 in third quarter and 34-27 in the fourth quarter for a thrilling 40-34 victory.
The Cowboys tied the game on a 7-yard pass from Prescott to CeeDee Lamb with 5:49 left, then the defense forced two of their four turnovers in the game, which set up two field goals by Brett Maher for the game’s final points.
“His performance said everything,” owner Jerry Jones said. “It says why you don’t ever count him out in any way. He responded of course and led our team and personally made plays that are everything that I hope to have. We don’t get that done tonight without Dak. We do not get it done without Dak.”
The Cowboys (11-4) got their 11th win for the second straight season under Mike McCarthy and are now within two games of the Eagles (13-2) in NFC East standings as well as the race for the No. 1 seed in the playoffs with two games left in the season.
The Cowboys play at the Tennessee Titans on Thursday and then finish the season at the Washington Commanders. The Eagles play at the New Orleans Saints next Sunday before the closing out with the New York Giants.
“I think it’s clear what’s in front of us and what we play Thursday,” coach Mike McCarthy said. “Philadelphia plays over the weekend, so we need to get healthy and players really should be with their families on Christmas Day and we need to go win in Nashville.”
One week after tossing a pick-6 in the overtime loss to the Jaguars, Prescott was clearly the star on Christmas Eve.
He completed 27 of 35 passes for 347 yards with 3 touchdowns and one interception.
“I must tell you with two games to go and look at this,” Jones said. “I’m gonna allow myself some visions and dreams (of a division title).”
Clarence Hill’s 5 Things from Dallas Cowboys 40-34 win vs. Philadelphia Eagles
Dak Prescott throws another then what happened
Cowboys QB Dak Prescott certainly knows how to feed the trolls, critics and opposing teams.
Prescott has thrown more interceptions than any quarterback in the league since he returned nine games ago and he ended last Sunday’s loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars with walk off pick six in overtime.
So what did he do the first time the Cowboys got the ball against Eagles?
A low pass directed to tight end Dalton Schultz was picked off by defensive end Josh Sweat and returned 42 yards to the end zone and a 10-0 for the Eagles.
Prescott tied a personal record with interceptions in five straight games. It was the first time he has done that in a season. He has eight picks in his last five games.
Prescott responded from adversity with a flourish. He led the Cowboys to a touchdown on the ensuing drive and did not have pass hit the ground in the first half until an end zone fade to Michael Gallup fell incomplete with 1:55 left and the Cowboys had to settle for a field goal.
Prescott completed 16 of 18 passes for 168 yards with a touchdown and an interception the first half to bring the Cowboys back from a 10-10 deficit to 17-17 before trailing 20-17 at halftime.
Prescott continued to rally the Cowboys in the second half with his legs and his feet.
He tossed a 12-yard touchdown pass to Michael Gallup in the third quarter and a 7-yard score to CeeDee Lamb in the fourth.
Prescott also had six carries for 41 yards.
But the play of the game came before the Lamb score.
On third-and-30 after back-to-back sacks, Prescott hit T.Y. Hilton for a 52-yard completion to set up the Lamb game-tying touchdown.
It was Prescott’s 19th game-winning drive and his 12th fourth-quarter comeback.
Prescott said he had those here we got again thoughts after the initial interception. But he refused to blink.
“Obviously throw interception put the team down 10-0 to start the game off and just understand I can’t change that,” Prescott said. “Thinking about that won’t change that. Now just gotta move forward, one play at a time and be my best.”
No questioning CeeDee Lamb’s status as a No.1 receiver
Say what you will about the Cowboys need at receiver and plenty has been said with good reason.
CeeDee Lamb has certainly proven himself worthy of the legacy No. 88 jersey and worthy of his status as a bonafide No. 1 receiver.
Lamb, who already was named to his second straight Pro Bowl, had eight catches for 103 yards and a touchdown, all in the first half.
It was the first game of his of his career with 100 yards in the first half and he was a cheat code early against the Eagles.
Lamb finished with 10 catches for 120 yards and two touchdowns.
T.Y. Hilton made his debut at receiver. He drew an illegal contact penalty and made his presence felt with 52-yard catch on the 3rd and 30 in the fourth quarter, setting up Lamb’s second touchdown.
“A guy that’s made a lot of big time catches in his career,” Prescott said of the 33-year old Hilton, who signed with the Cowboys two weeks ago. ”He has had a long career and has been very very successful. And I mean fourth down I went to him and he drew a holding call earlier in the game. And that 3rd-and-30, he got even when he was I was releasing it, I knew to put some air under it. I knew he’d go make a play. So 3rd and 30, find T. Y.”
Michael Gallup caught four passes for 36 yards, including a 12-yard touchdown pass in the third quarter. But he couldn’t come up with a touchdown pass in the second-quarter on a fade route in the end zone. He also had a third-down drop in the third quarter.
Noah Brown, who had the dropped pass that led to the game-losing pick-6 touchdown last week against the Jaguars, had one catch in the game.
Cowboys defense a huge concern
Earlier this season when the Cowboys were considered a legitimate Super Bowl contender, it was based strongly on the team’s stout defense.
The Cowboys defense has been in steady decline over the last few weeks. And one week after giving up 318 yards passing and four touchdowns and 192 yards rushing to the Jacksonville Jaguars, the Cowboys had another bad defensive day.
The Cowboys defense offered little resistance against the Philadelphia Eagles and backup quarterback Gardner Minshew. The Eagles gashed the Cowboys on the ground and Minshew routinely made plays via the pass.
And the Cowboys vaunted pass rush was non existent for much of the game.
Safety Jayron Kearse had an interception and fumble recovery to show the defense had a pulse. But the Eagles converted blank of blank third downs and seemed to have answer every time the Cowboys scored.
Minshed completed 24 of 40 passes for 355 yards and the Eagles rushed for 87 yards in the game.
The Cowboys won the game because two late turnovers in the fourth quarter but the play of the defense is a huge concern.
DeRon Bland comes up big again
Cowboys rookie cornerback Deron Bland simply makes plays.
Bland leads the team with five interceptions, including four in four straight games.
None was bigger than the one in the fourth quarter against the Eagles when he took the ball away from receiver Quez Watkins on third down.
Instead of the Eagles driving for a score, Bland set the Cowboys up for 48-yard field goal to take the lead.
Bland started the game at left cornerback for the benched Kelvin Joseph but shifted to slot corner with Nahshon Wright handling much of the duties on the outside.
It was the third turnover of the game for the Cowboys defense.
Will there be Round 3 between the two teams?
Barring a miracle, the Cowboys are locked into the fifth seed in the playoffs. That means they will go to division winner with the worst record for the wild card round, likely the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
It also means if the seeds hold and the Cowboys can beat Brady for the first time ever, they could travel to the Philadelphia Eagles for the divisional playoffs and a chance to reach the NFC title game.
Of course, that would take a lot for this Cowboys team.
But who wouldn’t want to see a Round 3 in this NFC East rivalry with both team’s fully healthy and their quarterbacks intact.
Eagles star Jalen Hurts didn’t on Sunday and Dak Prescott didn’t play in the first meeting.
“Very confident. Yeah, I mean, obviously being the third time,” Prescott said. “Splitting one and one, very confident. We’ve talked about it throughout the week that we’ve got to come out here obviously and put our best foot forward and represent who we are. But at the same time understand that this might be the first of two times here late in the year that we’re gonna have to play these guys.”
This story was originally published December 24, 2022 at 6:49 PM.
