NFC East Round-Up: Cowboys Punch Eagles in Mouth

Things are suddenly getting interesting in the NFC East

Are the Philadelphia Eagles still the Beast of the East? 

Not if the Dallas Cowboys have anything to say about it. Dallas continued its home dominance over the Eagles on Sunday Night Football, handing Philadelphia a 33-13 spanking. The two teams now hold an identical 10-3 record, but because the Cowboys have the tiebreaker, they have moved ahead of the Eagles for first place in the division.

Meanwhile, the Giants returned from their Week 13 bye to host the Green Bay Packers. With a loss, the Giants will have an identical 4-9 record as the Washington Commanders, who are on their bye week. However, because the Giants swept the Commanders this season, New York would remain ahead of them in the standing.

A Giants win, however, improves the Giants to 5-8 and would put them one game out of the last postseason spot.

Dec 10, 2023; Arlington, Texas, USA; Philadelphia Eagles wide receiver DeVonta Smith (6) fumbles the ball after being hit by Dallas Cowboys safety Markquese Bell (14) in the fourth quarter at AT&T Stadium / Tim Heitman-USA TODAY Sports

Cowboys 33, Eagles 13

In a huge division matchup on Sunday Night Football, the Dallas Cowboys defended their home field in a convincing 33-13 win over the Philadelphia Eagles. With the win, the Cowboys and Eagles are tied for first in the NFC East and share the best record in the NFL (alongside the Baltimore Ravens) at 10-3.

Dallas won their 15th straight game at AT&T Stadium in convincing fashion, scoring on their opening drive and building a 24-6 lead at halftime. The offense totaled 394 yards and held the ball for 36:36, while the defense recovered three Eagles fumbles.

Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott was excellent once again, as he completed 24 of 39 passes for 271 yards and two touchdowns, with no interceptions. His top targets were tight end Jake Ferguson, who caught five passes for 72 yards, and wide receiver CeeDee Lamb, who caught six passes for 71 yards and a touchdown. 

Dallas’s offense was just as effective on the ground, with 138 rushing yards, led by Tony Pollard’s 59. Finally, kicker Brandon Aubrey drilled four field goals, which included a 60-yarder and another from 59 yards.

It was a struggle for the Eagles’ offense, as they were held to just six points on the night (the team’s only touchdown was scored on a defensive scoop-and-score). Quarterback Jalen Hurts completed 18 of his 27 passes for 197 yards and rushed for 30 yards on five carries but failed to score any touchdowns and lost a fumble. A.J. Brown was the game’s leading receiver, with nine receptions for 94 yards, while fellow receiver DeVonta Smith had 73 yards on five catches; however, both receivers lost a fumble.

The Cowboys set the tone for the game with their opening possession, marching 75 yards in 10 plays and scoring on Prescott’s 13-yard touchdown pass to Lamb. The Eagles looked to respond in kind by advancing as far as the Dallas 21-yard line; however, after an offensive pass interference penalty on Brown moved them back 10 yards, Hurts lost the ball to Dallas safety Donovan Wilson on the next play.

From there, Dallas advanced to the Philadelphia 42 before Aubrey kicked a 60-yard field goal perfectly through the uprights to take a 10-0 lead. Philadelphia got on the board when kicker Jake Elliott responded with his own 52-yard field goal, but the Cowboys got those points back and more with a 12-play, 75-yard touchdown drive that took 6:20 off the clock and ended with backup running back Rico Dowdle’s 1-yard touchdown run.

The Eagles again responded with an Elliott field goal, this one from 44 yards, but Dallas again drove 75 yards, this time in only a minute and a half; a 30-yard strike to Brandin Cooks was followed by a 1-yard touchdown pass to Michael Gallup, extending the lead to 24-6 with 20 seconds left in the half.

Philadelphia began the second half by driving near midfield but lost the ball when Stephon Gilmore forced a fumble from Brown, and linebacker Damone Clark recovered. But later in the quarter, the Eagles would get back in the game with their own defensive fumble recovery, as defensive lineman Fletcher Cox forced a fumble from Prescott, and fellow lineman Jalen Carter recovered the ball, subsequently returning it 42 yards for a touchdown.

Nonetheless, the Cowboys were still led by two scores and added to their lead when Aubrey booted a 59-yard field goal, again driven right down the middle. Philadelphia then tried to cut their deficit to one possession with a drive to the Dallas 30-yard line, but Gilmore tackled Smith well short of the line of gain on 4th and 8, effectively ending any chance of an Eagles comeback.

Dallas exchanged this turnover on downs into a third field goal by Aubrey, while their defense recovered their third fumble on Philadelphia’s next possession; a 22-yard catch by Smith was negated when he lost the ball and Cowboys safety Malik Hooker pounced on it. The Cowboys then chewed up five and a half minutes of clock before concluding the scoring with Aubrey’s fourth field goal, putting the finishing touch on a massive victory.

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