Giants Country

NFC Week 16 Recap: Cowboys Win, Everyone Else Falls

Recapping the NFC East action in Week 16.

Joe Najarian

USA Today Sports via IMAGN Content Services
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The Dallas Cowboys emerged as the only victors in the NFC East's Week 16 slate of games, spoiling the Philadelphia Eagles chance to clinch home-field advantage. Meanwhile, Washington's postseason chances took a hit thanks to their loss against the 49ers, while the Giants lost a heartbreaker.

Here are your recaps.

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Philadelphia Eagles (13-2), 1st Place, Dallas Cowboys (11-4), 2nd Place

Cowboys 40, Eagles 34

The Philadelphia Eagles, playing without MVP candidate Jalen Hurts under center, had to keep the champagne on ice. Meanwhile, the Dallas Cowboys earned a huge win over their division rivals, emerging victorious in a 40-34 shootout.

Backup quarterback Gardner Minshew completed 24 of his 40 passes for 355 yards and two touchdowns, but lacking the mobility that Hurts had the Eagles’ run game struggled with only 87 yards on the ground. Although Minshew had a high passing yard total, he turned the ball over three times, two of which were interceptions. Overall, the Eagles offense turned the ball over four times.

Cowboys QB Dak Prescott completed 27 of 35 passes for 347 yards and three touchdowns with one interception, putting up a 124.3 passer rating despite being sacked six times. Wide receiver CeeDee Lamb had an outstanding performance, with ten catches for 120 yards and two touchdowns.

The Eagles opened the game with a Jake Elliott field goal and looked poised to take control when DE Josh Sweat intercepted Prescott and returned it 42 yards for a touchdown. But Dallas struck right back, moving 75 yards in 14 plays, capped off by a 1-yard touchdown run by Ezekiel Elliott to make it 10-7. Jayron Kearse then intercepted Minshew, which set up Prescott’s 36-yard touchdown pass to Lamb six plays later.

From there, the game would be a back-and-forth affair. The Eagles retook the lead on Minshew’s 1-yard touchdown run, and both teams would trade field goals to end the first half. Philadelphia led at halftime, 20-17.

The Eagles once again were in a position to control the game in the second half; after forcing Dallas to punt on their opening possession, Philadelphia drove 77 yards in 10 plays and made it a 10-point lead on Minshew’s 14-yard touchdown pass to DeVonta Smith. But once again, Dallas fought back. After a Brett Maher field goal, Minshew fumbled the ball away, and the Cowboys tied the game five plays later with a 12-yard touchdown catch by Michael Gallup.

Both teams scored touchdowns on their ensuing drives; Philadelphia retook the lead on Smith’s second touchdown of the game, only for Dallas to tie it back up at 34 with Lamb’s second touchdown.

Finally, the Cowboys’ defense came up huge when DaRon Bland intercepted Minshew, which set up a go-ahead field goal from Maher. With Dallas up 37-34, the Eagles turned the ball over again when running back Miles Sanders fumbled the ball away. The Cowboys exchanged this for another field goal from Maher, making it a six-point game.

The Eagles still had an opportunity to win the game with a touchdown and drove to the Dallas 19-yard line with 33 seconds left to play. But three consecutive incompletions turned the ball over on downs, potentially delaying Philadelphia’s division title celebration and giving Dallas a hard-earned win.

Week 16 NFC East-NYG at MIN
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New York Giants (8-6-1), 3rd Place

Vikings 27, Giants 24

The New York Giants came close to recording an upset that would have punched their ticket to the NFL playoffs, narrowly falling to the Minnesota Vikings 27-24 at U.S. Bank Stadium.

With his team down by eight in the waning minutes of the fourth quarter, Giants quarterback Daniel Jones led a heroic touchdown drive and converted the game-tying two-point conversion. However, these heroics were undone by Vikings kicker Greg Joseph, who drilled a game-winning 61-yard field goal as time expired.

Jones completed 30 of his 42 passes for 334 yards, one touchdown, and one interception while rushing four times for 34 yards. Running back Saquon Barkley had 133 scrimmage yards; he rushed for 84 yards and a touchdown while catching eight passes for 49 yards.

The Vikings got on the board late in the first quarter, as QB Kirk Cousins threw a 12-yard touchdown pass to TE T.J. Hockenson for a 7-0 lead. Minnesota’s defense then forced and recovered a fumble from Giants TE Daniel Bellinger, which Joseph converted into a 40-yard field goal to extend the lead to 10-0.

But the Giants quickly responded with a 10-play, 69-yard touchdown drive, capped off by a 7-yard pass from Jones to Isaiah Hodgins. Neither team did much with the ball after that, and the score remained 10-7 Vikings at halftime.

Giants kicker Graham Gano kicked field goals on the Giants’ first two drives of the second half, giving them a 13-7 lead. They seemed to take control of the game when Cor’Dale Flott intercepted Cousins, but the play was ultimately ruled an incomplete pass when replays showed that the ball hit the ground. Instead of a huge turnover for the Giants, the Vikings would retake the lead, 17-13, on Cousins’ second touchdown pass to Hockenson.

Jones was intercepted on a drive deep into Vikings territory, but the Giants found themselves with great field position after forcing the Vikings to turn the ball over on downs. They responded with another field goal by Gano to make it a one-point game; however, after being forced to punt on their next drive, Giants punter Jamie Gillan had his punt blocked, giving Minnesota the ball at New York’s 29-yard line. They capitalized with Cousins’ 17-yard touchdown pass to Justin Jefferson to push the lead to eight.

The Giants fought back with a 7-play, 75-yard touchdown drive that included a 32-yard reception by Darius Slayton. Eventually facing 4th and 2, Barkley converted with a 27-yard touchdown run, and Jones completed a pass to Daniel Bellinger in the endzone for the game-tying two-point conversion.

But the Vikings were able to move 33 yards in eight plays, the biggest of which was a 17-yard reception by Jefferson on 3rd and 11. This set up Joseph’s dramatic game-winning kick, which he made from 61 yards out.

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Washington Commanders (7-7-1), 4th Place

49ers 37, Commanders 20

The Washington Commanders ran into a buzzsaw in the San Francisco 49ers, as they were dominated 37-20 in Santa Clara.

The Commanders turned the ball over on downs twice, and a fumble and an interception by QB Taylor Heinicke led to his removal from the game.

Heinicke didn’t have a bad game statistically, completing 13 of 18 passes for 166 yards and two touchdowns for a 114.6 passer rating. Still, the fourth-quarter turnovers led to Carson Wentz replacing him under center. Wentz completed 12 of 16 passes for 123 yards and a touchdown.

The game was tight in the first half, with no points in the first quarter. Washington then put together a 17-play, 84-yard drive to the San Francisco 1-yard line but came up empty when running backs Brian Robinson and Antonio Gibson were tackled for no gain on 3rd and 4th down, respectively.

It took the 49ers just seven plays to go the length of the field as Ray-Ray McCloud ripped off a 71-yard touchdown run for the game's first score. But Washington, after being forced to punt, had a short field to work with after Darrick Forrest intercepted a pass from 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy.

This set up an 8-play, 31-yard drive that culminated with Heinicke’s 4-yard touchdown pass to Jahan Dotson, tying the game at 7 entering halftime.

The 49ers would dominate the second half, scoring on only one drive. They began the half with a 7-play, 76-yard touchdown drive, finished by Purdy’s 34-yard touchdown pass to TE George Kittle.

The game's turning point came when the Commanders faced a 4th-and-1 at their own 34. Coach Ron Rivera decided to roll the dice and go for it deep in his own territory, but this immediately backfired when Heinicke was stuffed for no gain, and the 49ers responded with Kittle’s second touchdown of the game just two plays later.

Washington climbed back into the game when Terry McLaurin hauled in a 51-yard pass and a subsequent 3-yard touchdown pass, but the 49ers responded with three consecutive field goals from kicker Robbie Gould.

All three field goals came in the 4th quarter, and a fumble and interception set up the last two by Heinicke. Wentz then entered the game and threw a 20-yard touchdown pass to Curtis Samuel (with a failed two-point conversion attempt), but the 49ers ended any hope of a comeback when they concluded the scoring with a 1-yard touchdown run by Christian McCaffrey.

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Joe Najarian
JOE NAJARIAN

Joe Najarian, a Rutgers University graduate, covered Rutgers Football and Rutgers Baseball during an eight-month stint with Jersey Sporting News (JSN).

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