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Final Score
Cowboys 14-7-7-10 — 38
Eagles 0-10-14-3 — 27
Dallas Seizes First Place in the NFC East
Who says Tony Romo can’t win in December? Who says the Cowboys are choke artists?
Since their most disappointing game of the season two weeks ago on Thanksgiving, the Cowboys have answered their critics — and in the process, taken over 1st place in a crucial NFC East race. The Cowboys were the 3rd team in the NFC to get to 10 wins — even more impressive: they are now 7-0 on the road — and with the Packers loss to the Bills and Lions win over the Vikings, are now tied for the NFC’s No. 2 seed and a potential 1st-round bye.
The Cowboys three stars each shined. Tony Romo finished 22-for-31 with 265 yards and 3 touchdowns. DeMarco Murray finished with 81 rushing yards, albeit on 31 carries, and two touchdowns. Dez Bryant hauled in six receptions for 114 yards and three touchdowns — his 1st career three-touchdown game.
Old Mark Sanchez returned, and the Eagles offense wasn’t as electric nor consistent as the Cowboys offense was all night. Sanchez threw two interceptions, but one came to Bruce Carter in garbage time as the Eagles were driving down 11 late.
The Cowboys now finish the season with Indianapolis at home and Washington on the road. With the way both teams are playing, 12-4 seems attainable for a united Cowboys unit. The Eagles close the season with Washington and New York on the road. The Eagles will most likely have to win each of those games and get some help from teams in front of them in order to make the playoffs.
Dez Put His 3rd Up on the Board
Bryant caught his 3rd touchdown pass of the game early in the 4th quarter to give the Cowboys a 35-24 lead.
Murray Matches Polk and Cowboys Retook the Lead
The Cowboys answered the Eagles haymaker with a haymaker of their own. Romo led the Cowboys on an 8-play, 78-yard drive in just over five minutes capped off with a DeMarco Murray 2-yard TD run — his second of the game — that gave the Cowboys a 28-24 lead.
Eagles Took Their First Lead of the Game
Eagles take advantage of a Tony Romo fumble as Darren Sproles runs in for the TD. Eagles 24, Cowboys 21 on TSN. <a
The Eagles have scored 24 unanswered points to take a 24-21 lead midway through the 3rd quarter, capitalizing on a Tony Romo fumble. On the third play, Darren Sproles punched in a 1-yard touchdown run, which was his 6th of the season — the Saints are still kicking themselves for that trade.
Polk’s 2nd of the Game Brought Eagles Within 4
The Cowboys did nothing on their first possession of the 2nd half. The Eagles, however, did. The Birds marched on a quick 7-play, 86-yard drive in just under three minutes, capped off with Polk’s 2nd touchdown of the game. The Cowboys led 21-17 with 8:48 remaining in the 3rd quarter.
Eagles Strong 2nd Quarter Kept Them in the Game
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The Eagles quickly went down 7-0 before they got their bearings. Before they knew it, the Cowboys jumped on them for 14 more and trailed 21-0 at home.
After a disastrous 1st quarter where the Eagles only had 19 yards of total offense, the 2nd quarter treated the Eagles better as they accumulated close to 100 yards, scored 10 points and cut into the Cowboys lead.
Romo, once again, finished with an incredibly strong 1st-half performance going 14-for-20 with 151 yards and two touchdowns. Dez Bryant only caught two passes for 30 yards, but he made each of them count to the tune of two more touchdowns to give him his 11th and 12th this season.
The Cowboys received the 2nd-half kickoff — their “second” of the game.
Eagles Got On the Board Halfway Through the 2nd
The Eagles finally sustained a drive. The Eagles marched 84 yards on 11 plays, capped off when backup running back Chris Polk punched it in for a 5-yard touchdown, cutting the Cowboys lead over the Eagles to 21-7.
Cowboys Took 21-Point Lead
Cowboys total yards: 167, Eagles total yards: 19. Dez hauled in his 2nd TD reception of the game — a 26-yarder — to give the Cowboys a 21-0 lead.
Romo Hooked Up With Dez For No. 11
Thw Cowboys quickly got the ball back and went on their most impressive drive of the season — a 16-play, 88-yard drive capped off when Tony Romo hooked up with Dez Bryant for Bryant’s 11th touchdown reception of the season to give the Cowboys a 14-0 with 3:04 remaining in the 1st quarter.
Cowboys Took Advantage of Eagles Opening Kickoff Fumble
Eagles returner Josh Huff fumbled the opening kickoff, which set the Cowboys up on offense earlier than they anticipated at the Eagles’ 18-yard line. The Cowboys scored a touchdown on a DeMarco Murray 1-yard run five plays later to take a 7-0 lead just over two minutes into the game.
Click here for Heavy’s preview and prediction for tonight’s game.
Both the Dallas Cowboys and Philadelphia Eagles have looked like Jekyll and Hyde over the last two weeks. The Cowboys lost 33-10 to the Eagles on Thanksgiving in their Week 13 match-up before beating the Bears 41-28 in Chicago the following week. The Eagles steamrolled the Cowboys and then followed that up with a disappointing 24-14 loss last week to the Seahawks in which they accumulated just 139 total yards.
Tonight should prove who is the better team, what they actually look like, and, most likely, who will win the NFC East. Both teams are 9-4, and the winner will take sole possession of 1st place. The Cowboys are 2-2 within the division while the Eagles are 4-0. An Eagles win would require the Cowboys to finish 2-0 in the final two weeks of the season just to keep their division title hopes alive. A Cowboys win would give them 1st place, but not a definitive playoff spot.
Tony Romo enters the game 77 yards shy of 3,000 passing yards. DeMarco Murray enters the game 499 yards shy of Eric Dickerson’s regular season record of 2,105 rushing yards. Murray would need to average over 150 yards on the ground over his final three games to have a chance to break the record.
LsSean Mccoy — who set the Eagles franchise record for rushing yards last week — leads an offense with Mark Sanchez that has to take advantage of an okay Cowboys defense like they did two weeks ago in Dallas.
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