In a hard fought contest which wasn’t settled until the fourth quarter, the Eagles remained unbeaten with a 26 to 17 victory over the Dallas Cowboys in a Sunday night battle in front of the nation.
The Birds as usual started out fast by jumping to a 14-0 lead, then they saw that lead evaporate to a 20 to 17 battle with the Cowboys having all the momentum with most of the first fourth quarter left to play. The Eagles needed every aspect of their team to step up: their passing game, their running game and they needed their defensive secondary to stand up.
Going into the game, there was plenty of talk about Cowboys quarterback Cooper Rush and the fact that he hadn’t thrown an interception in the four Dallas victories, which he had started. Things didn’t work out so well for Rush in his battle against the Eagles. The Birds were able to force him into throwing three interceptions that ultimately played a key role in deciding the football game.
In comparison, Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts was able to deal with the Dallas speedy pass rush, by keeping his composure, not trying to force anything and continuing to get the ball to his receivers, when he had time and the receivers were open. and he was able to stay away from making mistakes and ultimately that was the difference in the game rush to three interceptions and hurts was able to stay away from turning the ball over and that was the difference in the game.
Hurts got the ball to A.J. Brown for a touchdown, as they put him in motion and had him going by Cowboys star Micah Parsons and putting the young superstar linebacker in a “no man zone” on an option play. Hurts also got the ball to DeVonte Smith for a big touchdown and numerous third down conversions. I must also mention that he found tight end Dallas Goedert for a few big plays.
Birds running backs Miles Sanders, Boston Scott and Kenneth Gainwell all contributed to the victory with Sanders starting out the scoring with a tough five-yard touchdown run.
The Eagles got the victory, but were hampered by injuries to their offensive line. They lost the best offensive tackle in the NFL, Lane Johnson to a concussion. Throughout the entire game up until that point, Johnson had shutdown Parsons. You didn’t even know Parsons was on the field during much of the game with Johnson blocking the young linebacker. Eagles left guard Landon Dickerson also he had to be shut down because of a leg injury. Despite the injuries, the Birds offensive line was able to get the job done versus the Cowboys.
I thought the defensive player of the game for the Birds was safety Chauncey Gardner-Johnson. He picked off two passes and was very effective getting his hands on the ball and breaking up other throws. Cornerback Darius Slay picked off one of the Rush passes and he two knocked down a couple more. Veteran cornerback James Bradberry seemed the player the Cowboys thought they could beat, but he did a great job of stepping up the challenge. He caused the first interception, then he broke up passes to end a drive, then knocked down a few passes in the end zone to force Dallas to kick a field goal. Bradberry proved to Dallas that he can take on any challenge. The Eagles defensive secondary showed why they’re the best in the league right now. They did a great job of teaching Cooper Rush what it feels like to be “in over your head”.
