PHILADELPHIA, Penn. – The Dallas Cowboys won their first road game of the season in tonight’s must win division rivalry game against the defending Super Bowl Philadelphia Eagles 27-20. In a hostile environment at Lincoln Financial Field, Dallas kept themselves in the running in the NFC East, surpassing the Eagles for second place at 4-5 and only two games behind the first place Washington Redskins at 6-3. The Cowboys have momentarily silenced the critics after tonight’s victory.
Things progressed slowly with both teams starting three and out on offense and being forced to punt, but the momentum for the Cowboys was established defensively after Leighton Vander Esch’s interception and run back. Randy Gregory had a big impact inside and got to Carson Wentz for the sack, providing good coverage against Eagles’ OT Jason Peters around the edge.
At first, Philly’s defense was reading Dak Prescott’s eyes through his progression. Prescott focused and stared too hard at the targeted receivers. He needed to look somewhere else other than where he intended to throw, and use his legs to open up the ground game to give the offensive line a break. Xavier Su’a-Filo had his first starting debut at LG in Connor William’s replacement. William’s had scope knee surgery on Wednesday, and things looked grim when RG Zack Martin existed the field wincing in pain and griping his knee. Center, Adam Redmond, took his place in the lineup opposite Su’a-Filo. Thankfully, the medical staff determined his knee was stable, wrapped it up, and the warrior returned to the gridiron in the second quarter. Martin made a huge difference on the field taking care of guys in gaps and creating holes for Ezekiel Elliott.
Elliott had an explosive game beginning in the second quarter with a gain of 32 yards on a catch and run, hurdling over an Eagles DB to bring the Cowboys to first and goal. Unfortunately they could not cash in on the opportunity and settled for another field goal by Brett Maher, after receivers could not create separation to make themselves available to Prescott in the end zone. Elliott finished with 19 carries for 151 yards, a 7.9 average per carry and a touchdown. Tyron Smith did a tremendous job taking care of Fletcher Cox, to open up the run game for Zeke.
Prescott struggled with quick releases throughout the game. He had good coverage for several seconds after the snap, but on average Dak took over two and a half seconds to throw the football. He is a young quarterback that still needs polishing through experience, and late in the second quarter after his fire pass to Hurns in between coverages to put the team at first and goal, people saw the QB the coaching staff has such faith in and the 2016 offensive rookie of the year. He then took the ball across the goal line on a sneak for a one-yard TD rush to put the Cowboys up 13-3 heading into the half. Prescott was 26 for 36 with 270 yards and one touchdown. Hurns had great separation from CB’s throughout the game, as did Amari Cooper. Cooper led the team in receptions with six for 75 yards and a 12.5 average. He has changed the dynamic of the Cowboys’ offense and is a wideout weapon in the receiving core that can stretch the field and make himself available to Dak on routes.
During the third quarter the defense was primarily on the field and made several impactful plays. Byron Jones had great coverage on Golden Tate and Xavier Woods’ had a huge pass breakup at the goal line, keeping the Eagles offense to three points instead of seven. Tyrone Crawford had a sack on Wentz and DeMarcus Lawrence put pressure on him the entire game, especially during the fourth quarter forcing him to make throws he did not want to make.
The Eagles’ secondary was forced to play zone coverage in the fourth quarter with so many injuries and the Cowboys’ offense was prepared and scored 14 points. Leighton Vander Esch had a remarkable game. On third down, he was the only defender available to make the tackle because the defense had a blitz coming. He finished with 13 tackles leading the defensive side of the ball. Vander Esch has been one of the team’s greatest successes this season and continues to improve each game with his innate ability to get to the football and make tackles on critical plays.
Tonight was a crucial win for the Dallas Cowboys in all phases. They were able to get the ground game going with Elliott against the second ranked run defense in the league and the defense was able to put pressure on Wentz and make stops on third and fourth downs to put the offense back on the field. Prescott was able to further the team’s lead in the fourth quarter while managing the clock and capitalizing in the red zone.
Following the game Ezekiel Elliott stated, “ We have not been doing what we are capable of. We executed and finished the ball game. “
There is still a lot of work to be done in Dallas as they face the Falcons and the Redskins, but the season is not over for America’s Team. Tonight, they were able to make the necessary in-game adjustments to win and outperform the opponent.
