The Philadelphia Eagles faced the Dallas Cowboys on Dec. 10 in Week 14 of the 2023 NFL season. Here are takeaways and highlights from the game.
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Final Score: Eagles 13, Cowboys 33
Coming into the game, NFL fans knew Dallas would look to atone for their Week 9 loss in Philly. Several times in that game, Dak Prescott and company came up short, displaying how much a “game of inches” the NFL truly is. The result in the rematch was a little different than everyone outside of Dallas expected. We saw an absolute beatdown of one of the NFL’s best teams. Dallas held the Eagles’ offense without a touchdown in a performance where the Cowboys proved they can hang with the heavyweights after their debacle last year.
Sunday night showed us this Dallas team is complete. The defense is loaded with team guys who make plays, and there are playmakers on offense in Brandin Cooks, Jake Ferguson, Tony Pollard, and Rico Dowdle to compliment the elite pairing of Prescott and CeeDee Lamb.
Make no mistake: these aren’t the Cowboys of previous years that can’t win the big game or beat teams above .500. Mike McCarthy and Dan Quinn have aligned their guys into playing championship football in all three phases. Dallas’ defense came to play right along with their excellent offense. Stephon Gilmore shadowed A.J. Brown for nearly the entire game, and while Brown got his nice catches for fantasy purposes, Gilmore stripped the ball from the former Ole Miss wideout and kept him out of the end zone in the blowout. By the final whistle, three of the Eagles’ best players (Brown, Jalen Hurts, and Devonta Smith) had all fumbled.
There has to be more to the Hurts injury than what the public is seeing. His play has not been what fans saw during their Super Bowl run in 2022. Hurts went 18-for-27 with 197 yards, no touchdowns or interceptions, and a fumble in a very ugly loss for the Eagles.
Later in the game, pressure from the Cowboys caused Hurts to make errant throws. Historically, Hurts can stand in the pocket and make throws with pressure in his face, but he oddly was not looking to take any contact Sunday. Hurts has a history of being a tough guy, but this may be something that’s holding the team back at this point. Head coach Nick Sirianni may have opted to let Hurts play through these four difficult games (Kansas City, Buffalo, San Francisco, and Dallas) with a thought of letting Hurts get to rest on the back end of their schedule with games against the Giants twice, Seattle, and Arizona. Regardless, Hurts playing in his current manner could cause some problems for Philly heading into the playoffs. They’re still nearly a lock for the playoffs, but if they can’t get their offense humming, they could be an early bounce.
Highlights
.@dallascowboys @BumpNrunGilm0re there is nothing he hasnt seen during his stellar career. His experience and playmaking ability showed up throughout the night. #BaldysBreakdowns pic.twitter.com/Aaul5PW53Y
— Brian Baldinger (@BaldyNFL) December 11, 2023
EXACTLY what you want to see as a Cowboys fan. #DallasCowboys
via @NFL pic.twitter.com/PxCt4gYR6u
— Sunday Night Football on NBC (@SNFonNBC) December 11, 2023
The vet 😮💨 @BumpNrunGilm0re
📺: NBC & NFL+ → https://t.co/yLMhJNTZjs pic.twitter.com/3NaIcnpjrp
— Dallas Cowboys (@dallascowboys) December 11, 2023
Dak dime, Gallup dive
📺: #PHIvsDAL on NBC
📱: Stream on #NFLPlus https://t.co/YCEDNi5Ozb pic.twitter.com/cEiHNCwXas— NFL (@NFL) December 11, 2023
Looking Forward
The win by the Cowboys has put them into the No. 2 seed in the NFC. They proved themselves on Sunday but will have to do so again for the next three weeks against the Bills, Dolphins, and Lions.
The Eagles had their gauntlet run, playing the Chiefs, Bills, 49ers, and Cowboys in consecutive weeks. When the schedule came out, sensible fans understood some of these games would be dropped due to the difficulty. Losing these last two doesn’t change what sort of team they are. What can change their identity, though, is the health of Hurts.
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