DALLAS — The Dallas Cowboys made sure their fans had a merry Christmas when they beat the NFC East rival Philadelphia Eagles 40-34 on Christmas Eve. A last-minute defensive stand gave the Cowboys the win and kept the Eagles from clinching the division in the house that Jerry Jones built.
Beating the Eagles likely only delayed the NFC East inevitable, but the win should provide the Cowboys with some confidence as the postseason approaches. Dallas is now 11-4 on the year, which is ironically the same record that they had at this point in the 2021 season when they were in the middle of one of their best offensive outputs in years.
The Cowboys might not catch the Eagles to win the division, needing two more wins and two more Philly losses to overtake them, but the team winning 11 games while playing without significant pieces for long stretches is impressive nonetheless.
Quarterback Dak Prescott, potential future Hall of Fame left tackle Tyron Smith, two-time NFL rushing champion Ezekiel Elliott, and wide receiver Michael Gallup have combined to miss 23 games for Dallas. In addition to other injuries along the way, the Cowboys’ defense has seen two of their starting cornerbacks miss considerable time. The woes don’t end there as starting right tackle Terence Steele is out for the rest of the season and their best run stuffing defensive tackle Johnathan Hankins is out until the playoffs.
That’s a hefty list of players whom the Cowboys have won games without and it’s a testament to the job Mike McCarthy has done with his team. Against the Eagles, who were playing their own backup quarterback this time around, Dallas found a way to win to make sure the Eagles didn’t celebrate Christmas, and a division title, on their field.
After a miserable loss to Jacksonville in Week 15, the Cowboys came out and received an impressive effort on both sides of the ball against the conference leader. Prescott led the offense to 419 total yards and 40 points while becoming the first QB to throw for 300 yards on the NFL’s best passing defense.
The first quarter interception aside, Week 16 represented Prescott’s best game of the year. The veteran QB had a completion percentage of over 77%, threw for three scores, and had multiple big-time throws in moments that were critical to the win.
Prescott helped bail the Cowboys out of third and long situations on numerous occasions. Two of his biggest throws were on a third quarter touchdown pass to Gallup, and a long bomb to new wide receiver T.Y. Hilton to keep a drive alive.
Gallup’s score only happened because Prescott escaped pressure, scrambled right, and threw a pinpoint pass to the WR near the pylon. It was a perfect throw from Prescott and Gallup caught it using strong hands and tapping his feet down to tie the game on the third & goal play from the 12-yard line.
In the fourth quarter, with the Cowboys trailing by seven and facing 30 yards to convert on third down, Prescott maneuvered perfectly in the pocket and threw a dime to Hilton for 52-yards. Hilton blew All-Pro corner Darius Slay and made a diving catch to give the Cowboys a first down. Dallas eventually scored on the drive to tie the game.
Hilton’s momentum-shifting catch might have been the play of the game for the Cowboys, who needed Hilton’s home run ability in his first game as a Cowboy. If anyone asked why the team had a need to bring in a veteran WR, Hilton provided the answer.
Along with the heroics on offense, the Dallas defense played a huge role in securing the win as well. The recently-maligned unit did give up over 400 yards of offense to the Eagles, including 355 to a backup quarterback, but it also had four takeaways to help swing the game in Dallas’ favor.
The two interceptions, one from safety Jayron Kearse, and one from rookie cornerback DaRon Bland, were both well-timed plays. Kearse had tight coverage on his pick and made sure not to run through the receiver for the turnover, while Bland made a great break on his interception and wrestled the ball away from the receiver.
Both plays gave the Cowboys’ offense a chance to score points. Without the turnovers, Dallas doesn’t win the game. Dan Quinn’s unit allowed the Eagles to convert on 10 of 17 third and fourth down attempts. That’s not ideal if the Cowboys want to win on a weekly basis, but getting takeaways limited the damage.
The Christmas Eve triumph wasn’t a perfect game by the Cowboys, but they made plays at the right times to take the game away and stall the Philadelphia celebration, for at least another week. The hope is that a trilogy awaits in the playoffs and the Cowboys will get a chance at ruining the Eagles’ season.
However, in the moment, the Cowboys won a fun game because their QB played the best game of his season, and the defense made timely plays. Coincidentally, that's the recipe for how they can win in the playoffs as well.
Even with tough sledding ahead, and the division all but out of reach, for Week 16 the Cowboys made sure their fans had the happiest Christmas imaginable by dropping a lump of coal in the stockings of the Eagles. There was no better present under any Christmas tree.
Do you think the Cowboys are better prepared for the playoffs after beating Philadelphia? Share your thoughts with Ben on Twitter @BenGrimaldi.
