SNF Beatdown: Dallas Crushes Eagles

In what was supposed to be a thrilling battle for supremacy in the NFC East ended with host Dallas sending off the Eagles with their tail feathers between their legs.

MVP candidate Dak Prescott passed for 271 yards and two touchdowns and Brandon Aubrey kicked four field goals to help Dallas beat the Philadelphia Eagles, 33-13, and move into a tie for first place in their division.

In beating their chief division rivals, Dak and Dallas excelled on third down, converting nine of 16 opportunities, with all nine conversions coming on Cowboys' scoring drives. They converted three on their opening drive, which culminated in a 13-yard TD pass from Prescott to WR CeeDee Lamb. The splendid wideout, Lamb, caught six passes for 71 yards.

Later, at the end of the first quarter, Aubrey drilled a field from 60 yards out to give Dallas a 10-0 lead. It would not be the last of the placekicker’s moonshots for the night.

In the second quarter, up 10-3 following an Eagles field goal, the Cowboys marched 75 yards for a score, with Rico Dowdle punching it in from a yard out. A 27-yard pass from Prescott to tight end Jake Ferguson was the big play on the drive.

An Eagles field goal made it 17-6, but Dallas closed out the first half with an eight-play, 75-yard drive. A 30-yard pass from Prescott to WR Brandin Cooks put the ball at the Philadelphia 1-yard line, before Prescott completed a short pass to Michael Gallup to give Dallas up a big lead, 24-6, at the half.

There was a glimmer of hope for the comeback-happy Eagles when Philly lineman Fletcher Cox sacked Prescott, resulting in a scoop-n-score from 42 yards out by rookie tackle Jalen Carter. 

Dallas, however, answered on its next possession with a 59-yard field goal blast by placekicker Aubrey. The Cowboys’ defense rose up to thwart a 4th-and-8 at their 31-yard line to force a turnover on downs near the end of the third quarter, and the Eagles threat for another second-half comeback was short-circuited.

For good measure, Aubrey kicked his third and fourth field goals in the final period, his last from 50 yards away. Earlier this season, Indianapolis’ Matt Gay become the first kicker in NFL history to kick FOUR field goals from beyond 50 yards. But all of his were within 55 yards. Aubrey became the first kicker to nail two from 59 yards out or further. Just as remarkable, by making both, he extended his NFL record of consecutive made field goals.

That record now stands at 30.

The Eagles (10-3) have now dropped two games in a row and have looked tired and overmatched in both losses. With the win the Cowboys (10-3) catch the Eagles for first place in the NFC East, and the 49ers, with their win over Seattle, catch both and scale to the top of the NFC power rankings thanks to the tiebreakers they hold over both Philadelphia and Dallas — San Francisco having mauled the Cowboys and Eagles in head-to-head matchups earlier this season.

But now things get brutal for Dallas: Road games at Buffalo and Miami and a home game with Detroit will surely challenge their place at the division and conference top spots. Philadelphia needs a bye in the worst way. But guess what? They have to travel to Seattle next week, never an easy place to play. 

If Philadelphia does manage to leave the Pacific Northwest with a win, then their final three games shape up nicely: two games against the dismal Giants sandwiched around a home game against lowly Arizona.

So despite the doom and gloom that surely settled Sunday night on the City of Brotherly Shove, expect the Eagles to nest atop the NFC East when it is all said and done.