Blogging The Boys
The Dallas Cowboys may have been the biggest underdog of any NFL team in Week 1, but it didn’t seem to bother them. They played physical football and were going toe-to-toe with the reigning Super Bowl champions all night, even after an hour long rain delay.
In the end, though, Dallas fell just short of shocking the world. It was a close, hard-fought game that was ultimately decided by a handful of key plays. These five, in particular, loom large when thinking back on the game.
Early on, this game was an offensive bonanza, with each team marching down the field and scoring points at will. It felt like the first team to get a stop on defense may win by default, but neither defense seemed ready to do that.
On the Eagles’ second possession, though, there was a moment that stands out still. Dallas led 14-7 and the Eagles were driving. A gain of one yard set up a second and long, and the Cowboys secondary took everything away for Jalen Hurts. The quarterback then scrambled for a first down, but the Dallas sideline was beside themselves over a perceived missed call for holding.
Donovan Ezeiruaku looked to have Jordan Mailata beat before being completely wrapped up. A holding call there would have resulted in a second and 19, and put the Eagles just outside of Dallas territory, giving the defense a real shot at getting the first stop of the game. Instead, first down Philadelphia, and a touchdown four plays later.
Following that touchdown, the Cowboys went back down the field again, but were ultimately forced to settle for a field goal. Still, they were up 17-14, and a muffed kick return from the Eagles started them off in poor field position with just over two minutes until halftime. Two quick plays brought up a third and six for the Eagles, with Dallas needing just one stop to really take control of the game.
They got the exact opposite of that. Hurts launched a deep shot to Jahan Dotson on a post route. Kaiir Elam was in Dotson’s hip pocket, but Hurts put the ball in the perfect spot, where only Dotson could get it.
Just like that, the Eagles had flipped the field and were in prime scoring range. Just a few plays later, Saquon Barkley ran it in for a touchdown to put Philadelphia up. One perfectly thrown deep shot is all it took for the Eagles to go from punting down three to taking a lead into halftime.
Everyone knew this was going to be on here. Miles Sanders helped put the Cowboys in great position to score and take the lead after a 49-yard run on the Cowboys’ first drive of the third quarter. Unfortunately, he also killed that drive a few plays later.
After a series of penalties that...
