Sportsnaut
A new season of the National Football League is officially underway, with Thursday night delivering the NFL Kickoff Game between the Dallas Cowboys vs. Philadelphia Eagles. While it’s important not to overreact to a single game, we can come out of the NFL Kickoff Game with a few takeaways and impressions.
Let’s dive into the winners and losers from Thursday night’s Cowboys vs Eagles game.
One of the more surprising things from Jalen Hurts’ last season, before his Super Bowl MVP performance, was that he didn’t seem to be quite as explosive as a rusher. In his first six regular-season games last season, the Eagles quarterback averaged just 3.5 yards per carry. In the Super Bowl, we saw the old Hurts. We saw that dangerous dual-threat quarterback again in the NFL Kickoff Game. Hurts used his mobility to evade pressure, extending plays in the pocket and running with the football when needed.
Related: Game-by-Game Philadelphia Eagles Predictions 2025
Thursday marked his first regular-season game with 50-plus rushing yards and multiple rushing touchdowns since Nov. 10 (Week 10), and he put on a clinic for passing efficiency. It’s the kind of performance on the national stage you’d expect from an NFL MVP candidate. Maybe this will be that year for Hurts.
When he’s on the field, Jalen Carter is one of the best defensive linemen in the NFL. A second-team All-Pro selection in 2024, the 24-year-old will be even more integral this season because of Philadelphia’s weakness at edge rusher. That’s what makes him spitting on Dak Prescott, before the Eagles’ defense even took a snap, so costly. It helped Dallas run with relative ease against Philadelphia’s front, putting up 50 yards and 2 touchdowns in the first half. Just as devastating for the Eagles’ defense, that absence on the interior often gave Prescott a clean pocket to step into when he threw. Carter’s a phenomenal player, but his decision-making and immaturity remain issues.
Related: NFL World Reacts to Jalen Carter’s Ejection for Spitting on Cowboys’ QB Dak Prescott
No one, except maybe Jerry Jones, should be surprised by how bad the Cowboys’ pass rush is without Micah Parsons. Over the last four seasons, Dallad had the best defense in the NFL with Parsons on the field and the worst defense in football when he was off it. While the Eagles do have one of the best NFL offensive lines in 2025, the ease with which their tackles erased Dallas’ edge rushers should be alarming to the franchise. Those first-round picks could eventually land the Cowboys a blue-chip edge rusher, but they already had one and then Jones decided to trade away his future Hall of Famer.
Related: NFL Defense Rankings 2025, Projecting All 32 Defenses This Season
A few months ago, Philadelphia was shopping tight...
