The NFC East is still up for grabs. The Cowboys needed to win this game if they want to keep their hopes for the NFC East title alive if the Washington Football Team lost against the Panthers. The Eagles also needed to win this game if they want to stay in the running as well. Dallas ended up winning 37-17 to stay alive.
Eagles’ head coach Doug Pederson started rookie quarterback Jalen Hurts again for the third straight game. Carson Wentz spoke out about his new role on the team, claiming that he does not want to be a backup quarterback and rumors are spreading that the Eagles may move on from Wentz after the season.
The Eagles got on the board first with a four-yard pass from Hurts to running back Miles Sanders to give them a quick 7-0 lead. Later, Hurts made a huge 81-yard pass to wide receiver DeSean Jackson to put them 11 points ahead of the Cowboys at the end of the first quarter.
Andy Dalton and the Cowboys finally showed up on the second quarter. On the Cowboys first drive in the quarter, Dalton found wide receiver Michael Gallup for 21-yards to give the Cowboys their first touchdown of the game. Gallup had a huge game for the Cowboys, totaling 121 yards gained and two touchdown catches for six receptions.
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Gallup again came in the clutch with a seven-yard touchdown catch from Dalton as the Cowboys took a 20-17 lead at the end of the first half.
The Cowboys defense arguably had their best performance of the year so far. Cornerback Anthony Brown made a huge interception play for his first of the season. Linebacker Jaylon Smith also made a fumble recovery while both Jourdan Lewis and Randy Gregory made important sacks on Hurts in the game to prevent the Eagles from scoring any points in the second half of the game.
CeeDee Lamb had another great performance. In the third quarter, Dalton found Lamb for a 52-yard catch for a touchdown. Lamb in the fourth quarter then made a 19-yard run into the end zone to secure the Cowboys win for a 37-17 victory over the Eagles.
This loss eliminates the Eagles from the playoffs and with the defeat to Washington against the Carolina Panthers, both the Cowboys and the Giants are still in the fight for the NFC East title.
Dalton again has proven that he is still an elite quarterback with 22 completions, 377 passing yards and three touchdown passes. He also had a streak of 10 straight passing completions in the second quarter of the game.
Dalton speaks about how great his offense has been today and the amount of talent that he has on his offensive line.
“It was a big day for us. We got a lot of different guys involve. We feel that we are so talented, we got so many skilled positioned players that can make big plays. It showed today to give a lot of these guys chances to play and we got it done,” Dalton said after the game to Fox Sports.
After the game running back Ezekiel Elliot spoke about how the Cowboys were never out of the playoffs and how much of competitors they are to try to win next weekend with help from the Eagles.
“If you gave up five six weeks ago, we don’t even want you on our side. We are just competitors, this whole team. We have a team of competitors and we weren’t out of it. All we have to do is win next weekend and we need a little help from the guys we just played but I like how this team has played football right now,” said Elliot to ESPN.
The defense for the Cowboys was not looking too great in the first half of the game, allowing Hurts two huge plays to give them 17 points. However, the defense came back in the second half to hold Hurts to just that 17 points. McCarthy spoke about the job of the defense holding off the Eagles in the second half and how huge it was in the victory for the Cowboys.
“Our guys did a very great job. There wasn’t any panic to just hold them at 17 and we had the takeaways and also getting off the field after the fourth down. I thought our guys played with excellent vision and patience breaking on the football. Our defense holding them [Eagles] to 17 was huge for us,” said McCarthy also to ESPN.
The Cowboys will end the regular season with a must need win against the Giants at MetLife Stadium. If Washington lose again, the winner between Dallas and New York will be winners of the NFC East. However, a win for Washington will give them the title and eliminate both the Giants and Cowboys.
Washington will host the Eagles in Philadelphia as both games will be played at 1PM EST. It will be nail biting ending to see who will be crowned NFC East champions in what has been a crazy season for all four teams in the division.