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Post by Matt Meyer | @Bluto51 on Twitter
Thrilling game goes the good guys’ way on Christmas Eve in Arlington. Cowboys 40 Eagles 34, Dallas now 11-4 on the season.
Story of the game was turnovers and the points scored off of them. Cowboys took the ball away from the Eagles four times, scoring 20 points off of the giveaways. Philly forced one Dallas turnover, a Josh Sweat INT of Dak Prescott, and Sweat ran that back 42 yards to give the Eagles a 10-0 lead. Dallas answered with a 75 yard drive on 14 plays to cut the lead to 10-7, and the Cowboys would take the lead on their next possession, converting Gardner Minshew’s first pick of the game into a TD to cap a 6 play 47 yard drive. Eagles answered with a long TD drive, and the teams would trade FG’s to give Philly a 20-17 halftime lead.
Philadelphia struck first in the second half, converting a 4th and 3 at the Dallas 13 with a 14 yard TD pass from Minshew to DeVonta Smith. Eagles knew that Trevon Diggs would bite on the action in front of him and leave Smith, and that’s exactly what happened. Down 27-17, the Cowboys would score on every possession the rest of the way, except for a kneel down to end the game. Dallas kicked a FG to cut the deficit to seven, and then after a Minshew fumble, Prescott found Michael Gallup on the edge of the end zone, converting a 3rd and goal from the 12 to tie the game. Eagles went on another long TD drive, culminating in Smith’s 2nd TD catch of the day, but the Cowboys would control the game from there.
The next drive went from disaster to celebration in the blink of an eye. Biggest play that nobody talks about was Tyler Biadasz recovering a Prescott sack/fumble to keep the ball in the Cowboys’ possession. Then after another sack, on third and 30, Prescott loaded up and found the debuting T.Y. Hilton for a 52 yard game changer. Four plays later, CeeDee Lamb was in the end zone for a second time, game tied at 34. Eagles drove into Cowboys territory, but DaRon Bland picked Minshew off at the Cowboys 40. Dallas drove for a FG, then recovered a Miles Sanders fumble on the first play of the ensuing drive, and another FG gave the Cowboys the winning six point margin. Eagles drove to the Dallas 19, but three straight incompletions gave the game to the Cowboys.
Week 6 in Philadelphia, the Eagles won the turnover battle 3-0 and scored 10 points off of Dallas giveaways, winning the game 26-17. Cowboys played with their backup QB. Week 16 in Dallas, the Cowboys won the turnover battle 4-1 and outscored Philly 20-7 in points off of giveaways, winning the game 40-34. Eagles played with their backup QB. It isn’t hard to figure out. Take care of the ball, and it’s much easier to win, especially against teams who capitalize off of mistakes.
Speaking of mistakes, Cowboys made a couple on their last scoring drive that could’ve been costly. First play after the fumble, Prescott makes a fantastic fake and runs around left end for 16 yards and a first down. But, Prescott stepped out of bounds with 2:01 left on the clock. Prescott has to get down and let the clock go to the two minute warning. You want to run three plays after the two minute warning rather than two; that mistake essentially gave the Eagles an extra timeout. Then on the next play, Prescott takes a 9 yard sack when the clock would stop after the play no matter what happened. In that situation, there was no reason to get down in the field of play because the clock was going to stop regardless. Credit Prescott for not turning the ball over; ball security is most important. However, Prescott should have chunked the ball in the fifth row if he couldn’t find an open receiver, which would have avoided the 9 yard loss. Those yards didn’t hurt because Dallas gained 11 yards on the next two plays, took an intentional delay of game, and kicked a chip shot FG. If that mistake is made 30 yards farther back, it could be the difference between a makeable FG or having to punt.
All in all, besides the terrible INT that was ran back for a score on the Cowboys’ first possession and the two mistakes at the end of the game, Prescott was tremendous, completing 27-35 for 347 yards and 3 TD’s. Lamb had one of the best games of his career, catching 10 passes for 120 yards and 2 TD’s. Dallas caught a break when Eagles CB Avonte Maddox exited with an injury and didn’t return.
Still searching for the Cowboys’ pass rush. Zero sacks, zero QB hits against Philadelphia, and in the last three games, Dallas has 1 sack and 6 QB hits. That’s not good enough. Not even close. Credit where it’s due, the Cowboys were better against the run in this game, only allowing 87 yards on 29 carries. Dallas must force turnovers and create havoc for opposing QB’s in order to be successful defensively. Yes, that’s important for any defense, but especially one that is not consistently good against the run and has risk takers and inexperience in the secondary.
Quick turnaround for the Cowboys as they go to Nashville for a 7:15 kickoff Thursday night against the Titans. Tennessee has lost five in a row, some to good teams like the Eagles and Bengals, but others have been head scratchers, like last week’s loss to the Texans. Titans are behind the 8 ball without starting QB Ryan Tannehill, who’s out for the remainder of the regular season after surgery on his right ankle. Rookie QB Malik Willis has had his struggles, completing 31-61 for 276 yards and 3 INT, but he does provide a running threat, illustrated by his 27 carries for 123 yards and a score. RB Derrick Henry is putting up another monster season with 1,429 yards and 13 TD’s on the ground. Titans really miss A.J. Brown providing an elite receiving threat, as WR Robert Woods and TE Austin Hooper have been the two most productive targets, but neither has over 500 yards receiving this year. WR Treylon Burks, the first round pick out of Arkansas, returned from the concussion protocol last week and is a very talented player that the Titans drafted to grow into Brown’s role. Defensively, Tennessee is second in the league against the run but next to last against the pass. S Kevin Byard leads the team in tackles with 97. DE Denico Autry has 8 sacks and 8 TFL, DT Jeffery Simmons has 7 ½ sacks and 9 TFL, and DE DeMarcus Walker has 6 ½ sacks and 9 TFL, so while the Titans don’t have one dominant pass rusher, they have several threats that must be taken seriously.
Rush defense has been a weakness of the Cowboys for the majority of the season and it will be tested against Henry on Thursday evening. Mike Vrabel’s teams are normally tough and well prepared. It won’t be easy, but Dallas should have enough offensive firepower to get to a dozen wins for the second consecutive season.
Cowboys 27 Titans 20