Eagles continue second-quarter dominance, hold off Cowboys to remain undefeated

Publish date: 2024-05-18

The Philadelphia Eagles held off a second-half push from the Dallas Cowboys at Lincoln Financial Field on Sunday night to pull out a 26-17 win and remain the NFL’s lone unbeaten team. 

Philadelphia scored 20 points in the second quarter, behind touchdowns from Miles Sanders and A.J. Brown, to take a 17-point lead into halftime. Dallas, however, whittled that lead down to just three points early in the fourth quarter, with Cooper Rush capping a 93-yard drive with a touchdown pass to Jake Ferguson that made it 20-17.

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The Eagles were able to respond on the ensuing drive. Jalen Hurts connected with DeVonta Smith for his second passing touchdown, putting Philly ahead 26-17 before a failed two-point conversion attempt. Rush tossed an interception — CJ Gardner-Johnson’s second of the night — on the Cowboys’ next drive and finished 18-of-38 with 181 yards and three picks in the loss.

Cooper Rush throws his third interception of the night.

CJ Gardner-Johnson now has ✌️ INTs in the game.

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— The Athletic NFL (@TheAthleticNFL) October 17, 2022

Cowboys starting quarterback Dak Prescott, who has been sidelined since Week 1 with a thumb injury, told reporters after the game that he’s hoping to return for next Sunday’s matchup against Detroit.

“That’s my plan,” Prescott said.

Hurts went 15-for-25 with two touchdowns, zero interceptions and totaled 182 scrimmage yards. Philadelphia has now scored a total of 112 points in the second quarter in 2022, the most points by any team in any quarter in the first six games of a season in NFL history.

The Eagles improve to 6-0 and enter their bye week, while the Cowboys fall to 4-2. When Philadelphia returns, their next three games will be against the Steelers, Texans and Commanders, all of whom have a record below .500.

Eagles dominating second quarters 

Zach Berman, Eagles writer: The Eagles have dominated second quarters this season, and that continued on Sunday. They scored 20 points in the second quarter against the Cowboys and have now outscored opponents 112-27 in the second quarters of games. The 112 points are the most by any team in NFL history through six games and more than the total points of 11 teams in the NFL. The Cowboys made it a three-point game in the second half, but could never take the lead.

Eagles coach Nick Sirianni recently spoke with Hall of Fame coach Tony Dungy about playing with leads, noting that Dungy’s teams were 80-1 when holding a 14-point lead.

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What was the key to Philadelphia’s win? 

Berman: Turnovers were the difference in this game. The Eagles entered the game at No. 1 in the NFL with a +5 turnover differential. Rush did not throw an interception in his four starts this season. But the Eagles were better in this area on Sunday, intercepting Rush three times.

Gardner-Johnson had two interceptions, giving him three in two weeks. Darius Slay also had his third interception of the season. The takeaways led to 10 points. The Eagles did turn the ball over and are +12 this season.

Assessing Rush’s performance 

Jon Machota, Cowboys writer: There are plenty of areas where the Cowboys needed to be better Sunday night, but this one was ultimately decided by Rush’s worst start of his five this season. Rush threw three interceptions, en route to his first career loss. The Eagles never turned the ball over. There’s no way Dallas was going to overcome that.

Would this game have been different with a healthy Dak Prescott? Maybe. But it’s clear right now that the Eagles are the NFC’s best team.

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