The Eagles move into first place in the NFC East with their win and the Commanders’ loss to Pittsburgh.
The Eagles flew into Dallas on Sunday and beat up on the Cowboys to secure their fifth win in a row and move to 7-2 on the season. They rode a second-half offensive flurry and shut down the Cowboys offense to throttle them 34 – 6.
After starting the season a pedestrian 2-2, and coming off a blowout loss to the Buccaneers in week 4, the Eagles look like a completely different team. They now hold the division lead in the NFC East and are just one game back of the Detroit Lions for the best record in the NFC. They even have the media putting them in Super Bowl conversations.
Star running back Saquon Barkley, who has arguably been the best player for the Eagles this season, had a mediocre game by his standards on Sunday. Barkley ran for just 66 yards on 14 carries, but more importantly, he got his first career win against the Cowboys after going 0-5 against them when he was a member of the New York Giants.
Barkley also did this on 3rd and long in the red zone after catching the ball behind the line of scrimmage.
The rest of the offense was electric on Sunday. After an injury scare last week and limited participation in practice, AJ Brown suited up against the Cowboys. He didn’t play like he was nursing a knee injury, exploding for 109 yards on just 5 receptions. Rookie wide receiver Johnny Wilson nabbed his first career touchdown on Sunday, and after accidentally throwing the ball away during his celebration, Saquon made sure the rookie secured his first touchdown ball.
Quarterback Jalen Hurts was great on Sunday and has worked his way back into the MVP conversation. Hurts was 14/20 for 202 yards and 2 touchdowns via the air and added another 56 yards and 2 touchdowns on 7 carries. He did throw his first interception and lost his first fumble since week 4, but they ended up being minor mistakes in a game that was never really close.
The game ended up getting so out of hand that the Eagles turned to former Pitt Panther and Jersey Shore native Kenny Pickett at quarterback in the 4th quarter and participated in the famous ‘tush push’ play.
The defense was special again on Sunday. The Cowboys are dealing with a litany of injuries, including missing their pro-bowl caliber quarterback Dak Prescott and their number two wideout Brandin Cooks, but holding an NFL team to 6 total points is domination.
Rookie corners Cooper DeJean and Quinyon Mitchell look like absolute draft steals by GM Howie Roseman. Mitchell has been playing at an all-pro level as a rookie, and on Sunday held Dallas receivers, including star CeeDee Lamb, to just 2 catches for 14 yards on 4 total targets. The secondary along with a revamped linebacker corps built around Nakobe Dean and free agent signing Zack Baun have the defense playing like a top unit in all of football.
The Eagles have a quick turnaround as they head back home for a Thursday night Football clash with the division rival Washington Commanders. The Commanders are just a half-game back of the Eagles after losing in a thriller to the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday 28-27.
