PHILADELPHIA − The Eagles were well on their way to an easy victory against their most hated rivals.
Until they weren’t.
For the third time this season, the Eagles took a 20-point lead in the first half only to struggle in the second half. This time, it nearly cost them.
But after the Cowboys cut the Eagles lead down to 3 early in the fourth quarter, Jalen Hurts led a 13-play drive that used up 7 minutes 37 seconds, culminating in his 7-yard touchdown pass to DeVonta Smith.
It was enough for a 26-17 win over the Cowboys on Sunday night.
Eagles coach Nick Sirianni called that final scoring drive, “Quarterback 101 by Jalen (Hurts) right there.”
Much like their game-clinching drive against Arizona last week, the Eagles depended on the run. They ran the ball 10 times and attempted just three passes. The last two plays were a 22-yard pass to A.J. Brown down to Dallas’ 7, followed by the TD pass to Smith.
Then Chauncey Gardner-Johnson, who left the game early in the third quarter with a hand injury, intercepted his second pass of the game.
The Eagles remained the NFL’s only unbeaten team at 6-0. More importantly, they stayed one game ahead of the Giants in the NFC East and moved two games ahead of the Cowboys.
But it wasn’t nearly as easy as it looked in the first half.
I just want to, you know, kind of impose your will on them at the end of the game like that,” Hurts said. “I don’t think we did that the way we wanted to. We found a way and it was enough, but there’s a lot to learn from.”
They’ll have two weeks to figure it out before their next game, on Oct. 30 against the Pittsburgh Steelers.
But there was a lot to like. The Eagles were in complete control in the first half, taking a 20-0 lead with 1:47 left in the second quarter. The fans, still euphoric over the Phillies advancing to the NLCS, were in full throttle.
The Cowboys got a late field goal at the end of the first half, then nearly caught the reeling Eagles in the fourth quarter.
Right tackle Lane Johnson had left the game late in the first half with a concussion and was replaced by Jack Driscoll. That seemed to set Cowboys star Micah Parsons free to pressure Hurts and stop the Eagles’ running attack. Meanwhile, the Cowboys got their running attack going.
By the time Cowboys quarterback Cooper Rush hit Jake Ferguson for a 7-yard TD pass with 14:39 left in the fourth quarter, the Eagles’ lead was down to 20-17. At that point, the Cowboys had gained 172 yards in the second half, while the Eagles had just 6.
Then Hurts and the Eagles’ offense went to work. The Eagles began with five straight runs, followed by a short pass, then five more runs. Then Hurts hit Brown for 22 yards down to Dallas’ 7, followed by the strike to Smith in the end zone.
“It all came down to a scramble drill with a mobile quarterback being able to get outside the pocket and work on our lasso,” Smith said.
Then Gardner-Johnson picked off Rush, who was going deep for CeeDee Lamb down the sideline. But Brandon Graham was in Rush’s face, and Rush ended up throwing it more to the middle of the field, where Gardner-Johnson dove and picked it off.
Before Gardner-Johnson described his game-clinching play, he read a text from his grandmother, who told him, “I’m proud of you baby. I told you this is what you wanted.”
Then Gardner-Johnson elaborated on his second of the interception of the night, and third in three games:
“Put your eyes in the right spot, read your keys, and go get the ball,” he said. “I haven’t played the middle of the field in so long, so it feels good to come out onto the field like a hawk and go get the ball.”
Finally, the Eagles could exhale.
It certainly appeared that would happen much earlier.
Rush, starting his fifth straight game in place of Dak Prescott, threw his first two interceptions of the season in the first half. The Eagles converted the first, by Gardner-Johnson, into a touchdown. The Cowboys also turned the ball over on downs, trying to convert a 4th-and-1 from their 34. The Eagles converted that into a field goal.
The Cowboys got a field goal in the final seconds of the first half, keyed by KaVontae Turpin’s 61-yard kickoff return. That was the first time Dallas was on the Eagles’ side of the field.
Hurts, meanwhile, was efficient throwing the ball and the Eagles were controlling the line of scrimmage on offense. Hurts finished 15 of 25 for 155 yards and 2 touchdowns.
Then they weren’t.
That is, until the decisive series of plays on offense and defense for the Eagles.
“I said it last week, teams are either coming together or they are not,” Sirianni said. “That is really the way it is. This team is coming together. They fight each week.”
2nd quarter domination
The Eagles came into the game outscoring their opponents 92-24 in the second quarter.
After scoring all 20 of their points in the frame, beginning with Sanders’ touchdown 5 seconds into the quarter, the margin is now up to 112-27.
Incredibly, it’s the third time in six games this season that the Eagles had at least a 17-point lead at the break. The Eagles led 24-0 against Minnesota in Week 2 and by the same score against Washington in Week 3.
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Eagles make a penalty work
It was risky even for the Eagles, going for it on 4th-and-4 from the Dallas 10 near the end of the first quarter. But it worked out when Cowboys linebacker Dante Fowler was whistled for lining up in the neutral zone.
The Eagles scored on the very next play as Miles Sanders took the ball up the middle from the 5, giving the Eagles a 7-0 lead.
The run culminated a 15-play, 80-yard drive that chewed up 7 minutes, 36 seconds.
Eagles fully healthy on O-line
The Eagles are back to full strength on the offensive line after left tackle Jordan Mailata, who missed last week’s game with a shoulder injury, was cleared to play. So were Jason Kelce and Landon Dickerson, who missed some plays last week.
In addition, RB Boston Scott was cleared to play after missing two games with a concussion. Cornerback Avonte Maddox was also cleared to return after missing two games with an ankle injury.
Left tackle Andre Dillard was activated off injured reserve Saturday and is expected to be on the game-day roster. Dillard was placed on IR after breaking his forearm during a practice in late August. Dillard would have started in place of Mailata last week.
The Eagles’ inactives included a surprise in DE Tarron Jackson, their sixth-round pick last season. The others were QB Ian Book, CB Josh Jobe, S Reed Blankenship, RB Trey Sermon and G Josh Sills.
For the Cowboys, quarterback Dak Prescott, listed as questionable after injuring his thumb in the season opener, was not on the game-day roster. Neither was tight end Dalton Schultz.
Contact Martin Frank at mfrank@delawareonline.com. Follow on Twitter @Mfranknfl.
