The second meeting since Thanksgiving Day between the Dallas Cowboys and Philadelphia Eagles had a very different result, with a 38-27 Cowboy victory. The Eagles won big in the last meeting 33-10. This win gives the Cowboys the lead in the NFC East by a game over the Eagles.
The Cowboys opened strong, storming out to a 21-0 lead by early in the 2nd quarter. Then the Eagles scored 10 points, to cut the halftime deficit to 21-10. After 2 more touchdowns by Philadelphia, the Eagles had come all the way back to take a 24-21 lead with 5:42 left in the 3rd quarter. But while the Cowboys in the past have folded up in a situation like this in December, these Cowboys showed more resolve.
Dallas responded with a 78-yard drive to take the lead back at 28-24, on a DeMarco Murray 2-yard run in the closing minute of the 3rd quarter. 3 minutes later, the Tony Romo to Dez Bryant combination struck for the 3rd time in the game. This time a 25-yard touchdown pass to push the lead to 11. Bryant finished with 114 yards on 6 catches, and all 3 of Romo’s touchdown passes.
The Eagles kicked a field goal 2 minutes later, to get within 1 possession of Dallas, cutting the lead to 35-27. But the Dallas defense would not let them get any closer. The Cowboys added another field goal to end the scoring. There are 2 games left in the regular season, but this was an very important win for the Cowboys.
To jump out to such a big lead, then fall behind, they should a lot of guts to finish the game strong. Now the bad news for Cowboy fans. Murray broke his hand in the game, and had surgery today. He is listed as questionable for their next game, against the AFC South-winning Indianapolis Colts. The last Dallas game is on the road against the Washington Redskins, which seems like an easy win, but they already lost to them at home earlier this year.
The Eagles have 2 road games left, but they are against the 3-11 Redskins and the 5-9 New York Giants. Even with the win on Sunday night, Dallas loses a tie-breaker to Philadelphia if they end up with the same record at the end of the season. The Cowboys, who are 10-4, could even finish the season at 11-5, and miss the playoffs entirely because of the tie-breakers involved in choosing wild cards.
However, if Dallas does win their last 2 games, they will win the NFC East, and possibly even have a first round bye. A huge upgrade from their 3 straight seasons with an 8-8 record, and missing the playoffs. How bout them Cowboys!
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