OK, you can all breathe again.
Yikes.
The Eagles once again nearly blew a big lead, but a monster 4th-quarter drive and some timely defense added up to a 26-17 win over the hated Cowboys at the Linc.
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The Eagles go into the bye week 6-0, one win short of the best start in franchise history – the 7-0 start by the 2004 team. They remain the only undefeated team in the NFL. They remain in first place in the NFC East. They remain the best team in football.
Lots of deep breaths.
1. My biggest takeaway from this game is just how much toughness Chauncey Gardner-Johnson showed by returning to this football game when he was clearly in tremendous pain after suffering a hand injury in the third quarter. A lot of guys don’t return to the game. You suffer an injury like that, you’re in the locker room or on the sideline watching. Gardner-Johnson not only came back in the game, he made another huge play with his second interception of the game and third in the last two weeks, and it was a miraculous diving INT where he had to get his hands – including that injured hand – under the football to secure the INT and lock up the win with 5:16 left. What a gutsy performance by a guy who wasn’t even here till after training camp. To me, that play epitomizes this team. It’s not about yourself. It’s about the team. And nobody displayed that more Sunday night than Gardner-Johnson.
2. This Cowboys defense was the biggest challenge Jalen Hurts has faced in his young career, and, wow, did he ever answer. That’s a really big-time defense that came to the Linc Sunday. And Hurts was just in command from start to finish despite being under seige for much of the second half. He made all the throws, made the right decision every snap, once again made no major mistakes and just really took exactly what was given to him. He didn’t force anything and just saw the field incredibly well. He’s just so calm when there’s chaos around him, and his teammates feed on it. He’s playing the game at such a high mental level right now, and he has the physical ability to execute what he wants to do. Hurts finished 15-for-25 for 155 yards with two passing TDs, no turnovers once again and a 104.6 passer rating – highest by far this year against the Cowboys. Hurts has now won nine consecutive regular-season starts, and this one might have been the most impressive.
3. That 13-play, 75-yard touchdown drive that gave the Eagles some breathing room midway through the fourth quarter was an absolute masterpiece. The 20-point lead had dwindled down to three, the Cowboys had just put together two long TD drives, the Eagles had netted six yards on their first two drives of the second half, the crowd at the Linc was getting skittish, and Lane Johnson and Landon Dickerson were both sidelined. OK, go score. And they did. I really liked the concept of the drive, which was to run, run and run some more with all three backs and with Hurts – 10 of the first 11 plays of the drive were runs – and then hit ‘em with a couple passes, a 22-yarder from Hurts to Brown and the 7-yard TD to Smith that let everybody start breathing a little bit. There was a lot working against the Eagles on that drive, but the o-line opened up some nice holes for the running backs, and Hurts made two huge throws at the end. Biggest drive of the year.
4. Loved the way Shane Steichen mixed up his running backs. Boston Scott got the first carry, then Miles Sanders got one, then Kenny Gainwell got two in a row, including a big nine-yarder. And then those three guys rotated throughout the game, and they all made plays. And if we don’t know who’s getting the ball next, the Cowboys sure don’t know. All three running backs have different sizes and shapes and skill sets, and every way you can be unpredictable makes you tougher to defend. Sanders ran really hard and finished 18-for-71 with a touchdown,…
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