Jalen hurts, Eagles defense bombards Cowboys with next matchup against Commanders

ARLINGTON, Texas − The Eagles accomplished all of their intended goals to get them ready for their NFC East showdown on Thursday night.

They overcame a sloppy first half to beat the team Dallas Cowboys 34-6 on Sunday, ending their six-game losing streak at AT&T Stadium dating back to 2017.

They were able to rest many of their key players, including quarterback Jalen Hurts and running back Saquon Barkley, who survived an elbow injury late in the first half, not to mention wide receivers AJ Brown, DeVonta Smith and tight end Dallas Goedert. , among others.

And the Eagles improved to 7-2 by winning their fifth straight game. They took first place in the NFC East with a half-game to spare after the Washington Commanders (7-3) lost to the Pittsburgh Steelers 28-27. Coincidentally, the Eagles play Washington on Thursday night at Lincoln Financial Field.

The Eagles have all the momentum to bury a Cowboys team that was without QB Dak Prescott.

“That’s always important,” Eagles coach Nick Sirianni said of getting his players rest. “Every time we can do that – it’s been three times in the last four weeks. That’s right. I mean, that’s three-quarters now and … that’s huge going into this (Commanders) game. We know we have a tough game coming up.

“We had fun here for a while, but we know we’re playing a short week against a really good opponent. And we have to get our minds and bodies right.”

Well, it wasn’t much fun in the first half for the Eagles’ offense, as the Eagles were clinging to a 7-6 lead until Hurts hit Dallas Goedert on a 14-yard touchdown pass with 23 seconds left.

That started a charge that saw the Eagles score the final 27 points of the game.

A lot of that was due to the defense forcing five turnovers. The Cowboys lost four fumbles before QB Trey Lance threw an interception in the fourth quarter.

Linebacker Zack Baun forced two of the fumbles, recovered another and led the Eagles with eight tackles. And really, the defensive resurgence over the five games is as responsible for the Eagles’ winning streak as a dynamic offense led by Hurts, Barkley, AJ Brown and company.

Sure, the Eagles have averaged 29.4 points per game during their winning streak. But the defense has held each of their opponents to less than 300 yards in every game, the team’s longest streak since 2008.

The Cowboys, led by overmatched QB Cooper Rush, had just 146 yards on Sunday.

And the Eagles have scored 33 fewer points than their opponents over the past five games, the most in the NFL.

“I’m mostly familiar with the linebacker room, but the entire defense has been such an emphasis in practice, and that’s where everything starts,” Baun said. “I’m just taking those habits into the game. I’m glad we’re seeing things appear in the game.”

It certainly made up for the offense in the first half.

Hurts committed his first turnover in four games in the first half. He threw his first interception in five-plus games and tried to hit Goedert in the end zone on the first play of the second quarter. Then he lost a fumble late in the first half, on a play in which Barkley said he hurt his elbow diving for the ball in a pile.

Barkley sat out that final TD drive of the first half, but returned to start the second half.

Hurts was also sacked five times in the first half, but none at all in the second. He finished 14-for-20 for 202 yards with 2 touchdowns. His passer rating was 115, his fifth straight game above 100. Barkley had 66 yards rushing on 14 carries, his lightest workload of the season.

Barkley was grateful for that after a turnover-rich first half.

Rush started the silliness by fumbling a shotgun snap to start Dallas’ second possession and Milton Williams recovered at the Cowboys’ 17. Hurts capped that drive with a 1-yard push.

Then Hurts threw an interception, but the Cowboys couldn’t capitalize on it. The Cowboys were about to take the lead in the second quarter when running back Rico Dowdle threw the ball away at the Eagles’ 5.

Hurts returned the favor a few plays later when Micah Parsons forced a fumble on a sack the Cowboys recovered at the Eagles’ 6. But the Eagles held Dallas to a field goal and stayed ahead, 7-6.

“It means everything,” Hurts said of the defense that saved him. “It’s a complementary ball in the sense that one phase of the team has the other phase behind it. I totally own that. I’m very aware of what was going on, on the (Trevon Diggs interception). He made a great catch, and the (fumble, Parsons) caught me at a bad time. I had one hand on the ball, I have to protect the ball better.”

Ultimately, the Eagles took control. They extended their lead to 21-6 when Hurts hit rookie Johnny Wilson in the back of the end zone with 8:52 left in the third quarter. Hurts ran the ball in from the 8, giving the Eagles a 28-6 lead with 2:56 left in the third quarter.

Even edge rusher Bryce Huff got in on the action late in the third quarter with a sack of Rush, which the Eagles recovered on Dallas ’21. They settled for a field goal and added another field goal after another Cowboys fumble in the fourth quarter. .

“The beauty of it is we still haven’t scratched the surface,” Barkley said. “That’s kind of scary. We have to stop saying that. We have to start putting things together. I’m looking forward to the challenge this week.

“I mean, we just beat Dallas by 28 points, and we’re still sitting here saying we didn’t do enough. That’s the mentality we have to continue to have… We haven’t played that great.” on offense, and we look up, and we still won 34-6.

And a well-equipped one.

Contact Martin Frank at [email protected]. Follow on X @Mfranknfl.