The Dallas Cowboys fell short to the Philadelphia Eagles 23-28 on Sunday. But some key moments ultimately led to their demise in the loss.
Where Things Went Wrong for the Cowboys in Week 9
Calls That Were Reversed After Review
Let’s start with plays that were called back after review and changed the course of the game and the final score.
A game-changer was the touchdown pass to Luke Schoonmaker that was reversed after review.
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The Cowboys went for the touchdown on fourth down, and it ended up being called back after the review stated that the tight end had his knee down and was short of the goal line.
At this point, the score was 28-17, and the touchdown would have avoided what was to come in the final two minutes of the game.
But after, the team rallied to get the ball again and would get another touchdown by Jalen Tolbert.
The Cowboys decided to try for a two-point conversion, and Dak Prescott ran it into the end zone. Although it initially looked like Prescott barely got the ball in the end zone, after review, it was pointed out that the quarterback stepped out of bounds.
Self-Inflicted Wounds With Penalties in the Final Seconds
The Cowboys had their third-highest penalized game of the season with 10 for 83 yards.
But it was the two penalties in the last 30 seconds of the game that ultimately showed that this was a game of inches.
The Cowboys got possession of the ball with 46 seconds left in the game, and they needed a touchdown to win.
The Eagles’ defense had three costly penalties within the first three plays of that drive that pushed the Cowboys down the field 56 yards.
However, when the Cowboys were on the Philadelphia 6-yard line, Tyler Smith had a false start penalty that pushed the offense back to the 11-yard line.
Prescott was sacked by Josh Sweat in the following play, pushing them back even further from the end zone.
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But it didn’t stop there because a delay of game penalty pushed the offense back to the Eagles’ 27-yard line with five seconds left. Prescott threw a 23-yard pass to CeeDee Lamb, who couldn’t get in the end zone.
Had the ripple effect not started from Smith’s false start penalty, the Cowboys would have been in prime position to score and win the game.
Defense Didn’t Create Any Turnovers
In a very uncharacteristic game for the Cowboys’ defense, they didn’t get any turnovers from Jalen Hurts.
Hurts had 207 passing yards, and the team had 109 rushing yards.
The run defense was tested and held up well, considering D’Andre Swift only had 43 rushing yards in this matchup.
Although the unit was putting pressure on Hurts and had three sacks, four quarterback hits, and two forced fumbles, it wasn’t enough to create much-needed turnovers.
During the game, the Eagles fumbled the ball three times, all of which they managed to recover.
The defense also struggled to find the balance of playing with the right amount of aggression, as they were called for multiple penalties, giving the Eagles the upper hand during multiple critical points of the game.
After the game, Micah Parsons said the loss doesn’t change what he thinks the Cowboys can accomplish, saying, “It’s all about runs. We just gotta click at the right time and make our run.”
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