Wentz and the Eagles Keep Soaring, Beat Cowboys
Tony Dungy may have said it best on Sunday Night Football when he stated, "The Eagles can beat you in a lot of ways." That's exactly what happened Sunday night.
Even with no kicker at their disposal, the Eagles couldn't be stopped. The Philadelphia Eagles lost kicker Jake Elliott due to a head injury and even though they couldn't attempt an extra point or a field goal, Carson Wentz and the Eagles found a way to beat down the Dallas Cowboys, 37-9.
After a sluggish first half, the Eagles outscored the Cowboys with 30 unanswered points in the second half to cruise to their NFL best 9th victory and 8th straight (the most consecutive wins for the Eagles since 2003-2004). Wentz said the Eagles offensive line came out angry after the first half as they effectively ran over the Cowboys while the Eagles defense kept Dallas at bay all night, forcing four turnovers from Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott, which included three interceptions and a sack-fumble.
After an opening drive field goal from Dallas, Wentz led the Eagles right back down the field on an 8-play, 75 yard drive that ended in a Kenjon Barner 4-yard touchdown run to take a 7-3 lead. However, the Eagles offense would struggle for the most part in the rest of the first half. Two more Cowboys field goals gave them a 9-7 lead at the half as the Eagles looked to make adjustments. They did just that.
After losing their kicker to injury, the Eagles looked to the running game to take over and they pounded the ball at the Dallas defense in the opening drive of the second half, finished off by a Corey Clement 11-yard run for a touchdown to make it 13-9. Clement then ran in the 2-point conversion on an option from Wentz to make it 15-9. They never surrendered the lead from there.
The next Eagles possession saw them go 90 yards on just 5 plays. A combination of Jay Ajayi and LeGarrette Blount runs drove the Eagles to the Dallas 11-yard line when Wentz found Torrey Smith on the first of his two touchdown passes to make it 21-9. A 2-point conversion was successful from Wentz to Alshon Jeffery to make it 23-9.
The Eagles would score on their third straight possession to open the second half. Facing a 4th and 5 at the Dallas 17 yard line and without a kicker to attempt a field goal, the Eagles would not only convert, but score on a 17-yard throw from Wentz to Jeffery over the middle. to make it 29-9.
On the ensuing Dallas possession, Prescott was stripped on a sack-fumble and Nigel Bradham returned it 37 yards for the touchdown to make it 35-9 before Wentz hit Trey Burton on the two-point conversion to make it 37-9.
Wentz finished 14 of 27 for 168 yards and 2 touchdowns, but the Eagles running game made the biggest impact, rushing for 215 yards on 33 carries. Ajayi finished with 91 yards on just 7 carries, Blount had 57 yards on 13 carries, and Clement added 50 yards on 6 rushes.
The Eagles defense was not so instrumental as they allowed just 225 total yards of offense to the Cowboys. Prescott was just 18 of 31 for 145 yards and his 3 interceptions (all 4 turnovers belonged to him).
The Eagles improve to an NFL best 9-1 and they will host the Chicago Bears (3-7) next Sunday at noon.