The Eagles blew a massive chance on Christmas Eve to clinch the No. 1 seed.
The Eagles lead by 10-0, 27-17 and had the Cowboys in a 3rd-and-30 situation but couldn’t hold on in a 40-34 loss, a crushing defeat that at least makes their path to No. 1 a little less clear.
The bottom line is the Eagles will almost certainly still get the No. 1 seed, but so many things went wrong on Saturday night that it is hard to feel as overly confident as that reality should make one feel. Jalen Hurts is already injured. Lane Johnson left the game with an injury. AJ Brown was slow to get up after a low hit. Avonte Maddox and Jordan Davis were ruled out with injuries during the game.
So while the team will likely still end up with a first-round Bye, the really is they will once again need to put their starters on the field next week against New Orleans after blowing a chance to clinch the No. 1 seed and end their regular season.
There is plenty of blame to go around for his loss, starting with Jonathan Gannon’s defense, but for now here is a recap of what happened:
4th Quarter: Cowboys
Minshew made one of his best plays on the game at the start of the 4th quarter when on 3rd-and-10 from the Dallas’ 49-yard line he rolled to his left to avoid pressure and found DeVonta Smith 19-yards down the field for a fresh set of downs. He stepped up again on the next third down, finding AJ Brown over the middle on 3rd-and-6 to get the Eagles down to the Cowboys 12-yard line. His final clutch play of the drive came on 3rd-and-7 when he found Smith again despite pressure from nine-yards out for the touchdown, giving the Eagles a 34-27 lead.
The Eagles seemed to be off the field on the next play when they got Dallas into 3rd-and-30, but Prescott completed a 53-yard pass down the sideline to T.Y. Hilton. The conversion was killer as the Cowboy went from needing to punt to tying the game up four plays later, 34-34.
After making so many clutch throws on the previous drive Minshew and the offense turned it over on the next possession. The pass was thrown in the direction of Quez Watkins and it should have been completed, but the ball went through his hand and was ripped away for an interception. The defense stepped up, however, forcing a Dallas field goal as opposed to touchdown and keeping the game in reach.
The offense, however, kept giving the game away. On the next drive Miles Sanders fumbled the ball and it was recovered by Dallas with just 2:07 to play.
Eagles offense got down to the Cowboys 19-yard line on the next possession but couldn't convert on 4th-and-10 to end the game.
3rd Quarter: Eagles 27, Cowboys 27
The Eagles opened up the third quarter with Nick Sirianni and Shane Steichen putting on a clinic. The offense marched down the field before eventually going for it on 4th-and-3 from the Cowboys 14-yard line. The play was a beauty — a fake handoff that eventually lead to a wide-open DeVonta Smith in the end zone. There was no defender within 10 yards of Smith who pulled in the easy touchdown to give the Eagles a 27-17 lead. The execution on the play was flawless and a sign of how this team is clicking on all cylinders right now.
The execution the next time the Eagles offense took the field, however, was not as great. A handoff between Minshew and Boston Scott was fumbled on the Eagles’ 40-yard line and recovered by the Cowboys. Minshew prevented the fumble being returned for a touchdown by tripping up Kearse, but the Cowboys offense tied the game up five plays later on a great catch by Michael Gallup from 12-yards out.
2nd Quarter: Eagles 20, Cowboys 17
The Eagles have been great at taking care of the ball this season, but started their second drive of the game — at the beginning of the second quarter — with a bad interception by Minshew. It looked like Minshew stared down Quez Watkins the whole way and the pass was picked off Kearse.
The Cowboys made the Eagles pay for the interception as they scored on the next drive. The key play was a fourth-down conversion where Darius Slay was called for illegal contact, giving the Cowboys a fresh set of downs. Three plays later the Cowboys hit on a 36-yard touchdown from Prescott to CeeDee Lamb to take a 14-10 lead.
Minshew made up for it on the next drive, making a few nice passes to get the Eagles down to the Cowboys goal line and then running it in from 1-yard out to give the Eagles a 17-14 lead. Overall Minshew was below average in the first half, missing a few open throws and having a second interception dropped, but also making a few nice passes to help the Eagles end the first half with a 20-17 lead.
1st Quarter: Eagles 10, Cowboys 7
The Eagles opening drive couldn’t have started any better — but ended with a dud. Minshew got AJ Brown wide open down the sideline after Brown badly beat Trevon Diggs with a double move for a 48-yard gain. Brown arguably should have scored on the play, considering how he is viewed as being great after the catch, but was taken down at the 11-yard line. The Eagles offense stalled after that and had to settle for a field goal to take a 3-0 lead.
For those keeping score at home of what plays Hurts does/doesn’t make a difference, it seemed like the third-down play on the opening drive in the end zone might have been a touchdown with Hurts, as Minshew had room to run it in but didn’t score.
The defense came up with one of the best plays of the season on the very next drive when Josh Sweat picked off Dak Prescott on what was setting up as a short pass. Prescott threw the ball right at Sweat, who then stiff armed the Cowboys quarterback on his way to the end zone for a 42-yard touchdown to give the Eagles a 10-0 lead.
The Eagles had a chance to get the Cowboys off the field on the next drive, but Avonte Maddox missed an easy sack on Prescott on 3rd down, who got away and completed a pass for the first down. The Cowboys scored a touchdown on the drive, pulling to within 10-7.
You can follow Eliot Shorr-Parks on Twitter at @EliotShorrParks or email him at esp@94wip.com!