Eagles Dismantle Division Rival to Clinch the NFC East
The Philadelphia Eagles had to resort to their backup quarterback in their second bout of the year against the Dallas Cowboys, but the results were about the same as the first. With Jalen Hurts out due to a concussion suffered the week prior, Kenny Pickett was jolted into his place. Pickett grew up an Eagles fan, and he got the pleasure of defeating their longtime rival to help his hometown team clinch the two seed in the NFC along with the NFC East title.
The now 13-3 Eagles cruised to a 41-7 victory, propelled by an impressive 31 carries for 167 yards by Saquon Barkley and four forced turnovers by their defense, one of which was an opening drive pick-six by star safety C.J. Gardner-Johnson. Kenny Pickett had some impressive throws but did not have to use his arm all too much, completing ten of his passes on fifteen attempts for 143 yards with one passing touchdown and one rushing touchdown. Barkley continued his unreal season with his new squad, surpassing 2,000 rushing yards becoming the ninth NFL player in history to hit that clip.
On the other side of the ball, there were not as many positive notes unless your name was Rico Dowdle. Dowdle eclipsed 100 yards for the fourth time in the past five games. He averaged 4.5 yards a carry on 23 carries for 104 yards. Elsewhere, the offense struggled big time. Ceedee Lamb’s absence loomed large for Cooper Rush, only completing 54% of his passes for 147 yards, two interceptions, and one touchdown to Jalen Tolbert, which was then preceded by 34 unanswered points by the Eagles. Even their kicker, Brandon Aubrey, who has had a fantastic season, failed to convert his only field goal attempt in garbage time.
Yet another embarrassing loss from the Dallas Cowboys puts their record at 7-9 with only one more week to go. Mike McCarthy’s role in the organization remains in jeopardy, and it is becoming harder and harder to find bright spots on the season. It is never a good look to be swept by a division rival, but the Cowboys look to end the season on an upward note by sweeping a different division foe in Week 18, the Washington Commanders.
