The Dallas Cowboys may have fallen 24-20 to the Philadelphia Eagles last night, but the numbers tell a different story.
Dallas went toe-to-toe with one of the NFL’s most complete teams, and their performance showcased why they remain legitimate playoff contenders in 2025.
Balanced Offense Keeps Dallas in the Fight
Dallas actually outgained the Eagles in total yards, finishing with 307 compared to the Eagles’ 302.
Dak Prescott threw for 188—several drops hurt this total—spreading the ball to CeeDee Lamb, George Pickens, and Jake Ferguson, while the ground game added another 119 rushing yards.
That balance forced the Eagles to respect both phases of the offense, keeping Dallas competitive all night.
The Cowboys were also efficient in key moments, converting 7 of 11 third downs (64%) while avoiding sacks behind an offensive line that continues to gel.
Even in defeat, the ability to move the ball consistently against an elite defense proves Dallas’ offense is playoff-ready.
Defense Holds Up Against Philly’s Strengths
Defensively, Dallas limited Philadelphia to just 144 passing yards, keeping Jalen Hurts uncomfortable throughout the night.
The Eagles leaned heavily on the run game, piling up 158 rushing yards, but Dallas countered by holding them to just 4.9 yards per play, slightly lower than the Cowboys’ 5.5 yards per play average.
Trevon Diggs, DaRon Bland, and Kaiir Elam kept big plays in check, while the front seven generated pressure without surrendering huge passing gains. That type of defensive toughness will be crucial in January football.
Missed Opportunities and Costly Penalties
Where the Cowboys lost control was in the margins.
Philadelphia controlled the clock with 34:52 in time of possession compared to Dallas’ 25:08, wearing down the defense late.
Penalties were also a major difference—Dallas was flagged four times for 42 yards, while the Eagles committed nine penalties for 110 yards, yet the Cowboys couldn’t fully capitalize.
A fumble in the second half stalled momentum, and missed red-zone chances ultimately swung the outcome. Those are mistakes that can be cleaned up as the season progresses.
The Big Picture
Despite the narrow defeat, the Cowboys proved they can go stride-for-stride with the defending NFC and Super Bowl Champions.
Outgaining Philadelphia in total yards, winning third downs, and holding up defensively are all signs of a team capable of making noise in the playoffs.
The scoreboard may have favored the Eagles, but the performance confirmed one thing: the Dallas Cowboys are built for a postseason run.
I agree with most of everything you said!! Well I guess everything, I just wanna point out that if it wasn’t for Miles Sanders fumbling the ball at the 10 yard line and Ceedee dropping those easy catches, we would have won that game!! I’m sure that if Sanders didn’t fumble, we would have scored a touchdown on that drive, so we would’ve been up 27 – 24, and then one of Ceedees biggest drops came where we would have been in the 20 to 25 yard range and ready to score again, but the way the defense came out, I wouldn’t say we would’ve scored a touchdown for sure, but being at the 20 or 25 yard line, it’s guaranteed to be at least 3 points, so if Ceedee catches that pass, we would’ve been up at least 30-24 and possibly 34-24!! I’m not gonna count the other drops from Ceedee because if we scored on the fumble play, and then scored again on the Ceedee drop, then I don’t think we would have played the same way after that, so things would’ve been different, and Ceedee wouldn’t of had that last drop on 4th down because with the lead and just over 2 minutes left in the game, we wouldn’t have went for it on 4th down, we would’ve just punted the ball away!! But after all that, we should’ve won that game by at least 6 if it wasn’t for the mistakes, so I think as long as we clean up those mistakes, like you said, we’re gonna make some noise in the playoffs!!
And after seeing how good we played Thursday nite, I would like to see what people are predicting our record to be at the end of the year now!! A lot of people were saying that we would be lucky to win 8 games, but after the game we played Thursday, I wanna know what they think now!! I thought from the beginning that we could still win 11 or 12 games this year, and I’m gonna stick with that prediction!! But again, I still wanna know what the downers think now that they know this team isn’t as bad as they thought it was!!
Have the Cowboys fired Sanders yet?? I bet if Jimmy Johnson was the coach Sanders would be looking for another team by now! As far as CD goes I think he is a good player but in my opinion ….not an elite player! I keep wanting on the day when I can call him an elite player!