We have finally come to the end of my favorite Cowboys wins versus division rivals series.
The Commanders (Redskins) and Giants have been properly dispatched with three games each.
I could not narrow down Philadelphia to just three games, so lucky readers get the fourth game in this installment today.
To read about games four, three, and two in my rankings, utilize the following links:
The number two ranked win in my series featured a long-time Cowboy.
My number one ranked win features a Cowboy who was new to the team.
Let’s dive in.
When: December 9, 2018
Where: AT&T Stadium, Arlington, TX
Final Score: DAL 29, PHI 23
Back Story
Heading into this instant classic, Dallas sat at 7-5, and on a four game win streak.
After the offseason release of Dez Bryant, Dallas went into the season with an underwhelming wide receiver corps on paper.
The top guys on the depth chart were players who had only played in complementary roles.
Michael Gallup, Cole Beasley, and Tavon Austin rounded out the top of the depth chart.
That didn’t work out well for the offense, and Dallas headed into the bye week with a 3-4 record.
The offense was struggling, and in an effort to provide a spark, the Cowboys’ front office made a blockbuster trade for disgruntled Raiders WR Amari Cooper.
Post trade, Dallas would see the offense improve, and eventually finish the season winning seven of their last nine games.
Cooper catching passes from Dak was a breath of fresh air for Cowboys fans.
The Eagles entered the 2018 campaign as the defending Super Bowl champions.
Fun fact: Six years later, Philly fans claim one Super Bowl win in 57 years makes them the better franchise overall.
Get real, losers. Fill up your trophy case with five first.
Until then, lower your voice when you’re talking to us.
Now back to your regular scheduled programming.
Heading into this matchup, Philadelphia was sitting at 6-6 on the season, with their playoff hopes slowly dwindling.
Having already lost to Dallas in Philadelphia a month prior, the Eagles knew they needed a win to stay in the hunt for the division title.
Game Summary
Anyone out there who watched the snooze fest that was the first three quarters hopefully left their television on.
I can detail the highlights of the first three quarters in a few short sentences.
The first half featured two field goals by Cowboys’ K Brett Maher for a 6-0 halftime lead.
One of the field goals was a career and Cowboys’ franchise long 62 yarder as time expired in the first half.
The other seven drives of the half ended in four punts, an interception by Prescott, a fumble by Wentz, and a missed 45 yard field goal by Maher.
3rd Quarter
The Eagles received the second half kickoff, but punted away after a quick 3 & out.
Prescott and the Cowboys drove down the field and got inside the Eagles five yard line.
They settled for a 21 yard field goal by Maher and a 9-0 lead.
Philadelphia was again unable to move the ball on their next drive, and punted to the Dallas 14 yard line.
On the second play of the drive, Prescott was pressured and threw up a pass to Gallup that was intercepted by the Eagles’ Corey Graham.
Graham returned the ball to the Cowboys two yard line.
Carson Wentz hit WR Alshon Jeffery for the touchdown one play later.
K Jake Elliott’s kick was wide, and Dallas still led 9-6.
On the Cowboys’ ensuing drive, tough running by Ezekiel Elliott and a 17 yard pass to Cooper pushed the offense into Eagles territory.
Then disaster struck again. Prescott was sacked by Michael Bennett, and fumbled the ball away.
It was recovered by Brandon Graham, and the Eagles started with great field position at their own 45 yard line.
Philadelphia’s offense seemed to stall once again as they faced a 4th & 3 from the Dallas 49 yard line after just three plays.
Head Coach Doug Pederson elected to go for it, and was rewarded by a 25 yard pass from Wentz to RB Darren Sproles as time expired in the 3rd quarter.
4th Quarter
That Eagles drive ended with an Elliott field goal to tie the game at 9, and then the offenses finally woke up.
On the ensuing drive, Prescott completed all five of his pass attempts for 74 yards, including a 28 yard touchdown to Cooper.
A punt by each team flipped field position, and setup the Eagles at the Cowboys 47 yard line with 5:25 left in the 4th quarter.
Wentz took advantage of the field position by getting Philadelphia into the endzone on just four plays to tie the score at 16 with 3:12 left.
Dallas answered right back.
When I say right back, I mean RIGHT back.
On the first play from scrimmage of the next drive, Prescott loaded up and hit Cooper on a streak.
Cooper made the catch, eluded one defender, and out ran the other defender for a 75 yard touchdown catch to give Dallas a 23-16 lead with 3:01 left.
Scoring that quickly ended up being a bad thing for Dallas.
Wentz was able to move the offense down the field aided by two penalties for 20 yards by Randy Gregory and Anthony Brown.
On the first play after the two minute warning, Wentz hit a streaking Jeffery for 42 yards to the Cowboys two yard line.
Just two plays later, Wentz hit Sproles for a short touchdown to tie the game at 23.
With 1:39 left, Prescott was able to move the offense into Philadelphia territory, but got sacked as time expired.
Overtime
Dallas won the toss, and received the overtime kickoff.
Prescott and the offense matriculated down the field, powered by tough running from Zeke, and timely catches by Cooper and TE Dalton Schultz.
Facing a 4th & 1 from the Eagles 19 yard line, Dallas elected to go for it, and Zeke just reached the ball over the line to gain for a first down.
A few plays later, the Cowboys faced a 3rd & 7 from the Eagles 15.
Prescott fired a pass to Cooper on a slant pattern to the left side of the formation.
It was tipped up into the air by the defender, and fell right into Cooper’s hands.
He turned up the field and walked into the endzone for the game winning score.
Cooper finished the game with 10 receptions for a career high 217 yards and 3 TDs.
I’ve only mentioned Ezekiel Elliott a couple of times in this article, but I have to mention how important he was to this win.
Zeke finished with 28 rushes for 113 yards. A normal stat line for him at the time.
However, he also caught a whopping 12 passes for 79 yards to finish with 40 touches for 192 yards.
Season Results
The in season addition of Amari Cooper proved to be the springboard the Cowboys needed.
They rolled to an NFC East title, and Prescott won his first playoff game at home in the Wildcard round over Russell Wilson and the Seahawks.
Unfortunately, they would lose to the eventual NFC champion Rams in Los Angeles by the score of 30-22 in the Divisional round.
The Eagles won their last three games to qualify for the playoffs, where they would win at Soldier Field on the infamous double doink game 16-15.
The next week, they would lose in New Orleans to end their season.