Few things feel better during the NFL season than celebrating a Dallas Cowboys win over the Philadelphia Eagles.
Recent events, and likely social media beefs between content creators and fans, have made the Eagles the Cowboys’ recent most hated rival.
Remember the Bounty Bowl back in the 90’s?
The football world just seems better when both of these teams are good, and banging helmets when they both have much to lose standings wise.
My series continues today with my second favorite Cowboys versus Eagles matchup.
To view my third and fourth ranked, utilize the following links:
My second favorite Cowboys win over the Eagles needed overtime to be decided.
Let’s dive in.
When: October 30, 2016
Where: AT&T Stadium, Arlington, TX
Final Score: DAL 29, PHI 23
Back Story
The Dallas Cowboys entered 2016 with Super Bowl aspirations despite posting their worst record (4-12) since 1989 the season prior.
Tony Romo twice broke his clavicle during 2015, derailing the season after the quarterback carousel was unsuccessful.
Romo’s fragility would again rear it’s head in preseason.
In the dress rehearsal game in Seattle, Romo was tackled from behind.
His legs got caught out in front of him, and his torso folded forward along with it.
The result was a broken bone in his back, and he was ruled out for several weeks.
With backup QB Kellen Moore already sidelined with an injured foot, rookie 4th round compensatory pick Dak Prescott was thrust into a starting role.
Prescott started his career with a narrow home loss in the opener to the New York Giants.
A boneheaded play by WR Terrance Williams with no timeouts left kept K Dan Bailey from attempting a long field goal for the win.
Since that loss, Prescott and the Cowboys rolled off five straight wins leading up to the clash with the Eagles.
That five game streak included impressive road wins at San Francisco and Green Bay.
Dallas was fresh off of a bye week, and ready for the battle with their rivals from Pennsylvania.
As for the Eagles, they also were starting a rookie quarterback.
Carson Wentz was taken with the 2nd overall pick in the same draft as Prescott.
This would be the first matchup between the two.
No one knew at the time, but their careers would take completely different trajectories.
The Eagles stood at 4-2, with narrow losses to the Detroit Lions and division rival Washington Redskins.
First place in the NFC East a third of a way through the season was at stake.
Game Summary
Dallas won the toss, and elected to receive.
After gaining a 1st down, Prescott was sacked.
It put Dallas behind the chains, and forced them to punt the ball away.
A short punt setup Wentz and the offense at the 38 yard line.
In one play they were in Dallas territory, but the drive stalled on 4th & 4 and Philadelphia punted.
A 12 men on the field penalty against the Cowboys gave Wentz a new set of downs.
The drive ended in a Caleb Sturgis field goal for a 3-0 lead.
Dallas’ second drive was a quick one.
Highlighted by a 53 yard completion from Prescott to WR Dez Bryant, Dak rumbled into the endzone himself from seven yards out to cap off the drive.
A quick 3 & out gave the ball right back to Dallas.
With momentum, 47 yards on three plays by RB Ezekiel Elliott got the Cowboys inside the Eagles 30 yard line as the 1st quarter ended with Dallas leading 7-3.
2nd Quarter
The drive stalled after an incomplete pass on 3rd & 5, and ended with a Dan Bailey 38 yard field goal.
Facing a 3rd & 9, Wentz completed a 10 yard pass for a 1st down.
An offensive pass interference penalty put Philly behind the chains, and Wentz was sacked by DE Tyrone Crawford on 3rd & 11.
The ensuing punt pinned Dallas at their own five yard line.
Prescott and the offense couldn’t convert on 3rd & 9.
A short punt by Chris Jones setup the Eagles at the Cowboys’ 45 yard line halfway through the 2nd quarter.
Wentz and the offense worked their way inside the Dallas 10, and a defensive holding penalty on CB Byron Jones gave them a new set of downs at the four yard line.
Two plays later and RB Ryan Mathews punched it in from a yard out.
The game was now tied at 10, and Dallas started their drive from their own 25 with 3:45 left in the half.
Prescott moved the offense down the field to the Eagles seven yard line with big plays of 17, 11, 23, and 16 yards.
On 2nd & goal, Prescott made his first mistake of the day.
Trying to hit WR Brice Butler on a slant in the endzone, he failed to see LB Jordan Hicks sitting in zone coverage.
Hicks made the interception in the endzone for a touchback.
In the hurry up offense, Wentz completed six of seven passes to setup Sturgis for a 55 yard field goal that he pushed through the uprights.
In a quick 10 point swing, the Eagles now led 13-10 at the half.
3rd Quarter
The 3rd quarter started with a punt by each team.
Philadelphia started their second drive of the half at their own 31.
A mix of Wentz passes and RB Darren Sproles running the ball got the Eagles to the Dallas 11 yard line.
On 3rd & 4 from the five yard line, Wentz threw the first touchdown of his career against Dallas to Jordan Matthews.
The Eagles now had scored 17 unanswered points on their way to a 20-10 lead with 6:22 left in the 3rd quarter.
Dallas needed to answer to avoid falling further behind.
Instead, they gained only two yards on three plays and faced a 4th & 8 from their own 27.
Punter Chris Jones pulled the ball down and sprinted to the left side of the formation, gaining 30 yards to the Eagles 43 yard line.
With a new set of downs, Prescott drove Dallas to a 1st & goal from the Eagles seven yard line.
The drive stalled, and they settled for a Bailey field goal, bringing the score to 20-13.
On the ensuing kickoff, Eagles returner Josh Huff found a seam and ran 53 yards to the Cowboys 35 with under a minute left in the quarter.
4th Quarter
Wentz and the offense couldn’t take full advantage of the short field, and settled for another Sturgis field goal and a 23-13 lead.
Dallas faced a 3rd & 15, and went into their bag of tricks once again.
Prescott threw a bubble screen to WR Cole Beasley, who then threw it downfield to Williams.
The ball grazed his outstretched hands, and Dallas had to punt after just three plays.
On the first play of the Eagles next drive, Cowboys DT Terrell McClain knifed through the offensive line.
Eagles RB Wendell Smallwood took a handoff from Wentz, and had the ball punched out by McClain before he even gained his footing.
It was recovered by Crawford at the Philadelphia 36.
Another 3 & out by Prescott and the offense resulted in another Bailey field goal to bring the score to 23-16.
The Philadelphia offense again drove all the way down the field.
Facing a 3rd & 8 from the 30, the Dallas defense came up with a huge play.
Wentz threw a swing pass to Sproles that LB Sean Lee read perfectly, and made the tackle for a six yard loss.
Not wanting to risk a long field goal, Philadelphia elected to punt.
From the 10 yard line, Prescott and the offense went to work.
Prescott hit Beasley for 12 yards and a 1st down.
Ezekiel Elliott sprung free for a 63 yard gain, but it was called back for a holding call on C Travis Frederick.
Dak was not deterred.
A 15 yard pass to Dez. 10 yards to Beasley. 19 yards to Butler. 10 yards by Zeke. A 12 yard run by Prescott.
One incomplete pass, and then a 22 yard strike to Dez in the endzone to tie the game up at 23 with 3:11 left in the game.
That touchdown drive by Dallas ended the scoring in regulation.
Overtime
Dallas won the toss to receive the kickoff in overtime.
The Eagles would not touch the ball again.
Prescott took control, and 11 plays later after big gains by Beasley and Williams plus a 4th & 1 conversion on a QB sneak, Dallas was inside the Eagles five.
On 2nd & goal out of the shotgun, Prescott dropped back and scrambled around for nearly six whole seconds.
He pivoted to the left and looked downfield.
Jason Witten was standing alone in the endzone, and made the game winning catch.
It was just Witten’s second catch of the day, but it was the most impactful play of the game.
Season Results
The Cowboys continued their winning streak up to 11 games before finally suffering a loss in Week 14 at the rival Giants.
Dallas would finish the season 13-3, and sport the most dynamic rookie pair in the league behind Dak and Zeke.
Even with the #1 seed and a 1st round bye, Dallas would lose in heartbreaking fashion to Aaron Rodgers and the Packers in the Divisional round.
The Eagles would go on to miss the playoffs after losing five of their remaining eight games.