The Dallas Cowboys and the Philadelphia Eagles squared off on Sunday afternoon for the first of two regular season matchups.
It’s not a usual thing for me to actually feel good after a loss, especially to our most hated division rival.
Despite that, I feel good today.
Don’t get me wrong. There’s a reason I didn’t sit to write about the game until the day after.
Immediately following the end of the game, I was swimming in a bucket of mixed emotions.
So many close plays that all seemed to go the Eagles way had me feeling a little angry with the football gods, and in some ways, the officiating.
Be that as it may, the end result is a 28-23 loss at Lincoln Financial Field, catapulting the Eagles to an 8-1 and NFL best record, and dropping the Cowboys to 5-3.
Today, I want to go over some positive aspects of the Cowboys play that should bring confidence to fans.
Not only for the rematch with Philadelphia in a month, but also for Dallas’ prospects in the NFC as a whole.
Let’s dive in.
Dak Prescott Is Back
Sunday afternoon’s version of Dak Prescott is the player we have been waiting to show up all season.
Prescott finished the game 29/44 for 374 yards and three touchdown passes.
He threw 66% completions, did not turn the ball over at all, and once again chose great moments to scramble out of trouble.
Dak took full advantage of the susceptible Eagles’ secondary, which still features cornerbacks Darius Slay and James Bradberry.
Over the past three weeks, Prescott is averaging 317 yards passing on 72.2% completions with nine total touchdowns and just one interception.
Our concerns about Dak and the passing offense should be placed on the back burner because he is playing lights out.
Dallas has a stretch of four games that they will be favored in each of them.
If Prescott can keep this up, Dallas will be in good shape for the playoffs, but also can make it interesting in the NFC East race.
CeeDee Lamb
Going hand in hand with the previous silver lining, WR CeeDee Lamb had a career game on the other end of Prescott’s passes.
Lamb increased his receiving total for the third straight game, and set a new career high for the second game in a row.
He finished with 11 catches on 16 targets for 191 yards. He didn’t find the endzone, but seven of his receptions resulted in a first down.
Lamb moved the chains on the average Eagles secondary all game long, and even broke free multiple times on the last drive of the game.
CeeDee’s play has reached another level over the last three games after receiving criticism from the media about possibly not being a WR1.
I think they have their answer, as his last three games have catapulted him into the top five of receiving yards with 874 in just eight games.
The four players above him have all played nine games.
If this version of Lamb continues, Jerry Jones might weep when opening up his checkbook for his new contract.
Jake Ferguson
I can’t mention the passing attack without also mentioning Jake Ferguson.
The Cowboys tight ends have left something to be desired for the most part this year, but Ferguson is quickly turning into a viable weapon for the offense.
Ferguson received a career high in targets (10), tied a career high for receptions (7), and set a career high for single game receiving yards (91).
Five of his seven catches went for a first down, as he and Lamb combined to move the chains 12 times out of the team’s total 27 first downs.
I won’t go as far as validating the Ferguson to Travis Kelce comparison, but I will say that he is quickly molding into a reliable playmaker on this offense.
Interior Offensive Line
One of the biggest concerns headed into this game was whether or not the interior offensive line could hold up.
The Eagles have an interior defensive line rotation of four monsters.
Fletcher Cox, Jalen Carter, Jordan Davis, and Milton Williams give the Eagles the best interior defensive line rotation in football, and they can all wreak havoc.
For Dallas, Tyler Smith, Tyler Biadasz, and Zack Martin played an outstanding game holding up versus that fearsome foursome.
The Eagles interior combined for six tackles, one sack, zero tackles for loss, and three QB hits.
Carter, who is among the league leaders in pressure rate, was stonewalled by Tyler Smith, and generated just one pressure on Prescott.
The rushing attack is a different story, as Dallas only managed 73 yards on 21 attempts, but the pass protection on the interior was stellar.
Rush Defense
After surrendering 170 yards rushing to the 49ers, the concern was high going up against another rushing attack on the same level as San Francisco.
However, the defense answered the call, holding Philadelphia and their 7th ranked rushing attack to 109 yards on 33 rushes.
The 3.3 yards per carry and the total yardage were well below the Eagles’ averages, and forced them to throw the ball.
Micah Parsons
One of the best parts of the game was how Dan Quinn used Micah Parsons.
Parsons was utilized all over the field instead of locking him down on one side at defensive end.
Nick Sirianni and the Eagles put pressure on Parsons last year, running right at him and double teaming his pass rushes.
In two games last season, Parsons was held to just one pressure, one hurry, zero sacks, and was visibly frustrated.
Yesterday afternoon, Parsons registered the highest pressure rate of all players in the game, and was rewarded with 1.5 sacks on Jalen Hurts.
It appears Quinn has found out the best way to use his star player against a Hurts led Eagles offense, and the rematch in a month will be something to see.