The Cowboys are not in first place in the NFC East, but they will be at the end of the season, if the betting odds are to be believed.
After Monday night’s win in Philadelphia, Dallas is a +115 favorite to win the NFC East. Just behind the Cowboys are the Giants at +125. The Commanders are long shots at +800 and the Eagles are the longest shots at +1500.
Cowboys coach Brian Schottenheimer said after the game that the importance of winning on the road in the division wasn’t lost on him.
“I think it gets us right back into the hunt in the NFC East,” Schottenheimer said.
The 4-2-1 Giants have a 1.5-game lead over the 3-4 Cowboys, and the Giants beat the Cowboys in Week 1, so it might seem like the Giants should be favored. But the perception among bettors is that the Cowboys remain the better team, as they were expected to be before the season.
The Giants-Cowboys rematch is Week 17 in Dallas. The NFC East may be on the line when the two teams meet again.
Eagles Clips
Eagles running back Saquon Barkley said after Monday night’s loss to the Cowboys that he had addressed his teammates to tell them how important it is that they keep competing, even as they struggle through a five-game losing streak.
The 2-5 Eagles are long shots to make the playoffs, but Barkley reminded teammates that they can still turn the season around.
“I’m not really a big talker, to be honest,” Barkley told reporters. “Felt like the moment was right. I just, how I look at life, I feel like you just never quit. You never give up. You just keep fighting, no matter what, whatever the situation is, how it looks. And I feel like that we have the men in the locker room to do it. We put ourselves in this situation. We’ve got to get ourselves out of it. I know that I’ve got to take more of a a role of being vocal, using my voice. I’m more of a lead-by-example type of guy, but it happens when you have guys banged up.”
Barkley said quarterback Jalen Hurts is ordinarily the team’s vocal leader. Hurts is out for the season because of blood clots, and Barkley said he and some of his veteran teammates have to take it upon themselves to fill that void.
“I think we’re doing a great job leading, and we’re working our ass off,” Barkley said. “And it sucks when the results aren’t going the way you wanted to go. I’m going to sound a broken record, but I really bought into this mindset. Just got to keep believing in the process, keep working and keep going. The results may not be what we want right now, but it doesn’t matter. We’ve got to go back to work. It takes all of us.”
Barkley came into the game with a hamstring injury, aggravated it on his first run, and hurt his back while trying to play while compensating for the lack of mobility in his hamstring. But he said he’s not thinking about shutting things down to preserve his health.
“It sucks when it’s not going the way you want it to go,” Barkley said. “I truly love this game and I feel like if you’re able to go, you’ve got to push your body to the limit.”
The Cowboys saved their season, at least for another week, and the Eagles’ postseason hopes took a huge hit Monday night. Dallas beat Philadelphia 38-21 to end a two-game losing streak and move to 3-4.
The Eagles, who are decimated by injuries, have lost five in a row to fall to 2-5. They started the game without quarterback Jalen Hurts and wide receivers DeVonta Smith and Dontayvion Wicks, among others, and finished it without running backs Saquon Barkley and Dameon Pierce.
Barkley, who was returning after missing two games with a hamstring injury, left with a back injury. He had seven carries for 62 yards and a touchdown and two catches for 9 yards in limited usage before his new injury. Pierce left in the fourth quarter with an undisclosed injury after 14 carries for 47 yards and a touchdown.
The game was back-and-forth for most of the night, with six lead changes. The last came on CeeDee Lamb’s 16-yard touchdown reception and Dak Prescott’s 2-point conversion that gave the Cowboys a 28-21 lead with 1:30 left in the third quarter.
Brian Schottenheimer, whose play calling was criticized after he abandoned the run in the second half last week, called for more runs than passes. The Cowboys ran it 38 times for 204 yards and threw it 27 times for 212 yards. The Eagles had zero tackles for loss.
Javonte Williams set a career-high with 155 yards and scored a touchdown on 25 carries. He is the Cowboys’ first 150-yard rusher since Ezekiel Elliott in 2018.
Prescott was 15-of-27 for 212 yards and three touchdowns. Lamb caught five passes for 74 yards and two touchdowns and George Pickens had four receptions for 57 yards and a touchdown.
Tanner McKee, starting for the second consecutive week in place of Hurts, went 23-of-35 for 211 yards with a touchdown and an interception. Cowboys linebacker DeMarvion Overshown picked him in the second half.
Rookie wide receiver Makai Lemon caught seven passes for 67 yards and a touchdown.
Saquon Barkley missed two games with a right hamstring injury. He returned tonight, but the Eagles running back was in obvious pain for much of the night.
He is now questionable to return with a back injury.
It is his third injury of the season, with a stinger earlier this season.
Barkley has seven carries for 62 yards and a touchdown and two catches for 9 yards. He has played 10 snaps.
The Eagles are in trouble without him, now down 10 points to the Cowboys. Dallas drove 78 yards in nine plays to the Philadelphia 6 before settling for Brandon Aubrey’s 24-yard field goal.
The back-and-forth between the Cowboys and Eagles continues in the second half.
Only 4:14 after the Eagles took a 21-20 lead, the Cowboys regained it 28-21.
Dak Prescott threw a dart to CeeDee Lamb, who caught the ball in the end zone for a 16-yard touchdown. It was Lamb’s second touchdown of the night. His first covered 9 yards.
Lamb has five catches for 74 yards.
The Cowboys drove 61 yards in nine plays, converting two third downs. That included a defensive holding penalty on Riq Woolen, who was covering Lamb, on a third-and-9. The 5-yard penalty, which came on an incompletion, extended the drive with an automatic first down.
Prescott has completed 14 of 25 passes for 206 yards and three touchdowns.
He ran in the 2-point conversion to make it a 7-point lead.
Rookie Makai Lemon scored his first NFL touchdown, a 4-yard reception from Tanner McKee. That put the Eagles back in front of the Cowboys, 21-20, after Jake Elliott’s PAT.
The Eagles took the second-half kickoff and went 84 yards in 17 plays, taking 9:16 off the clock.
They converted 4-of-5 third downs and had a fourth-down conversion on the one third down they didn’t convert.
The Eagles now have 238 yards.
McKee is 14-of-22 for 129 yards and a touchdown, and Lemon has five receptions for 54 yards and a touchdown.
Saquon Barkley has touched the ball on every play he’s been on the field, with seven carries for 62 yards and two catches for 9 yards.
The Cowboys and Eagles played an entertaining first half, combining for 34 points and 429 yards. The teams scored six times in nine possessions, and the Cowboys lead 20-14 at halftime.
The Cowboys scored on four of five possessions, getting a 55-yard field goal from Brandon Aubrey, a 9-yard CeeDee Lamb touchdown reception, a 21-yard George Pickens touchdown reception and a 27-yard Aubrey field goal.
Aubrey’s chip-shot field goal came on the final play of the half, but on third down as the Cowboys left the field with a timeout in their pocket. Poor clock management cost them a chance at another play from the Philadelphia 9-yard line.
The Cowboys outgained the Eagles 275 to 154, with 18 runs and 21 passes. Dak Prescott is 12-of-21 for 174 yards and two touchdowns, and Javonte Williams has 10 carries for 67 yards.
Lamb has four catches for 58 yards and a touchdown and Pickens has caught three passes for 51 yards and a touchdown.
The Eagles scored on their first two drives, going 75 yards in only four plays and 76 yards in 13 plays. They have gotten plenty of help from the Dallas defense, which has five penalties. Four of those resulted in first downs, and three came on third- or fourth-down stops.
Saquon Barkley, who missed the past two games with a hamstring injury, has six carries for 50 yards and a touchdown. His first carry went for 29 yards and his second was an 8-yard touchdown run.
Barkley also has two catches for 9 yards.
Dameon Pierce has seven carries for 36 yards and a touchdown.
Tanner McKee is 7-of-13 for 68 yards.
Brian Schottenheimer said he wanted to see more out of wide receiver George Pickens this week. Pickens gave him a highlight-reel touchdown catch.
On third-and-3 from the Philadelphia 21, Dak Prescott threw a dot to the back corner of the end zone. Pickens, who was tightly covered by safety Andrew Mukuba, made a spectacular catch and managed to get both feet in bounds.
It was Pickens’ second catch of the night on three targets, and he has 30 yards.
The Cowboys lead 17-14 as neither defense has a stop yet.
The Cowboys have outgained the Eagles 191 to 140, with one extra possession.
Prescott is 8-of-13 for 96 yards and two touchdowns.
The Cowboys defense isn’t good, and they can’t get out of their own way either.
The Cowboys had the Eagles stopped on fourth-and-1 at the Philadelphia 44 on an aborted snap. Defensive lineman Quinnen Williams was called for offsides, though, giving the Eagles a first down.
It was Williams’ second offsides penalty in the first quarter and the Cowboys’ third.
The Cowboys stopped the Eagles on third-and-7 at the Dallas 9, too, only to have LT Overton called for roughing the passer. The rookie hit Tanner McKee in the facemask.
Dameon Pierce ran it in from the 5 on the next play.
The Eagles lead 14-10, gaining 132 yards and scoring two touchdowns on two drives.
The Eagles have ruled out wide receiver Britain Covey (knee).
The Cowboys are leaning on their run game after hearing criticism all week about their pass-happy ways last week. After Javonte Williams scored with 9:19 remaining in the third quarter against the Packers in Week 6, the Cowboys threw on 37 of 38 plays in what turned into a 23-13 loss.
The Cowboys have nine runs and six passes thus far tonight against the Eagles.
They have a 10-7 lead.
After an opening 55-yard field goal from Brandon Aubrey, the Cowboys drove 82 yards in nine plays.
Williams, who has 40 yards on five carries, and Tyler Goodson, who has 21 yards on four carries, led the Cowboys down the field.
But wide receiver CeeDee Lamb scored the touchdown on a 9-yard pass from Dak Prescott.
Prescott is 3-of-6 for 49 yards and a touchdown.
