PHILADELPHIA – Don’t count out the Dallas Cowboys just yet.
Riding the back of Ezekiel Elliott and a clutch defense, the Cowboys pulled off a shocker and stunned the Philadelphia Eagles 27-20 in a thriller on Sunday night at Lincoln Financial Field.
Elliott rushed for 151 yards, caught six passes for 36 yards and scored two fourth-quarter touchdowns, including a 1-yard plunge with 3:19 remaining that held up as the game-winner.
Dallas’ defense sealed the deal by stopping two last-gasp Eagles drives in the final three minutes.
It was a resilient performance that may have saved the season for Dallas (4-5) and at least temporarily quieted the noise about the job status of coach Jason Garrett.
On the flip side, the result turns up the heat on the defending Super Bowl champions (4-5), who have yet to win consecutive games this season – and dropped their third consecutive home game.
Three other things we learned:
1. Garrett pulled out a few stops: The much-maligned Cowboys coach operated as though his coaching life depended on winning. In the second quarter, he called for a fake punt on fourth-and-2 from the Dallas end of the field – and the Cowboys converted with a snap to up-back Jeff Heath. Very risky. And very successful, as it kept alive a long field goal drive – 14 plays, 8:09 – that extended the lead to 6-zip.
2. Digging for Gold(en): Needing a boost for a sagging offense, the Eagles had definite designs to quickly integrate Golden Tate into the flow. He caught Carson Wentz’s first pass on a hitch. Wentz twice threw for Tate on crucial third downs that fell incomplete – a red-zone play in the first half and a deep throw early in the second half that was forced against tight coverage. Then Tate, obtained from Detroit just before the trade deadline, was on the receiving end of a hook-and-lateral from Zach Ertz that was good for 11 yards and helped set up a field goal. And with Darren Sproles yet to return, Tate supplanted Corey Clement as the punt returner.
3. Sometimes, only Zeke can stop Zeke: Elliott provided a serious highlight on his 32-yard run in the second quarter when he broke through the line up the middle and hurdled Tre Sullivan in the open field. He seemingly gave himself a clear path to the end zone, except for one small detail. Elliott stumbled and fell just 8 yards shy of the goal line, essentially tripping himself.
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