ARLINGTON, Texas – Unbelievable!
No, wait, hold on. Unbelievable x 2.
And that = Cowboys 24, Eagles 21.
After all the hoopla leading into this basically nationally-televised Sunday afternoon game here at AT&T Stadium, the excitement building exponentially after the Cowboys wiped out the Las Vegas Raiders a week ago Monday, pumping some life into a sagging season, but 4-5-1 with seven games to play – though cynicism piling on from all corners and evidently Cowboys fiscally responsible fans heading into the holiday season selling tickets to the rabid Eagles fans, to the point you couldn't tell from the cheers if it was something good for the home team or not – then this happens.
First possession of the game, Cowboys go for it on fourth-and-3 at midfield. Incompletion. Turnover on downs, Eagles taking advantage of a short field, boom, boom, boom, 7-0.
Second possession: Cowboys three and out. Worse, after an apparent Eagles three and out, head referee Bill Vinovich did not see the Cowboys' Ryan Flournoy tip the Eagles punt before running into punter Branden Mann, plus-15 yards. And in no time, when seeming obvious on second-and-goal from the Cowboys' 7-yard line and the Eagles going empty, no surprise quarterback Jalen Hurts scores on a quarterback draw, 14-0.
Third possession: After driving to the Philly 31, KaVontae Turpin slips down taking a handoff from Dak Prescott. His left arm carrying the ball grazes an offensive lineman's knee. Fumble. Eagles recover. Six plays later, Eagles 21, Cowboys naught. Hurts scoring on, of course, a tush-push following a 41-yard stupendous DeVonta Smith catch to the Cowboys' 11.
Fourth possession: Cowboys drive to a second-and-goal at the 5-yard line, Dak Prescott intercepted by Reed Blankenship in the end zone on a crossing-route pass intended for CeeDee Lamb. Touchback.
Seriously? Really?
"We were only hurting ourselves," Dak would say in retrospect.
No kidding.
This had to be the worst start to a Cowboys game in my recollection since that 1994 start to the NFC Championship Game in San Francisco against the 49ers, the Cowboys turning the ball over on their first three possessions of the game: three plays, Aikman intercepted for a touchdown return; three plays Michael Irvin fumble, leading to a touchdown; kickoff, Kevin Williams fumbles, setting the Niners up for a third touchdown.
Just 7:33 left in the first quarter, 21-0 Niners, and despite a valiant comeback effort, the Cowboys drawing within 31-21, that seven-minute stretch was insurmountable in the 38-28 loss.The Niners danced on the Cowboys' two-time defending Super Bowl champs grave on their way to an eventual Super Bowl victory.
The Eagles, too, must have thought they were dancing on the Cowboys' 2025 grave, about to beat them a second time this season after a 24-20 season opening win. They were on their way to dropping the home team to 4-6-1, taking a five-game lead in the win column over the NFC East's second-place team.
But, hey there, buddy boy, not so fast.
Unbelievable II was about to rise out of those premature ashes.
You saw it. Why, 93,068 people personally witnessed it. Guess millions with mouths gaping wide open saw this, too. The Cowboys, and in somewhat imperfect fashion, score 24 consecutive points on a defense that gave up just nine points to the high-scoring Lions and but seven points to the offensive-minded Packers in narrow wins over the previous two weeks.
My gosh, where was the Eagles' Big Dom when head coach Nick Sirianni needed him, the Cowboys matching a franchise high by wiping out the 21-point deficit for the fourth time to win a game, the last time coming in 2014. So long ago the Rams were still in St. Louis.
The Cowboys scored three touchdowns to tie the Eagles at 21 despite, of all things, Dak being intercepted on a second-and-goal from the 5-yard line, a Brandon Aubrey missed 51-yard field goal – his first miss of the season from less than 60 yards – and also turning the ball over on downs after reaching a fourth-and-goal at the Eagles 1, Cowboys head coach Brian Schottenheimer eschewing the go-ahead field goal as he should have with just 3:38 to play in a tie game.
Oh, no.
Ha, the Cowboys spit into the wind and lived to celebrate. First Osa Odighizuwa, the defensive tackle who carried the No. 94 flag onto the field during pregame starter introductions in memory of fallen teammate Marshawn Kneeland, on a third and-two from the Eagles 37-yard line records the Cowboys only sack of Hurts right after the 2:00 warning, forcing an Eagles punt.
Then Dak. Remember what was written here on Friday about the Cowboys seemingly fleeting chances of arising from 4-5-1 ashes to still compete for a playoff spot after burying themselves, pointing out the Cowboys have Dak and nobody else does? He strikes with 1:35 left.
To that point, Dak had completed 18 of 33 attempts for 314 yards, two touchdown passes, a 1-yarder to George Pickens and a 4-yarder to Brevyn Spann-Ford, and performed a forward somersault into the end zone from 8 yards out for a rushing touchdown.
But here goes the now Cowboys' all-time franchise leader in passing yards, passing Tony Romo in this game, Dak completing a 7-yard pass to tight end Jake Fergson and then on third-and-2, a 19-yard pass to Ferguson to reach a first-and-10 at the Eagles 46. Yet Dak telling me at that point they wanted "maybe 10 more yards" to reach a more reasonable distance for Aubrey.
Ha, how about 24 more yards, a beauty of a strike to Pickens, and that then is three for three for 40 more yards, to finish 21 of 36 for 354 yards, two TDs and a QB rating of 103.2 to finish the game. Can you say NFC Offensive Player of the Week … maybe … for taking down the Eagles?
That completion to Pickens to the Eagles' 22 with 14 seconds left set up Aubrey's walk-off 42-yard field for the one of the most improbable Cowboys wins.
That's right, for … the … win, the Cowboys refusing to give up.
"He's one of a kind, man," Schottenheimer said of Dak.
So is Pickens. After a nine-catch, 144-yard, one-touchdown performance against the Raiders, Pickens goes nine for 146, another touchdown and, get this, catches of 43 yards, 24 and 23. Phenomenal.
Or as Schotty said, "George doesn't surprise me at all," knowing his receiver already has1,054 receiving yards with still six games to play.
Maybe neither should this defense now be surprising. After giving up those 21 consecutive points, and not all on a group going into the game ranked 30th overall in yards and 31st in points allowed, these guys battened down the hatches. They shut out the Eagles the rest of the way, blanking them over seven consecutive full possessions and denying another with a forced fumble recovery on an Eagles punt return, limiting the defending Super Bowl champs to just 143 second-half yards. Why, they held Saquan Barkley to just 22 yards rushing and for the second straight game forced an offense to plain abandon the run. The Eagles finished with just 63 yards rushing – their third fewest of the season – and only attempted eight runs in the second half.
As Dak most appropriately said, "Start with our defense. They gave us a chance to come back and win the game."
Yep, all of them, offense, defense, special teams, breathed life into this season. Now 5-5-1, the Cowboys were winners of back-to-back games for the first time all season, including a win against a team with a winning record for the first time, and Dak himself also added to his dominance of NFC East teams here at AT&T Stadium (22-2). And right now, still with the 10th best record in the NFC but now with teams backing up, the Cowboys are just 1½ games behind San Francisco (7-4) for the third wild-card spot.
"We just found a way to win that game," Schottenheimer said. "That was pretty sweet. And then for me, I love walking in the locker room and hearing the music and the guys dancing. It was great because I don't know if you guys have seen it, but they had the Marshawn Kneeland flag (No. 54) up there in the locker room. And they were dancing, holding it, and he's always going to be with us. We drew strength from him, like we always do.
"And I think most of them had a death grip on it, and they took turns passing it around."
That there, for me, is "believable," much deserved, maybe no adversity this bunch can't hurdle.
