ARLINGTON, Texas — These two teams really, really do not like each other. That often makes for some great football and entertainment, and just as they didn't disappoint in their first matchup — the regular season opener at Lincoln Financial Field — the Dallas Cowboys and Philadelphia Eagles also put on a show in Week 12 at AT&T Stadium.
Headlines? There was no shortage of them. After all, it was the first time the Eagles faced a Cowboys' defense that featured All-Pro defensive tackle Quinnen Williams and linebacker Logan Wilson, and only their second time facing DeMarvion Overshown, the latter having returned from injured reserve just last week; and who racked up 11 tackles and two sacks a little more than one year ago.
For the Cowboys, it was about trying to keep an Eagles' defensive line at bay that, unlike in Week 1, had Jalen Carter present and accounted for alongside Jordan Davis, and with newly-acquired edge rusher Jaelen Phillips manning the outside and trying to ruin Dak Prescott's day to keep CeeDee Lamb and George Pickens from wrecking shop.
They couldn't, and Pickens led the charge, along with the Cowboys' defense to do the unthinkable after going down 21-0 in the first half.
Wow.
[Note: This list is unranked.]
George Pickens
Need a play, call on George. Pickens was again in monster form (registering his second-consecutive 100-yard game with a touchdown) and for an offense that again couldn't find a groove due to penalties and other self-inflicted wounds. But when Prescott needed a big play the most, there was Pickens to deliver to move the chains on multiple occasions and to produce the Cowboys' first touchdown of the day — late in the second quarter — ultimately helping to lift Prescott to the aforementioned franchise record. And his otherworldly 43-yard catch over multiple defenders was something to hang in The Louvre, Prescott then running it in to cap a 21-0 run by the Cowboys to tie the game ... then delivering a chunk play for the Cowboys on the eventual game-winning drive that put them deep into Eagles' territory.
Dak Prescott
No, it wasn't pretty and Prescott had to claw his way into the history books against a worthy Eagles' front that intercepted him in the end zone in the first half. But, ultimately, the All-Pro took the throne from Tony Romo as the Cowboys' all-time leader in passing yards, a franchise mark once held by Troy Aikman, and that alone is enough to land him on this list for Week 12, but he wasn't done there. The rushing touchdown to tie the game and the deep ball on the free play to CeeDee Lamb were all guts, all glory.
Javonte Williams
The lone mistake for Williams was a sack allowed on Prescott but, other than that, he was a force that kept the Cowboys' offense moving by tearing off chunks of yardage when he wasn't doing the heavy lifting in both short yardage and in how his critical red zone block in the late third quarter bought Prescott enough time to find Brevyn Spann-Ford for a touchdown that made it a one-possession game.
Jake Ferguson + CeeDee Lamb
It was mostly a quiet game for Ferguson, until it wasn't. His 12-yard reception on the drive that led to Pickens' touchdown was a thing of beauty, considering he caught it short before turning around and carrying multiple defenders forward for a 12-yard gain, and that's the kind of bully ball the Cowboys love to see. For Lamb, most of the first three quarters was forgettable due to a rash of drops, but a heave from Prescott deep down the right side
KaVontae Turpin + Brevyn Spann-Ford
Speaking of redemption, Turpin's fumble was costly in the first half, to say the least, but on 1st-and-10 from the Eagles 24-yard line with a little more than two minutes remaining in the second quarter, and with Philadelphia set to get the ball after halftime, there was Turpin taking a toss up the middle and blasting off for a 48-yard gain. It helped set up Jake Ferguson's bully ball reception and Pickens' touchdown to cut the lead to two scores; and Spann-Ford cut it to a one-possession game as the third quarter came to a close — the second-year tight end showing he can impact games, too.
The Defensive Line
A rough showing by the defensive line in the first half gave way to one hell of a showing in the second half as they helped to put the clamps on the Eagles' offense.
Hurts often found himself under far more pressure in the third quarter and beyond, and in large part due to the efforts of Dante Fowler, Jadeveon Clowney, Quinnen Williams, Osa Odighizuwa and Donovan Ezeiruaku — with help from others as well, such as the key forced fumble by Sam Williams with the Eagles threatening to retake the lead with under eight minutes to play in regulation (recovered by Kenneth Murray). Credit to the entire unit for bouncing back in a major way staring down the barrel of a 21-0 deficit and never giving up, as evidenced by Odighizuwa's sack on Hurts with 13-yard sack on 3rd-and-2 just after the two-minute warning to put the ball back into Prescott's hands in a tie game.
Markquese Bell + Alijah Clark + Trent Sieg
Last week, there was Bell grabbing an interception after a tip drill caused by Murray. This time around, he was showing off his power when he flat-out blasted the returner along with Clark to jar loose fumble that was recovered by long snapper Trent Sieg who hustled his entire backside off to the get to the ball. The offense couldn't turn the takeaway into points, but Bell, Clark and Sieg did their job and then some.
Brandon Aubrey
A rare miss by Aubrey earlier in the game is made well by the swing of the boot by Aubrey that won the game and capped off a franchise-tying 21-point comeback win, taking them to 5-5-1 on the season, a victory over the defending champs to split the 2025 series and the first two-game win streak of the year. When Aubrey needed to be butter, he spread it on thick.
