The reigning NFC champion Philadelphia Eagles stood comfortably atop the conference again throughout the first three months of the 2023 NFL season. A second consecutive blowout defeat, though, has relegated Philly to Wild Card territory for the time being.
Quarterback Dak Prescott threw for 271 yards and two touchdowns, kicker Brandon Aubrey nailed all four of his field goal attempts, and the Dallas defense forced three opportunistic turnovers in a 33-13 Cowboys drubbing of the Eagles on Sunday Night Football. With the win, Dallas has taken control of the NFC East.
At least for now.
Both squads stand at 10-3 as Week 14 comes to a close. The Cowboys currently hold the tiebreaker with an extra NFC East victory on its resume and sit in NFC's No. 2 seed as a divisional leader. Philly, meanwhile, falls to the No. 5 seed after Sunday night's loss. But the Eagles still control their divisional destiny. And they can claim the division for the second season in a row by winning out in their final four games. But the time for mistakes is running out.
"I think the biggest thing for this team now is really [to] find out who the dudes are," Eagles defensive lineman Fletcher Cox said postgame. "And that's always the case. And I've been part of teams where the dudes in the locker room do something about it. And I've been a part of the team where, you know, it kind of crumbles. But now it's time to see the real leadership. The real players. The guys that [are] elite on this team, myself included, step up and do something about it. Get this team another win."
A five-point Eagles win over the Cowboys on November 5 pushed Philadelphia to an NFL-best 8-1 with plenty of room above a 5-3 Dallas team. But that game marked a turning point.
The Cowboys have won five games in a row since that first meeting, including a win in the rematch, and have outscored their opponents 40-17 on average in those games. Prescott has thrown 15 touchdowns compared to only one interception while averaging just under 300 passing yards per game in that stretch.
The last few weeks haven't been as kind to the Eagles.
Philadelphia overcame 10-point halftime deficits to beat the Kansas City Chiefs and Buffalo Bills in the two games following the first Dallas matchup. Then the San Francisco 49ers blew out the Eagles in Philly, 42-19, in a rematch of last season's NFC Championship Game. And a second attempt at beating "America's Team" didn't go so well.
Dallas jumped out to a 24-6 halftime lead with four consecutive first-half scoring drives. And this time, a Philadelphia comeback attempt was short-lived. Rookie defensive tackle Jalen Carter ran back a Cowboys fumble early in the second half for the only Eagles touchdown of the night. The only scoring the rest of the night on either side came from Aubrey, who became the first kicker in NFL history to nail two field goals from at least 59 yards in the same game.
The win was Dallas' 15th consecutive at AT&T Stadium, where the Eagles haven't won since 2017.
"You don't win without some type of adversity," said Eagles QB Jalen Hurts, who threw for 197 yards, ran for 30, and had one of the three costly Philly fumbles. "That's just the name of it. We'd love to come out here and be perfect. But perfection is only an illusion. It's about challenging yourself, learning from your mistakes, and getting better. We all have to be better. That starts with me. That starts with me, the quarterback. That starts with me as a leader. The tone that I set. I embrace that challenge."
The challenge, as Hurt put it, in front of the Eagles is simple—win out, and clinch the division and, at worst, a home playoff game.
Philadelphia has the easiest remaining schedule in the NFL by opponent winning percentage. None of its remaining opponents currently stand above .500. The Eagles are back in primetime next week at the Seattle Seahawks (6-7) before facing the New York Giants (4-8) twice, sandwiched around a meeting with the Arizona Cardinals (3-10).
Four wins against NFC opponents, including two divisional victories, would give the Eagles the tiebreakers needed to edge Dallas, even if the Cowboys win out. But that's no guarantee. Dallas' next three games are against playoff contenders. Prescott and company are on the road against AFC East opponents—Buffalo Bills (7-6) and Miami Dolphins (9-3)—the next two weeks. Then a home meeting with the 9-3 Detroit Lions awaits before closing out the season with the Washington Commanders (4-9).
The Eagles will need some help to reclaim the No. 1 seed. The 49ers (10-3), who have defeated the Eagles and Cowboys by at least 23 points, sit there for now after five consecutive wins.
But Philly fans can take comfort that the Eagles can still overtake the Cowboys despite Sunday night's humbling defeat. But other things may be gnawing at the Philadelphia faithful. A defense that ranks 28th in points allowed per game and toward the bottom of the league in a variety of other categories would fit that description. As would an offense in the bottom half of the NFL in turnovers, combined with a defense that doesn't take the ball away often.
There are plenty of holes to fill for the Eagles over the last month of the regular season. Now the focus is on filling them.
"That adversity has made a lot of us in that locker room where we are today, and we've got to remember that," Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni said. "We've got to internalize that...and make sure we get better from it."
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