DALLAS — Wins just feel better when they come at the expense of your rival, and for the Dallas Cowboys, beating the Philadelphia Eagles 33-13 in Week 14 felt extra special.
The Cowboys won in every phase of the game with quarterback Dak Prescott leading the offense to elevate his MVP candidacy, kicker Brandon Aubrey continuing his unprecedented streak as a rookie for special teams, and the defense forcing three turnovers behind veteran cornerback Stephon Gilmore’s turn back the clock performance.
After humiliating the Eagles, the Cowboys now have an impressive list of streaks going; they have won five straight games, they have beaten the Eagles six consecutive times at AT&T Stadium, and they now own a 15-game home winning streak. Head coach Mike McCarthy has also led the team to a third straight double-digit win campaign, something that hadn’t been seen around here since the early 1990s dynasty years.
Here’s what else we learned about the Cowboys in their dominant win over the Eagles:
They can beat good teams
The narrative about the Cowboys coming into the last few weeks has been that, while they’ve been beating bad teams, they wouldn’t dominate against a top opponent. Last week the Cowboys beat the Seattle Seahawks, who were over .500 at the time, and in Week 14, they beat the Eagles, who were owners of the best record in the league at 10-2.
Dallas didn’t just win, they dominated Philadelphia, just as they have almost every team that’s been in their path during their five-game winning streak. The 20-point margin of victory was the fourth 20 or more-point win that the team has had during their streak. It was also the sixth 20+ point win in their seven home games, as well as the eighth time that the Cowboys have won by over 20-points on the season.
Yes, the Cowboys have beaten up on bad teams, but they just also crushed an Eagles team that came into the game as the top seed in the NFC. This contest looked exactly like all the other nine wins for McCarthy’s group, who proved that they can blow out the good teams too.
Tackling helps hold Eagles offense in check
One of the things that makes the Philadelphia offense so dangerous is they have athletes who excel at running after the catch. The Eagles rank 10th in the league in yards gained after the catch and roughly one-third of wide receiver A.J. Brown’s yards this season have come after his receptions.
With tight end Dallas Goedert returning for this game, the Eagles got another playmaker back, who eats up yards after the catch. To the Cowboys’ credit, they did an outstanding job of tackling in the win.
Cornerback DaRon Bland had big stops early to limit damage on short passes, and Gilmore’s big fourth down stop saw him make a tackle in the open field to prevent Eagles wide receiver DeVonta Smith from getting a critical first down. The rushing defense did allow 106 yards on the ground, but they didn’t give up any explosive plays, limiting the Eagles to a long run of 11 yards.
Dan Quinn’s defense came to play, and they didn’t miss many tackles, forcing the Eagles to sustain drives. They couldn’t do that without making mistakes and it’s a big reason for why the Cowboys walked away victorious.
McCarthy shows trust in his kicker
It seems unfathomable to believe it now, but there was a time when the Cowboys didn’t appear to have a reliable kicker. Dallas signed Aubrey out of the USFL in the offseason, a kicker who had never kicked in an NFL game before this season. After an admittedly shaky training camp and preseason, the rookie went on to miss his first attempt.
Fortunately for the Cowboys, that miss was an extra point following the season’s first touchdown. From there, Aubrey hasn’t missed a field goal try in 30 attempts to start his career. While the number is impressive, even more unbelievable how the rookie has made it look so easy, and from long distances.
Against the Eagles, Aubrey made all four of his tries, three of which were from 50+ yards, and that included a 60-yard kick.
McCarthy didn’t hesitate to put his kicker in to attempt the long kicks, knowing that any miss would give the potent Eagles offense great field position. Late in the third quarter, it seemed as though McCarthy was fine with a long field with the Cowboys well behind the chains on third-and-25. The coach didn’t ask his quarterback to try to pick up a big chunk of yards, instead opting for a few yards to give Aubrey a chance at the 59-yard kick. Aubrey nailed the kick, giving Dallas a late 14-point lead.
McCarthy continues to trust his rookie kicker, and Aubrey continues to come through. As the saying goes, find someone who believes in you the way McCarthy believes in Brandon Aubrey.
Cowboys’ unique double-dip stops Eagles from double-dipping
One of the reasons that the Eagles have been good at coming from behind this year is because they have often done the double-dip, scoring at the end of the first half, while getting the ball to begin the second half and scoring again. The Cowboys didn’t allow that to happen in this contest and added a unique double-dip for themselves.
Dallas got the ball to start the game and scored a touchdown, then also got the ball late in the second quarter and scored another touchdown before half.
What made the scoring drive at the end of the first half so important was the offense also managed to bleed the clock so the Eagles didn’t have a chance to answer. The Cowboys’ scoring drive just before halftime went eight plays and 75 yards in 1:28 seconds. If the offense doesn’t pick up the first down on third-and-six with 0:51 remaining in the half, the Eagles could have scored to make the game closer before half.
Instead, the Cowboys’ touchdown led to an 18-point lead after the first 30 minutes and stopped the Eagles from grabbing any momentum going into the third quarter. The defense did their part on Philadelphia’s first possession of the second half by taking the ball away on a fumble.
Dallas not only scored to stop the double-dip, but they prevented any scoring at the crucial points of the game. That’s smart situational football. The Cowboys never allowed the Eagles to grab the momentum at either end of the halves and it paid off.
Do you think the Cowboys have proven themselves to be among the NFL’s elite in 2023? Share your thoughts with Ben on Twitter @BenGrimaldi.