Eagles 34-40 Cowboys: What a game! CeeDee Lamb scores two touchdowns as Dallas leads in the fourth quarter … but Philadelphia still leads NFC East despite the second loss
Dak Prescott threw for 347 yards and three touchdowns, Brett Maher kicked the go-ahead field goal late and the Dallas Cowboys defeated the Philadelphia Eagles 40-34 on Saturday.
Gardner Minshew threw two scoring passes and had a TD run replacing the injured Jalen Hurts, but his second interception set Maher’s go-ahead.
Four days after his speech at his college coach Mike Leach’s memorial service, Minshew had Philadelphia 19 yards from a potential touchdown in the closing seconds, but his desperate pass into the end zone in fourth-and-tenth place was nowhere near a receiver.
Dallas QB Dak Prescott led his team with three TD passes and 347 yards in a win over Philadelphia
The NFL-leading Eagles (13-2) had two turnovers in the last five minutes and missed a chance to top the NFC in a matchup of the division’s playoff rivals.
Dallas, the NFC East champions, had faint hopes of catching them.
A win or loss for Philadelphia against Dallas (11-4) in their last two games would seal home field advantage for the Eagles in the NFC playoffs.
The Eagles had many chances to end it all in that game, but instead their five-game winning streak was halted. And they got off to a strong start when defensive end Josh Sweat caught an ill-advised throw from Prescott and ran 42 yards for a touchdown and an early 10-0 lead.
It was a top game for WR DeVonta Smith, who caught eight passes for 113 yards and 2 TDs
TY Hilton’s first catch on his Dallas debut was a 52-yarder in third and 30th that set up CeeDee Lamb’s second touchdown with a 7-yard pass for a 34-34 tie with 5:49 left.
Rookie cornerback DaRon Bland took the ball away from Philadelphia receiver Quez Watkins for Minshew’s second interception, leading to Maher’s 48-yard kick for a 37-34 lead.
The Cowboys had to settle for Maher’s fourth field goal after Miles Sanders bungled the first game of the Eagles’ next possession.
Minshew needed a touchdown to win and put the Eagles to the Dallas 19-yard line with a 22-yard completion against DeVonta Smith, who had two touchdown catches.
It was a back and forth game for both teams, who had 861 total yards of offense
After Minshew spiked the ball to stop the clock, he threw two incomplete shots. He was never released in sacks against the league No. 2 but was under heavy pressure in the crucial game and had to throw the ball deep.
Dallas won by the same score a week earlier as an overtime loss in Jacksonville. Despite that loss, the Cowboys secured a playoff berth a few hours later when the New York Giants defeated Washington.
Prescott had his first 300-yard game of the season and recovered from Sweat’s interception on his third pass to go 27-of-35.
Minshew threw for 355 yards and completed 24 of 40 passes in his first start of the season after Hurts sprained his right shoulder in the win against Chicago last week.
Dallas’ defense accumulated four takeaways, including that crucial interception that resulted in a point
Despite having to play without their MVP nominee, the Eagles released Minshew Tuesday to speak for Leach at the service. The 61-year-old Mississippi State coach, who died of complications from a heart condition, was Minshew’s Washington State coach.
Lamb had 100 yards in a half for the first time in his three-year career, finishing with 103 before the break en route to 10 catches for 120 yards.
Smith had eight catches for 113 yards and AJ Brown added 103 yards on six grabs for Philly.
Kicker Brett Maher was the clutch for the Cowboys, who went 4-on-4 on both field goals and extra points