By Matthew Kaplan
In a game that came down to the wire, the game was not as close on the box score as it was on the scoreboard. The Cowboys, on both sides of the ball, out-classed the Eagles. Dallas had the ball for a total of 45 minutes and 33 seconds, they had twice as many first downs (32-16) and twice as many yards (576-256). Prescott, despite throwing two interceptions, played well when it counted, finding Cooper three times between the fourth quarter and overtime for touchdowns. Cooper would also catch seven more passes for a grand total of 10 catches, which would gain him 217 yards. Then to add insult to injury, Elliot would run the ball 28 times and catch 12 balls for a grand total of 192 yards. Ultimately, the Cowboys stars would be the main reason for the Eagles downfall, 29-23.
While the Cowboys will look to take this win into next week as they go into Indianapolis to battle the Colts, the Eagles will chew on this while they take a trip to L.A to take on the Rams. In my opinion, the Eagles biggest issue in this game was not the defense, Carson Wentz, the offensive line or the injuries. The biggest issue for the Eagles was the lack of patience in the run game. They only ran the ball 14 times. Adams (our best back right now), only touched the ball seven times. When Adams did touch the ball, it moved as he had a yards per carry average over five (5.14 per carry). Considering it was a close game the whole time, a run game could have made a difference.
In the big picture, the Eagles now need a miracle to win the division. They will now move the focus more to the Wild Card race, which means they need wins and they need the Vikings and/or the Seahawks to struggle down the home stretch. As of right now, the magic number for losses by either of those teams is two. That is assuming the Eagles win out. Luckily for us, they do play each other tomorrow night on ESPN in a big Monday night match-up.
