If you’re wondering what it was like to watch Lane Johnson watch the Cowboys’ final drive at the rink on Sunday afternoon, just know that it wasn’t all that different from the experience on his couch.
tense.
“I tried not to look,” Johnson said. “I had my back turned. I headbutted (Jason) Kelsey, I headbutted Julio (Jones), I headbutted Connor (Berwin). Yeah, we had a dog’s headbutt. I’ve gotten older with age. I came into the game at 33 (years old) and I’m probably around 42 now.”
That’s the summary.
The Eagles defeated the Cowboys on Sunday night, final score 28-23. Tally marks appear in the win column, but this was a little too close for comfort.
By getting mired in an offensive quagmire late in this game, the Eagles needed some big defensive stops late in this division matchup. And they got it.
But chunk plays, injuries, penalties and the final snap capping off a wild game that had many Eagles fans holding their breath threw the entire game off balance.
“Soccer is an incredible game,” head coach Nick Sirianni said. “There are highs. There are lows. Sometimes you cry tears of joy. Sometimes there are tears. The last time they were in that desperate situation was obviously the previous play. It was a great job by the defensive line to put pressure on at the end of the game.”
On the Cowboys’ penultimate drive, the Eagles got some big sacks from Brandon Graham and Jalen Carter and were able to force a turnover on downs with 1:17 left in the game.
But after the Eagles converted three consecutive 3-and-outs in the fourth quarter, the Cowboys got the ball back at their own 14-yard line. With 46 seconds left, a failed two-point conversion resulted in a five-point lead. It couldn’t have ended easily.
On that final drive, both Darius Slay and James Bradberry had to leave temporarily with injuries, leaving the Eagles with Eli Ricks, Josh Jobe, and Sidney Brown at cornerback. The Cowboys were driving.
“Oh, it was crazy,” Slay said. “I saw JB go out and the next thing I knew I had to go out for a couple of plays. I got hit with a bad arm. … I had to rush back. We got into it. I had to deal with it.”
Bradbury said when he entered the blue medical tent to have his foot examined, he couldn’t see any movement but could still hear the fans. He knew that as long as the fans were engaged, the Eagles were in a good position to win.
“It was a wild drive,” Bradberry said. “It was almost like a playoff game. I was just looking forward to it.”
The biggest play of the series came when Josh Sweat sacked Dak Prescott for a loss of 11 yards after the Cowboys got the ball to the Eagles’ 11-yard line.
Sweatshirts are up to 6 1/2 bags this season, but nothing larger.
“To be honest, I’m not surprised. I’m not surprised,” Jordan Mailata said. “Swetti doesn’t get enough recognition, he doesn’t get talked about enough. I hope after this game they can start talking about him and put him up there with Micah Parsons and Myles Garrett. . Those guys are top edge rushers.”
Sweat also has a premier sack celebration. After his firing, he celebrated while wiping the sweat from his brow before Nick Sirianni and the rest of the coaching staff yelled at him to return to action.
The clock was still running and there was a game to be won.
“I had to take the congratulations. I had to take them,” Sweat said. “Everyone was like, ‘We’ve got to go, we’ve got to go!'”
After Sweat’s sack, there were still 11 seconds remaining and the Cowboys had the ball at the Eagles’ 22-yard line. Prescott threw an incompletion on the next play. Then a delay of the match occurred.
With five seconds left, his last pass to CeeDee Lamb was completed, but it was stopped by Slay and Brown at the 4-yard line. The ball actually went free and Reed Blankenship, who made a big tackle on the goal line early in the fourth, fell on top of it and sealed the victory.
Phew.
Prescott ended up throwing for 374 yards, three touchdowns, and zero interceptions. Lamb caught 11 passes for 191 yards. The Cowboys had 406 yards of offense and 27 first downs.
But what about when the Eagles had to make a stop? They did it.
“At halftime, I knew I needed treatment. Then I would need treatment full time,” Mailata said. “The defense did a great job. When we needed them, they showed up and made plays. They made plays. Shout out to the defense.”
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