Dak Prescott threw a career-high five touchdown passes against the Philadelphia Eagles backups, Cedrick Wilson and Dalton Schultz each had two scoring catches, and the Dallas Cowboys kept their slim hopes for a No. 2 seed in the NFC playoffs alive with a 51-26 victory Saturday night.
The Cowboys still had seeding to play for against an Eagles team that rested Jalen Hurts and other key starters ahead of an NFC wild-card game next week. The NFC champion Cowboys (12-5) need losses Sunday by reigning Super Bowl champion Tampa Bay against last-place Carolina, and also for the Los Angeles Rams and Arizona Cardinals to lose to earn the No. 2 seed. There also is a path to the No. 3 seed for Dallas. The Cowboys can’t finish worse than the fourth seed as NFC East champions. Meanwhile, the Eagles (9-8) could still finish with the sixth seed if the 49ers and Saints lose on Sunday.
Prescott stayed in the game until the fourth quarter. The lead increased seemingly with each throw and leaving Cowboys fans nervous for the risk of injury to a QB nearly 15 months removed from the gruesome compound fracture of his right ankle that ended his 2020 season. Prescott did his best to get an offense that routinely produced at least 400 yards during a 6-1 start back on track headed into the playoffs following a two-year absence. He was 21 of 27 for 295 yards and no interceptions. Fortunately, he came out unscathed and with the Cowboys’ record for touchdown passes in a season with 37. Tony Romo held the previous record when he threw 36 TD passes in 2007. Prescott threw an 8-yard touchdown pass to Corey Clement early in the fourth quarter to make it 37-20 to break the record and, mercifully for the Eagles, he was removed from the game at that point. Prescott got his record in the 17th game this season but remember that he did miss the Vikings game so take nothing away from this accomplishment.
Playoff seeding aside, staying sharp, piling up points, and yes, roughing up a hated NFC East rival, were all needed high points for the Cowboys. Regardless of the fact that the Eagles didn’t have much to play for, were depleted by injuries and illness, and so they treated the game like a preseason finale. Eagles starting QB Jalen Hurts, with 3,144 yards passing and a team-high 784 yards rushing, got the night off. So did tackle Lane Johnson, cornerback Darius Slay and 11 more players on the reserve/COVID-19 list. Gardner Minshew started for Hurts and, at least early on, it looked like Minshew Mania was alive and well again. He threw a 3-yard touchdown pass to Tyree Jackson on the opening drive which was the first catch of Jackson’s career. The score sparked an “E-A-G-L-E-S!” chant from fans across the street at the Flyers game after a replay was shown on the big screen. The Philadelphia Eagles didn’t give anyone in green much reason to chant and cheer the rest of the game. Prescott sucked the energy out of the stadium early. He hit Wilson for TD receptions of 14 and 24 yards in the first half and then connected with Schultz twice over the final 1:45 of the half for a 30-17 lead. Schultz became only the fifth player since 2000 to catch two touchdown passes inside the final 2 minutes of the first half.
Already a sparse crowd because of the low stakes and lower temperatures, Eagles fans fled for the exits at the half. Ito Smith and JaQuan Hardy scored in the fourth quarter to help the Cowboys set an NFL record for the most players to score a touchdown in a single season at 22. The milestones were reached with the benefit of an extra game regular season game but was a notable accomplishment never the less. Next week, the Cowboys are hoping to bring some of the momentum from this victory into the playoffs. Fans had mixed reactions to the Cowboys insisting on playing most of their available starters; but, whatever transpires next week will determine in their minds if it was the right call or not.
*Photo by Joe Glorioso; https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/legalcode