The Dallas Cowboys took care of their division-rival Philadelphia Eagles on Monday Night by beating them easily 41-21. It was an absolutely brilliant showing for Dallas with Dak Prescott doing his thing under center and the Cowboys’ stepping up big time on defense. Meanwhile, Philadelphia folded under the bright lights in Big D. The Cowboys were big winners and there were also many Cowboys players who stood out as winners. Here is a list of winners (and losers) from the Dallas Cowboys Week 3 victory over the Philadelphia Eagles.
WINNERS
DALTON SCHULTZ
The former Stanford star had a tremendous 2020 campaign, catching 63 passes for 615 yards, while filling in for the injured Blake Jarwin. Now that Jarwin is back, many fans expected him to have a reduced role as a receiver but that has not been the case. He continues to look the part of TE1 on this team and he along with Jarwin provide a solid 1-2 punch at TE for the Cowboys.
COWBOYS RUN GAME
Ezekiel Elliott and Tony Pollard are looking like an elite duo in back to back games now. The two backs combined for 237 total yards last week against the Chargers and followed that up by putting up 137 total yards of offense in the first half alone against the Eagles.
TREVON DIGGS
Trevon Diggs is blossoming into a star in his second season with the Dallas Cowboys. He has recorded an interception in each of the 3 games the Cowboys have played so far this season. New defensive coordinator Dan Quinn has made quite an impact already this year and Trevon Diggs may be benefiting the most from that coaching change. Diggs has always been considered a play maker with exceptional ball skills but he is also emerging as a shut down corner. He got the better of both of his former Alabama teammates, WR Devonta Smith and QB Jalen Hurts. His pick six off of Hurts early in the third quarter pretty much sealed the victory for the Cowboys.
DAK PRESCOTT
Prescott was emotional in his first game at home since suffering a season ending injury at AT&T stadium last year. Despite his emotions running high, he remained poised, calm, and collected. The newly-extended, 2 time Pro-Bowl Quarterback ended up completing 21-of-26 passes for 238 yards with three touchdowns with no interceptions in the 41-21 win. Dak did fumble in his own endzone resulting in a defensive touchdown for the Eagles early on but he marched his team right back down the field on the next drive. On that drive, Prescott ending up scoring a touchdown on a 4th down sneak, but it was mistakenly called a turnover on downs by the referees. That bogus call did not keep Dak Prescott and the Dallas Cowboys out of the endzone for long though, as they scored on their next possession. Dak’s performance against the Eagles was a continuation of what has been a stellar start to his 2021 season. It appears that Dak has gotten even better since being sidelined with the ankle injury last season. Dak has the Dallas offense looking like a force to be reckoned with in the first three games of the season. If Dak can continue to play at such a high level and the Cowboys keep winning games, he could cement himself firmly in the MVP conversation moving forward.
LOSERS
CONNOR WILLIAMS
Connor Williams continues to be a sore spot for the Cowboys offensive line in my opinion. There may be some fans that disagree with that assessment but even they can’t argue that Monday night was not his best performance. Williams was called for three holding penalties and struggled against the might of the Eagles interior defensive line. Javon Hargrave and Fletcher Cox can cause a lot of problems and second year center Tyler Biadasz also had difficulty containing those two monsters, but Williams needs to be better. Despite the stellar play of Zack Martin and Tyron Smith and the great improvement shown by Terence Steele, if there is even one weak link on the offensive line opposing teams will be able to take advantage.
*Photo by Joe Glorioso; https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/legalcode