The Dallas Cowboys beat the Philadelphia Eagles 38-21 on Monday night, October 26 at Lincoln Financial Field, riding a career high 155 rushing yards from Javonte Williams and three touchdown passes from Dak Prescott. The win ends a two game losing streak, moves Dallas to 3-4 and keeps the Cowboys inside the NFC East race.
Philadelphia falls to 2-5 with a fifth straight defeat, and the injuries are now as big a story as the results. The Eagles started without quarterback Jalen Hurts and wide receivers DeVonta Smith and Dontayvion Wicks, then lost both of their running backs during the game. For three quarters this was a genuine contest, with six lead changes. In the fourth quarter, Dallas simply ran the ball until Philadelphia had nothing left.
Williams Runs Through The Eagles
Dallas called more runs than passes, 38 carries against 27 throws, and finished with 204 rushing yards and 416 total yards. Williams did the heavy damage, carrying 25 times for his career high 155 yards and scoring the touchdown late in the fourth quarter that closed the scoring at 38-21. He is the first Cowboys runner to reach 150 yards in a game since Ezekiel Elliott in 2018, and Philadelphia’s defence, which recorded zero tackles for loss all night, never found a way to get him on the ground behind the line.
Head coach Brian Schottenheimer had been criticised for abandoning the run in the second half a week earlier. This time there was no such debate. Dallas leaned on its ground game from the opening drive, when Brandon Aubrey kicked a 55 yard field goal, and kept leaning on it after Saquon Barkley opened the scoring for the Eagles with an 8 yard touchdown run. The Cowboys won the third down battle as well, converting 8 of 13 while Philadelphia managed 5 of 12, and that control of the downs let them dictate the tempo of the second half.
Schottenheimer kept his postgame message short.
“Had nothing to do with desperation. Our guys just played good.”
Prescott Delivers On A Night Dallas Needed Him
Prescott finished 15 of 27 for 212 yards and three touchdowns without an interception. He found CeeDee Lamb for a 9 yard score in the first quarter, hit George Pickens from 21 yards in the second, and then produced the decisive sequence late in the third quarter. After rookie Makai Lemon caught a 4 yard touchdown from Tanner McKee to put Philadelphia ahead 21-20, Prescott answered with a 16 yard touchdown pass to Lamb and ran in the two point conversion himself for a 28-21 lead that Dallas never gave back. Lamb caught five passes for 74 yards and two touchdowns, and Pickens added four catches for 57 yards and a score.
The quarterback understood exactly what the night was worth for a team that had lost two straight and heard a week of noise about its coach.
“We say the division’s right in front of us. It is as long as we win.”
Aubrey’s second field goal of the night, from 24 yards early in the fourth quarter, stretched the margin to ten points before the Williams touchdown finished the job. Dallas’s defence chipped in as well. DeMarvion Overshown intercepted McKee in the second half, and the Cowboys sacked the Eagles quarterback twice.
Philadelphia’s Season Slips Further
McKee, starting for the second straight week in place of Hurts, went 23 of 35 for 211 yards with a touchdown and an interception. Lemon gave him one bright spot, catching seven passes for 67 yards and his first NFL touchdown. Almost everything else on the Eagles sideline was about who was no longer available. Barkley, returning after missing two games with a hamstring injury, scored on his return and ran seven times for 62 yards, but left the game with a back injury. Dameon Pierce added 14 carries for 47 yards and a 5 yard touchdown before leaving in the fourth quarter with an undisclosed injury.
Five straight losses have turned the Eagles from contenders into a team chasing its own season. The offence is missing its starting quarterback, two receivers and now possibly both running backs again. The defence gave up 204 rushing yards without a single tackle for loss. There is no single fix available to head coach Nick Sirianni, and the schedule will not wait for the treatment room to clear.
The Division Picture
Dallas stays within reach of the New York Giants, who lead the NFC East at 4-2-1. One road win does not repair everything about the Cowboys’ start, and an offence that scored a combined 29 points across its previous two games still has questions to answer. But Monday showed the version of this team that can win in its division: physical at the line, patient with the run, and clean at quarterback. Philadelphia, meanwhile, leaves its own stadium at 2-5, and the gap between these two rivals looks far wider this morning than the standings alone suggest.
