Eagles grades: The defense dismantled the Dak Prescott-less Cowboys

ARLINGTON, Texas — Instant grades on the Eagles’ performance in a 34-6 win over the Cowboys:

Jalen Hurts struggled for a long stretch of the first half. He had two turnovers and took several sacks partly because he held the ball too long. But the quarterback rebounded and had some game-turning throws and runs as the Eagles blew out the Cowboys. All told, Hurts completed 14 of 20 passes for 202 yards and two touchdowns. He rushed seven times for 56 yards and two scores.

But after four games without a turnover, Hurts gave the ball away twice before the break. The first was a red-zone interception to Trevon Diggs in the second quarter. The Cowboys cornerback made a nice play on the ball, but it looked like Hurts’ pass was a touch behind his intended target. A few drives later, Hurts was strip-sacked. All told, Hurts was sacked five times for a total of 26 on the season. It’s at the highest rate of his career.

Hurts bounced back, though, driving the Eagles 84 yards on seven plays for a touchdown before the break. He capped the series with an impressive play — shaking the unblocked DeMarvion Overshown and tossing a 14-yard dime to Dallas Goedert for the score. Hurts scored his ninth rushing touchdown — and the 50th of his career on the ground — on a first-quarter Tush Push. After failing to convert the sneak play two times last week, the Eagles went back to their bread-and-butter short-yardage play. Hurts added another on the ground on a zone-read keep in the third quarter.

Hurts was given the night off early in the fourth quarter and backup Kenny Pickett took over.

Saquon Barkley dinged his left arm making a tackle on Hurts’ fumble. He didn’t play the rest of the first half, but returned after the break with his forearm bandaged. He helped the Eagles ice the game with some tough runs and, overall, rushed 14 times for 66 yards. He also caught one pass for an early third-down conversion in which Cowboys linebacker Eric Kendricks appeared to want no part of tackling Barkley in the open field.

Kenneth Gainwell spelled Barkley on occasion, and finished with seven carries for 30 yards. He had a nice 13-yard rush on an outside-zone run in the third quarter. On the Eagles’ first drive, Gainwell missed a blitz pickup and Hurts was sacked. Linebacker Ben VanSumeren played some fullback and had some lead blocks for Barkley in the second half.

A.J. Brown led the Eagles with five catches on seven targets for 109 yards. The receiver went over the century mark for the third time this season. He did well to find space on his first-quarter 30-yard catch and run. His 44-yard over-the-shoulder grab expanded the Eagles’ league-leading number of 40-yard-plus plays. DeVonta Smith was again underused. He caught 2 of 3 targets for 14 yards, although he did draw a holding penalty on a downfield route in the second quarter. Smith also got behind Dallas cornerback Caelen Carson on a deep sideline route before the half, but Hurts underthrew him.

Goedert returned from a three-game absence and caught two passes for 25 yards and a touchdown. He also had some key blocks in the run game. Rookie receiver Johnny Wilson scored the first touchdown of his career when he caught a 5-yard pass in the end zone in the third quarter. Jahan Dotson had a 27-yard catch in the second quarter. Dotson did well to come back to Hurts’ back-shoulder pass. With Goedert back, Grant Calcaterra returned to second fiddle at tight end. He saw only one pass come his way, but he also factored in the run game as a blocker.

Rookie receiver Ainias Smith had a couple of touches for little yardage.

Hurts was pressured a fair amount, but it wasn’t entirely because of the Eagles’ O-line. He held the ball too long, especially in the first half. Fred Johnson started at left tackle in place of the injured Jordan Mailata for a fourth straight game. He had his ups and downs — much like the previous three games — but he, ultimately, held up. He saw Micah Parsons on occasion, but the Cowboys edge rusher lined up over right tackle Lane Johnson a bunch.

Lane Johnson did an impressive job — as did the entire O-line — when he blocked Parsons on Wilson’s touchdown catch in the third quarter. Hurts had all kinds of time. Guards Landon Dickerson and Mekhi Becton had some strong combo blocks with center Cam Jurgens that opened holes on the ground. Becton got beaten by Cowboys linebacker Overshown and Barkley was dropped at the line for no gain.

The O-line, as a group, had a couple of first-half false starts. The film will tell the full story on its performance, but it’s hard to quibble with the end result.

As poorly as Cooper Rush played in place of the injured Dak Prescott, the Eagles’ pass rush had a difficult time getting to the Cowboys quarterback. A lot of that had to do with Rush getting the ball out quickly on one-read pass plays. The Eagles did record three sacks in the fourth quarter.

The defensive front was stout enough against the run, though. They held Dallas running backs to 75 yards on 18 carries. Defensive tackle Jalen Carter was a beast all game. He had a huge third-down tackle for loss on Cowboys running back Rico Dowdle near the goal line before the half. Jordan Davis continued to play mostly on run downs. He didn’t put up numbers, but he clogged the middle.

Milton Williams had a sack and came up with an early fumble recovery when Rush mishandled the snap. Josh Sweat didn’t get to the quarterback, but he did an impressive job of tackling Trey Lance on a zone-read keep when the backup took some snaps in the third quarter.

Bryce Huff, who played only six snaps last week because, the team said, he injured his wrist in warmups, came into the game with a clean bill of health. He appeared to be wearing extra bandaging on his left hand, though. Huff played fewer snaps than the Eagles’ other edge rushers, including rookie Jalyx Hunt. But he strip-sacked Rush late in the third quarter when he slapped Cowboys right tackle Terence Steele aside. Outside linebacker Nolan Smith did well to set the edge against the run. Defensive end Brandon Graham split a sack with Carter.

Defensive tackle Moro Ojomo drew a holding penalty in the third quarter.

Zack Baun may have been the Eagles’ defensive player of the game. He forced two fumbles and led the defense with eight tackles. Baun’s fourth-quarter turnover helped seal the outcome, but there was no bigger play of the game than when he popped the ball out of Ezekiel Elliott’s hands just short of the goal line in the second quarter. Earlier in that same drive, Baun tackled Elliott in the backfield for a loss and stopped Dowdle for no gain.

Nakobe Dean had a decent outing. And was just behind Baun in tackles. He made a nice open-field tackle on a short Rush throw in the third quarter. But he dropped a near interception in the second quarter, and later on the same drive, missed a couple of would-be tackles vs. the run.

Rush was brutally bad, but the Eagles’ secondary deserved credit for limiting his success downfield. Darius Slay was in and out after suffering an ankle injury on the Cowboys’ first possession. He had a third-down pass breakup but rolled his ankle on the play. He returned midway through the second quarter but was flagged for a third-down pass interference shortly thereafter. He was off and on in the second half and split time with his backup, Isaiah Rodgers.

Rodgers held up just fine. Rookie Quinyon Mitchell locked down his side of the field and had a couple of pass breakups. One came on a third down in the first quarter. Mitchell did pick up an illegal use of the hands penalty in the second quarter.

Cooper DeJean saw a fair amount of Cowboys receiver CeeDee Lamb in the slot. He helped hold him to just 21 yards on six catches. DeJean also recovered Baun’s forced fumble just before it rolled out of the back of the end zone for a touchback.

C.J. Gardner-Johnson made his presence felt on the Cowboys’ first play from scrimmage when he delivered a blow on receiver Jalen Tolbert after a swing pass. The safety was also in on Dowdle’s fumble, although Baun received credit for the turnover. Gardner-Johnson had a near pick on a Rush overthrow, but rebounded later on for his second interception of the season. He took an odd path on Dowdle’s longest run of the game.

Reed Blankenship had four tackles and recovered Baun’s second forced fumble.

DeJean had a 31-yard punt return in the third quarter. Kicker Jake Elliott made all of his attempts. Braden Mann averaged 42 net yards on his punts.

The Eagles’ kick coverage unit allowed a 47-yard return by KaVontae Turpin in the first quarter. Rookie Jeremiah Trotter Jr. had an illegal block in the back that brought back Gainwell’s second-quarter 26-yard kick return. Rookie Will Shipley had a solid 32-yard return to open the second half.

Nick Sirianni has the Eagles 7-2 and in first place in the NFC East ahead of showdown with the 7-3 Commanders on Thursday. The win over the Cowboys was the team’s first at AT&T Stadium since 2017. Offensive coordinator Kellen Moore did well to mix up his calls and helped Hurts calm down after a slow start.

Vic Fangio’s defense has been outstanding since the bye and didn’t allow the Cowboys into the end zone while forcing five turnovers. Rush was terrible, but the defensive coordinator’s unit played a significant role in holding Dallas to just 146 total yards.