Eagles-Cowboys analysis: Birds survive as the defense and Jalen Hurts gut one out in a 28-23 win

Even hobbled, Jalen Hurts continues to find different ways to deliver.

The Eagles quarterback, after he sustained another brutal hit to his injured left knee, dug deep on Sunday evening, and he directed an electric, come-from-behind victory over the Dallas Cowboys.

This Week 9 matchup involving a pair of NFC East rivals and conference contenders lived up to its billing. The Eagles entered halftime trailing by three, but it was the uncertainty about Hurts’ health that left nearly 70,000 fans at Lincoln Financial Field feeling uneasy. Right before the half, Cowboys defensive tackle DeMarcus Lawrence collapsed the pocket and his helmet collided with Hurts’ knee, which caused the quarterback to stumble backward before he was eventually sacked by linebacker Micah Parsons.

Hurts was noticeably in pain and distraught. After coach Nick Sirianni called a timeout, Hurts struggled to retreat to the sideline. He mustered enough strength to return to the huddle and hand the ball off one more time before Hurts slowly jogged toward the tunnel.

However, the 25-year-old Hurts exuded toughness coming out of the half. He used his legs to move the chains on a third-down scramble. Hurts then delivered the play of the night: a high-arcing, 29-yard touchdown completion down the left sideline to a streaking DeVonta Smith. The go-ahead score sparked the Eagles, who claimed a 28-23 victory over the Cowboys to improve their NFL-best record to 8-1.

“This is what it’s all about,” Smith said. “You can’t just do it for one half. You have to play a complete game. Jalen going out there, him being him — we’re not worried. Jalen is going to be Jalen. There’s nothing he won’t play through. We have all the trust in him. If he says, he’s all right, then we’re rolling with him.”

Hurts’ two touchdown passes came in the third quarter, and he finished the game with 207 passing yards. He also had 36 rushing yards, including a rushing touchdown.

“I don’t really know what to say. It was a gritty win,” Hurts said. “Selfishly I don’t think the bye week could have come at a better time.”

Dak Prescott of the Cowboys entered Sunday’s game as the most successful quarterback in the league against the blitz. While defensive coordinator Sean Desai applied pressure sporadically, he often favored sending just four rushers, and he relied on the back end to clean up the rest of the action.

The Eagles lived — and nearly died — by that formula. Prescott had an opportunity to steal a win at the end of the game, but his completion to CeeDee Lamb on the game’s final play was just short of the end zone. Prescott completed 29 of 44 passes for 374 yards and three touchdowns, while Lamb paced the Cowboys with 11 catches and 191 receiving yards.

“I thought Dak Prescott played extremely well,” Cowboys coach Mike McCarthy said. “In these circumstances it’s a tough place to play. Obviously their defense and their defensive line, I think it’s clear, is the strength of their defense. Dak made plays with his feet, hung in there in the pocket, took hits, I thought he played his ass off.”

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The Eagles defense struggled on the game’s final drive as it committed three penalties. But defensive end Josh Sweat sacked Prescott to force third-and-21. With the game clock expiring, Prescott completed a heave to Lamb, but a handful of defenders led by Darius Slay and Sydney Brown pounced on the receiver as safety Reed Blankenship recovered the fumble.

“We’ve got a lot to clean up, a lot to clean up,” safety Kevin Byard said. “But I’m [undefeated] as an Eagle, so I feel pretty good heading into the bye.”

Slay added: “That last drive was crazy... It was an intense game. They ran great designed plays. It was about getting [Lamb] down. This win [feels like] it counts as double because it’s a divisional game.”

The Eagles’ bye week has arrived at the perfect time for the hobbled Eagles. Hurts has remained tight-lipped regarding his knee injury, but he took another beating from the Cowboys. He’ll look to maximize the next week-plus to recover with the Kansas City Chiefs awaiting in Week 11.

In addition to Hurts, linebacker Nakobe Dean sustained a foot injury toward the end of the first half, and he did not return. Dean, who missed four games while on injured reserve earlier in the season with a foot injury, exited with a noticeable limp.

Tight end Dallas Goedert also suffered a forearm injury during the third quarter. The injury occurred after Goedert hauled in a 28-yard reception from Hurts and he attempted to stiff-arm through his defender.

Wide receiver A.J. Brown needed just nine games to exceed the 1,000-yard receiving mark. He became the fastest player in franchise history to reach the milestone after Mike Quick (1983) and Pete Retzlaff (1965) each crossed 1,000 yards in 11 games.

Brown hauled in seven catches on nine targets for 66 yards and one touchdown. The 26-year-old is now up to 1,005 receiving yards this season.

“They doubled me on third down a couple times,” Brown said. “But I definitely still had my opportunities. We didn’t cash in on some of them. But other players stepped up, and that’s what it’s about.”

Smith also recorded his 200th career catch during his touchdown reception. Smith finished with three catches for 51 yards.

“A.J. is the best [wide receiver] in this league,” Smith said. “That’s what they brought him here to do. I’m excited for him. I’m happy for him. I feel like this is only the beginning for us.”