Eagles-Cowboys analysis: Turnovers doom the Birds in Dallas as a chance to clinch the NFC East falls short

ARLINGTON, Texas — The Eagles came here knowing they control their destiny.

They’re a win away from clinching not only the NFC East for the third time in six years, but also the No. 1 seed and home-field advantage throughout the NFC playoffs.

They leave here with nothing changed. But this will linger because of the way it happened.

The Eagles had a 10-point lead midway through the third quarter. But then three key turnovers — a botched handoff to Boston Scott, a Gardner Minshew interception on a pass to Quez Watkins, and a fumble by Miles Sanders — and a conversion on an improbable third-and-30 set Dallas up to keep its division championship hopes alive in a 40-34 win.

“Can’t win a game with four turnovers, it’s as simple as that,” Sanders said.

You can quibble with which turnover was bigger: The Minshew handoff to Scott that became a fumble happened with the Eagles up seven and at midfield. Minshew’s second interception also happened with the Eagles at midfield, a third-and-4 pass that was intended for Watkins and instead went to DaRon Bland. Then there was Sanders’ fumble on the first play from scrimmage after Dallas took a 37-34 lead.

Minshew handed off to Sanders, who was trying to avoid tacklers and was loose with the football. Dallas recovered, and kicked another field goal.

“I take full responsibility,” Sanders said. “Nobody else’s fault but mine. I had the ball clearly in my hands. I just have to hold onto the ball.”

All of those turnovers were huge, but none of it may have mattered if Dak Prescott didn’t connect with T.Y. Hilton on a 53-yard bomb up the left sideline on a third-and-30. The Eagles were in Cover 2, and backup corner Josiah Scott got beaten deep.

It came with eight minutes on the clock and the Eagles leading, 34-27. And it came after the Eagles got back-to-back sacks from Haason Reddick and Josh Sweat, who already had made his mark on the game with a pick-six in the first quarter.

Hilton’s big play set up CeeDee Lamb’s second touchdown, and the Eagles never scored again.

“We didn’t make a play, and the guy did,” Eagles coach Nick Sirianni said. “It’s really as simple as that.”

Minshew was far from perfect Saturday night, but the Eagles didn’t need him to be. He was, at times, everything you want and more from a backup quarterback, especially one filling in for MVP candidate Jalen Hurts.

At times, the quarterback put himself in difficult spots, like in the way of Micah Parsons’ pressure, and threw a few too many passes off his back foot. Other times, like a few key third-down throws, Minshew put the Eagles in a position to win, even despite the turnovers.

He drove them down the field after Dallas took a 40-34 lead, but the Eagles’ last gasp ended on a fourth-and-10 from Dallas’ 20-yard line. Under pressure, Minshew threw the ball to the back of the Cowboys’ end zone, but no one was there.

Minshew completed 24 of his 40 pass attempts and threw two touchdowns to DeVonta Smith to go with his two interceptions.

The Eagles, in the end, outgained the Cowboys, 442-419. Prescott, who threw three touchdowns against one interception, just made bigger plays when it mattered.

“I thought he did a good job, especially for the situation,” Eagles center Jason Kelce said of Minshew. “That’s a good team, on the road. It’s hard. We put up points. We’ve just got to do a better job taking care of the football.”

Avonte Maddox was having a great series on Dallas’ second possession. He had a few key tackles on Lamb and Tony Pollard. Then, it looked like he had Prescott for an easy sack on a third down that would have gotten Dallas off the field. The quarterback broke free and hit Michael Gallup for a first down.

The drive ended with an Ezekiel Elliott 1-yard touchdown.

On the Cowboys’ next series, Maddox made up for his missed sack by breaking up a trick play by sacking Prescott, but it was costly. Maddox injured his toe on the play and didn’t return. He was wearing a boot on his left leg in the locker room after the game.

“Anytime you’re without one of your players, it’s going to affect you a little bit,” Sirianni said.

With Maddox out, the Cowboys were able to move Lamb around, and the talented receiver got open at will. Dallas put him in the slot at times, away from Darius Slay and James Bradberry, and Josiah Scott couldn’t handle him, underscoring how badly the Eagles miss C.J. Gardner-Johnson, who remains on injured reserve.

Lamb caught his first eight targets for 103 yards and a score, all in the first half. He was quiet to start the second half, but then beat Bradberry in the corner of the end zone to tie the score at 34-34.

Then on Dallas’ game-winning drive, Lamb pushed the Cowboys into field-goal range by beating Scott for a 10-yard gain.

Lamb finished with 10 catches for 120 yards and two scores.

Not only did the Eagles lose, but the Vikings won, and so did the 49ers.

The Eagles (13-2) now have a one-game lead over Minnesota and a two-game lead over San Francisco and Dallas.

The Eagles entered Sunday without Hurts and without Gardner-Johnson. But they were otherwise pretty healthy.

They left Texas with three new injuries to regulars: Maddox, defensive tackle Jordan Davis, who left the game in the second quarter and was being evaluated for a head injury, and Lane Johnson, who was injured in the fourth quarter.

The Eagles did not have an update on Johnson after the game.

The Eagles host the Saints next Sunday on New Year’s Day. They own New Orleans’ 2023 first-round pick thanks to a pre-draft trade. The Saints entered Saturday holding on to the ninth pick in April’s draft. They stayed there after pulling off a 17-10 win in Cleveland.

A win Saturday and the Eagles may have had to balance resting starters with how much they value movement with that pick.

Now, they don’t have a choice.