PHILADELPHIA – Just when you think you've seen everything a Cowboys-Eagles game can provide, you get reminded that you've never seen it all when it comes to this rivalry.
Snowballs thrown at the opposing head coach? Yeah, that happened. A bounty placed on some of the opposing players? Yep, same year actually.
A player running free without a helmet? Or the countless comebacks and last-second heroics for both teams?
Yeah, seen it all … except for the one where the star quarterback and the star defensive tackle get into a spitting match, and Philadelphia loses the best player on the field before a single snap is taken.
When that happened, you just knew this was going to be yet another wild encounter – and it was. Throw in the fact there was an hour weather delay, and it just made for even more craziness.
Oh, but through all of that, the Cowboys could've won this football game. You might even argue they should've won. We'll get back to that one in a second.
But all week leading up to the game, when it was time to start making predictions or statements, all I could point back to was one thing:
I have no idea what's going to happen, and that seems to be by design.
We really didn't know what the Cowboys were going to do with this new offense and Brian Schottenheimer calling the plays. We didn't know what the pass-rush or defense overall was going to look like without Micah Parsons.
And we damn sure had no way of knowing just how much of the gap, if any, had been closed with the Eagles, who hung their Super Bowl banner from last season, which included two blowout wins over the Cowboys.
So what do we know now after four quarters of yet another strange episode in this crazy rivalry?
I know the Cowboys have returned to Philly's level – something that was not the case last year when they got blown out by a combined score of 75-13 in those two regular-season games.
This time around, with Dak Prescott now back in the mix, the Cowboys know they've got a team that can contend with the defending champs. Of course, just competing isn't going to be good enough. They can't moral-victory their way through the season.
As Schottenheimer said after the game, "This is no moral victory." And I'm not arguing with him and calling it one, but I do know this: The Cowboys probably have a lot more confidence in their team after this game than they did beforehand.
I'm pretty sure the fans and the media and anyone else who talks about this team would agree. The Cowboys exceeded expectations – to the point they should've won the game. But that's where they are right now. They once again came up short in a game they had every right to win. And that's how I'd like to phrase it over, "They should've won."
To say the Cowboys should've won is to say they were the better team. I don't know if I'll go that far because the Eagles made the necessary plays, and the Cowboys didn't.
No, Philly's star receiver barely even caught a pass, as the Cowboys WR1 had a much better stat line. But when they really needed a big play or two, CeeDee Lamb came up short. Three drops and arguably a fourth at the end for CeeDee? This guy won't drop four more passes all season long.
But he did in this game. And Miles Sanders? Breaks off a 49-yard run but couldn't outrun the linebacker? That tackle led to an eventual fumble by Sanders in the red zone, wasting yet another chance to score.
That was the first drive of the second half. And so after scoring 20 points before halftime and taking the first drive of the third quarter inside the 10-yard line, I thought the Cowboys were going to move it up and down the field all night. But the game changed – for both teams. The Cowboys defense couldn't stop the Eagles at all, and then all of a sudden, they limited them to just a field goal in the second half.
Down 21-20 after the first two quarters, had I known the Eagles were only going to get to 24, I would've told you Dallas wins this game by two touchdowns. But credit the Philadelphia defense for making adjustments, just as the Cowboys did.
Honestly, the Cowboys actually played better in the second half. The Eagles didn't score because they were getting stopped. The Cowboys didn't score because on several occasions they stopped themselves. CeeDee dropped three in the second half. Sanders fumbled the ball inside the 10.
If the Cowboys play it clean, they win this game. But they didn't. I know this. You know it. They know it. Everyone knows the Cowboys had chances to win but couldn't capitalize.
Right now, that's exactly where this team is. They're 0-1 after losing a hard-fought battle to the Eagles on the road.
Better than we thought it would be? Yeah, probably. But it still hurts. And to me, that's a good thing.
