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The outcome didn't fall in his favor, but Brian Schottenheimer still had quite the debut as head coach of the Cowboys. Despite losing, 24-20, to the Philadelphia Eagles, Dallas gave the defending champions all they could handle.

In one of the craziest starts to a game you'll ever see, the best player on Philadelphia's defense, Jalen Carter, was ejected before an offensive play was ever run. While the Eagles' Ben VanSumeren was being attended to by trainers following an apparent knee injury on the opening kickoff, Carter stepped toward the Cowboys' huddle to have a few words with Dak Prescott. Philadelphia's star defensive tackle then spit on the Dallas quarterback and was immediately ejected from the game.

Talk about an unexpected turn of events.

And the Eagles' loss was indeed the Cowboys' gain. Dallas put up points on each of its four possessions in the first half and finished the game with 307 yards of offense to the Eagles' 302. Schottenheimer tried to use the ground attack more, especially in the first half, as the team went on to total 115 rushing yards overall. And their only two touchdowns came courtesy of running back Javonte Williams.

But Prescott was the real catalyst for the team's offense. Although he threw for only 188 yards, he completed 61.8 percent of his passes in his first game back after suffering a season-ending hamstring injury in 2024. CeeDee Lamb showed he's still one of the best wideouts in the business with 110 receiving yards on seven catches, while George Pickens, in his first game with the Cowboys, totaled 30 receiving yards on three grabs.

Unfortunately, when it came to the Dallas defense, Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts was the difference in this one. He put up just 152 yards passing but scrambled through the Cowboys efforts for 62 rushing yards and two scores.

Of course, coming into the game, defensive coordinator Matt Eberflus knew he would have his hands full with running back Saquon Barkley, but the Cowboys held him to only 3.3 yards per carry and 60 rushing yards total. And Philadelphia's top two receivers, A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith, had just one catch for 8 yards and three catches for 16 yards, respectively.

First Quarter

Following the shocking ejection of Carter, Prescott quickly led his team 53 yards in six plays to the end zone. His first completion of the season was to the newcomer Pickens for 6 yards, which was followed two snaps later by 32-yard completion to Lamb that set the Cowboys up with first-and-goal at the Eagles' 1-yard line. Williams then scored the touchdown to give the visitors an early lead.

But Hurts and company responded with a 10-play, 70-yard drive of their own that quickly evened the score, 7-7. Philly's quarterback completed all three of his passes for 33 yards and scrambled the last 4 yards untouched across the goal line.

Second Quarter

The Cowboys found themselves with a first-and-goal at the Eagles' 1-yard line when the second quarter got underway. This came largely thanks to a pair of passes to Lamb for a combined 44 yards, as well as a 34-yard pass interference penalty on Philadelphia that dug Dallas out of a second-and-23 hole.

That left it to Williams, who added an 11-yard run and then wrapped up the drive with another bull-rush into across the goal line to put the Cowboys back in front.

Hurts, though, continued to be elusive as Dallas' blow was met by a counterstrike by the home side. Of the 65 yards the Eagles picked up on their next possession, Hurts accounted for 49 of them through a combination of passing the ball and running with it. The last eight of those yards came when he again escaped the pocket and raced to the left pylon for the touchdown.

Dallas kept the pressure on, but this time managed only three points. Brandon Aubrey picked up right where he left off from his Pro Bowl campaign in 2024, splitting the uprights from 41 yards out.

However, in this game against this Eagles offense, field goals weren't going to do it. And sure enough, Philadelphia quickly marched 81 yards in just 1:43 of clock to take a 21-17 lead. The Dallas defense continued its struggles to contain Hurts, although the big blow was a 51-yard pass to wideout Jahan Dotson on third-and-6. Barkley eventually finished the series with a 10-yard run up the middle for the touchdown.

But getting the ball back with 44 seconds left in the half, Schottenheimer and Prescott worked the two-minute offense to perfection, as the latter completed all five of his pass attempts to get his team to the Philadelphia 35-yard line with 4 seconds on the clock. That was enough time for Aubrey, whose field goal was good from 53 yards to make the score a tight 21-20 at the half.

Third Quarter

The Dallas defense got a win of sorts to start the second half as they held Philadelphia to a mere field goal. An 8-yard sack of Hurts by Marshawn Kneeland stalled the Eagles' drive, but Jake Elliott's 58-yard field goal tacked on another three points, upping the advantage to 24-20.

And then disaster struck. Led by a Miles Sanders run of 49 yards and an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty by Philadelphia on third-and-22, the Cowboys had a first down at the Eagles' 11. But that's when Sanders had the ball stripped on a rush up the middle, and cornerback Quinyon Mitchell scooped up the fumble before being tripped up on perhaps a touchdown-saving tackle by Prescott (the first tackle of his career). Regardless, that brought an end to the Dallas threat.

Maybe the Cowboys caught a break, though, when whatever momentum the Eagles may have had was stunted when the turnover was immediately followed by a weather delay due to lightning in the area. After a stoppage that lasted just over an hour, the Cowboys defense came out and forced the game's first punt of the night.

Fourth Quarter

With both offenses struggling to find any rhythm after the break, the defenses took centerstage with the two sides trading punts through most of the final frame. Then with 3:02 remaining, Prescott and the offense took the field at their own 18-yard line.

And after a 15-yard completion to Pickens on the left sideline, Prescott found Lamb deep over the middle, only to have the ball bounce off the receiver's hands, incomplete. Three snaps later, on fourth-and-10 at the Dallas 45-yard line, Prescott lofted another pass to Lamb down the left side, but the receiver couldn't haul in what would have been a sensational diving catch.

Instead, the Cowboys turned the ball over on downs with only 1:54 on the clock. And after picking up a first down of their own, Philadelphia was then able to run out the clock, game over.