PHILADELPHIA – The 133rd meeting all-time between the Eagles and Cowboys played out exactly like everyone thought it would. With an ejection before the first offensive snap, a lightning delay and even Dak Prescott laying out to make a potentially touchdown saving tackle.
In the end, it was the reigning Super Bowl champion Eagles coming out on top with a 24 to 20 win over the Cowboys, who begin the Brian Schottenheimer era 0-1.
Dallas was shut out in the second half of the season opener after scoring on all four of their offensive possessions in the first half, and couldn't capitalize on opportunities that their defense gave them late in the fourth quarter.
Let's dive into some more takeaways from the first game of the NFL season:
Warm Welcome
Before the first play from scrimmage, things got easier for the Cowboys in the run game. Eagles Pro-Bowl defensive tackle Jalen Carter was ejected after spitting in Dak Prescott's face before the first snap of the game.
Dallas' offense quickly got to work in the ground game, with Javonte Williams scoring back-to-back one-yard rushing touchdowns on the first two drives in the first half. Not to mention the Cowboys using Williams and the run game in general on third down, where they finished the night seven of 11. With his two rushing scores, Sanders becomes the fourth Cowboy in history to score two rushing touchdowns in his debut with the team, and the first since Kelvin Edwards did it in 1987.
The knock on the Cowboys' ground attack was Miles Sanders' costly fumble in the third quarter, when Dallas got a first down after an unnecessary roughness penalty on Reed Blankenship for a shot on Jake Ferguson in the end zone.
Overall, the Cowboys finished with 119 yards on the ground and some positives to build on with the offensive line that they've invested a lot of draft capital in over the last few years.
Struggling to Keep Contain
Matt Eberflus' attack front defense is meant for the front four defensive linemen to get up the field and make plays in the backfield both in the run and pass defense game.
While they had flashes of both, things got difficult for Dallas to defend when Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts got outside the pocket and into some running room. Hurts ran for 62 yards and two touchdowns on 14 carries.
On the night, Dallas' defense gave up 158 yards on the ground at the conclusion of the night, with last year's rushing leader Saquon Barkley finishing with 60 yards on the ground. There is still work to do in the run defense department for Eberflus and company.
Schotty Ball
After waiting 28 years for his chance, Brian Schottenheimer finally got to lead an NFL team out onto the field as a head coach.
Heading into the game, Schottenheimer admitted that he'd be emotional and cried during the national anthem while he thought about his late father, legendary head coach Marty Schottenheimer. In the end, he brought his focus back to the players around him and is disappointed they came up just short.
"I'm surrounded by such great young men in that locker room and coaches – that was my main focus today," Schottenheimer said. "Just being around them, and I wish we would've found a way to get a dub."
In his first play-calling role since parting ways with Pete Carroll in Seattle back in 2020, Schottenheimer dialed up four straight scoring drives in the first half to put up 20 points on the board before his streak ended on Miles Sanders' fumble in the third quarter. His offense finished with 307 total yards, topping Philadelphia's 302, but four points behind the column that mattered.
Rain, Rain, Go Away
Last year, the Cowboys weathered a nearly 90-minute delay to come back and beat the Pittsburgh Steelers in Week 5 of the 2024 season 20-17.
Fast forward less than a year later, and Dallas once again had to undergo a weather delay after lighting came down in the area surrounding Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia. This time, Dak Prescott and Dallas' offense couldn't put together a game winning drive, as some negative plays and drops from CeeDee Lamb stalled things in the fourth quarter.
"We gave ourselves a chance to win and offensively we didn't really do enough," Cowboys head coach Brian Schottenheimer said. "We put ourselves in more third-and-longs and we just weren't able to capitalize."
Life Without Micah
For the first time in the last four years, the Cowboys entered a season without All-Pro pass rusher Micah Parsons, after the team traded him to the Green Bay Packers less than a week before the season kicked off.
The big question coming into the season is whether or not Dallas could generate a consistently strong pass rush without their best pass rusher.
After struggling to get into the backfield in the first half, which caused Jalen Hurts to escape the pocket and score two rushing touchdowns, the Cowboys defense started to find a bit more in the second half.
They finished the opener with 18 total quarterback pressures and one sack, courtesy of second-year defensive end Marshawn Kneeland.
Dak is Back
305 days after suffering a season-ending hamstring injury, Dak Prescott took the field in uniform to start at quarterback for the Cowboys.
It was a strong return for the 10th-year veteran, as he finished the night with 188 yards, completing 21 of his 34 passes. His new wide receiver tandem of CeeDee Lamb and George Pickens combined for 140 yards on 10 catches. Had it not been for some costly drops from Lamb down the stretch in the second half, the number would've been higher. Nonetheless, it wasn't enough to get Dallas in the win column.
Maybe the biggest play that Prescott made all night in his return was… a tackle? Yes, you read that right. On Miles Sanders' fumble in the third quarter, Prescott made a diving effort to stop Quinyon Mitchell from breaking away for what would've been an 89-yard fumble returned for a touchdown.
