It wasn’t pretty, but the Eagles leave the AT&T Stadium with a HUGE Overtime win against the Cowboys. In a game where many predicted a loss could well be the nail in the Coffin for the Eagles playoff chances, the Offense came up big and overcame constant controversial penalties.
If there is anything this team needed, it was three things.
Production from DeMarco Murray.
Consistency from Sam Bradford.
No drops.
They got all three near enough. DeMarco Murray had flurries of excellence as he rushed for 83 yards and a touchdown whilst Sam Bradford went on to throw for 295 yards, a touchdown and achieve his second highest QBR of the season, firing only 11 incompletions out of 36 passes.
As for Matthews, well this is a receiver who needed a break..and he got one. 133 yards, over 75% completion rate and a game winning touchdown rounded off a night where the second year receiver showed the colours he flaunted in his rookie season.
But that’s not to take away from the Defense. Jordan Hicks had a huge game yet again as he picked off Matt Cassell for his first ever #HicksSix in order to change momentum of the game entirely. But it wasn’t all smiles for the Defense.
The Cowboys’ very first drive saw Dallas start at the 7 yard line and end up with a touchdown. Dez Bryant lept up higher than a kite to bring in a touchdown and the running game was seemingly all too much for the Eagles.
But this team are known for their adjustments and that’s exactly the reputation they lived up too. Bryant had not caught a single pass outside of his touchdown which is what the team needed. Unfortunately for them though both Jason Witten and Cole Beasley began to take advantage of the lacking cover…especially Malcolm Jenkins. Jenkins was a complete mismatch on Beasley all night in an uncharacteristically quiet game.
The defensive woes continued late on as flag after flag pushed the Eagles further into their own half. Byron Maxwell gave up two penalties in one drive which on the surface is unacceptable from a Corner of his stature but it was clear to see that they were not of his own doing.
The game went to overtime after a Dallas field goal pinged off the pylon and through and the Eagles won the toss. DeMarco Murray came flying out of the gate and picked up some major yardage in his homecoming, destined to prove a point. But Ryan Mathews very almost cost the Eagles the game with his achilles heel fumbling tendencies coming into play only for his knee to be deemed down before the ball was jarred loose.
The very next play was the spark this team needed. Sam Bradford threw DEEP over the middle to JORDAN MATTHEWS who CAUGHT THE BALL and ran it to the house for a game winning touchdown. Bradford was ecstatic, the team was elated, the fans have trust and the players can finally have some confidence as they roll back to Philadelphia.
Over the course of the season we have seen flashes of brilliance Offensively amongst consistent mediocrity. Tonight, we saw brilliance. We saw consistency. We saw confidence. We saw a damaged and mismatched Offensive line grind like never before to open holes for DeMarco Murray. We saw Sam Bradford LEAD this team down the field in a drive that would either leave him classed as a hero or a villain. We saw Jordan Matthews overcome every obstacle so far to pull in arguably his most important catch as an Eagle. But most importantly, we saw the team that Chip Kelly built. The team that he knew they could develop into.
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