5 plays that sealed Cowboys’ fate in loss to Eagles

The Dallas Cowboys kicked off their first game of the Cooper Rush era in 2024 just as you’d expect: with a loss. Rush barely completed over 50% of his passes and averaged a paltry two yards per attempt. Trey Lance finished out the game and averaged just 3.5 yards per attempt. The two quarterbacks combined for three turnovers on the day.

The Cowboys came into this game as serious underdogs, and the final score of 34-6 reflects that. But they actually kept this one pretty close early on. These five plays were what made the difference and helped the wheels come off in the third quarter.

Cooper Rush’s first fumble sets up easy touchdown
The Cowboys’ first offensive drive went about how you’d expect given the circumstances. But then the Dallas defense flexed their upper lip and forced a punt from the Eagles, and suddenly it looked like we might have a game.

The offense retook the field and lined up in the pistol at their own 20-yard line. When Rush went to snap the ball, he turned away too early and completely missed the ball. It bounced off his chest and hit the ground before an Eagles defender fell on it.

That gave the Eagles the ball just 16 yards from the endzone and, sure enough, they were celebrating in there after just four plays. It’s hard to blame the defense for this one, but Rush’s fumble – the result of bungling one of the most basic requirements of the quarterback position – is what gave Philadelphia their first points.

Ezekiel Elliott fumbles into the endzone
To Rush’s credit, he kept his head in the game and managed to orchestrate a solid drive after his defense followed up an endzone interception by forcing yet another punt. Rush hit on four of his six passes, and also drew a pass interference penalty, to supplement a strong running game that took the Cowboys inside the 10.

Facing first and goal just six yards from a touchdown, Rush handed it off to Ezekiel Elliott, who plunged forward looking for his third touchdown of the year. Instead, the ball got punched out of his hands and rolled into the endzone, where an Eagles player recovered it for a touchback.

If Elliott scores there, or even if he just goes down and the Cowboys score on one of their next three downs, they take a 10-7 lead right before the two minute warning in the first half. And with the way the defense had been playing, that would have seriously boosted their odds of winning. But Elliott – who, not too long ago, publicly complained about not getting enough red zone touches – quite literally fumbled that golden opportunity away.

CeeDee Lamb gets blinded by Jerry Jones’ arrogance
The Eagles did nothing with the Cowboys’ turnover, fumbling it themselves just two plays later. That set the Cowboys up right where they had just been: first and goal from the Philadelphia six-yard line.

After an Elliott run cut that distance in half, Rush rolled out to his right and fired a shot to a wide-open CeeDee Lamb, who made no real effort to catch the ball. Right afterwards, cameras caught him signaling what appeared to be an admission that the sun had blinded him. Lamb confirmed this was the case after the game.

This was arguably the most frustrating part of the game, as it was yet another reminder of Jerry Jones’ arrogance and unwillingness to help his team out. Jones has repeatedly insisted that he’ll do whatever it takes to win, but that doesn’t mesh with his fierce insistence against simply putting up curtains in the stadium. This has happened several times before, and here it cost the Cowboys a second straight shot at taking the lead. Dallas ultimately settled for a field goal on this drive.

Big Jalen Hurts scramble flips field
After the Cowboys settled for a field goal to cut the deficit to 7-6, the defense had a chance to keep it close. Outside of the drive that began in the red zone, the Eagles had punted or turned the ball over on every drive up to this point.

But Philadelphia started executing their two minute offense and began moving the ball down the field with ease. Dallas took a timeout after giving up a third-down conversion right near midfield. On the ensuing play, the Cowboys had everything covered and Jalen Hurts was standing in the pocket looking for an open man. Then, he decided to scramble, and found nothing but open room for a whopping 24 yards.

The defense had done a good job keeping Hurts in the pocket, and the pass rush got to him several times throughout the game. But this breakdown came at the worst moment, and it completely flipped the field. Hurts’ scramble came with just a minute left, and without it the Eagles may have had to settle for a long field goal attempt. But the big gain set up a touchdown to extend the lead to a near-insurmountable 14-6 at halftime.

Cooper DeJean’s big punt return sets up easy touchdown
To the credit of Mike Zimmer’s unit, the defense did not fall apart after that big scramble to end the first half. They forced a three-and-out on the opening drive, but the Cowboys offense returned the favor with a punt of their own.

Bryan Anger boomed the punt way downfield, with rookie returner Cooper DeJean catching it at the Eagles’ own 32-yard line. He evaded the first tackler and cut to the far side of the field, getting an angle on the coverage unit. By the time he went out of bounds, DeJean had racked up 31 yards and set the Eagles up at the Dallas 37-yard line.

That was the moment everything truly fell apart. The Eagles scored a touchdown seven plays later, and the 21-6 lead officially became insurmountable, with the Cowboys unraveling on both sides of the ball from then on. But it was DeJean’s electric return that set up the quick score, a rare bad play from this special teams unit.