Eagles vs. Cowboys: 14 winners, 7 losers, and 5 IDKs

Sometimes, “a win is a win” feels like a cope.

In this case, though, the Philadelphia Eagles should feel legitimately happy after their Week 1 win over the Dallas Cowboys.

Regardless of how they got it done, they did, and that’s what matters most this early in the season. Especially when it originally felt like things might spiral out of control after Jalen Carter got ejected before even playing a snap and the Cowboys immediately marched down the field for a touchdown.

The 2025 Eagles are far from a finished product. There are definitely some concerns leaving their first game. But there are also plenty of things to feel good about.

Time to hand out winners, losers, and I don’t knows.

For even more analysis, check out my appearance on The Ringer’s Philly Special postgame podcast with Sheil Kapadia (and Ace Producer Cliff Augustin).

WINNERS

JALEN HURTS

“Jalen Hurts plays a winning brand of football” might sound cliche to some but it’s just true. At least, that was very much the case on Thursday night.

With his special guest Michael Jordan in the building (pretty cool that was a thing), Hurts shined in the bright lights of the NFL Kickoff Game: 19/23, 152 yards (6.6 average), 0 TD, 0 INT, 94.2 passer rating … 14 carries, 62 yards (4.4 average), 2 TD. Zero turnovers.

The passing numbers aren’t gaudy at first glance but this was a low possession game due to very long drives by both teams. The Eagles and Cowboys each had just five drives by the end of the third quarter. For context, the Eagles and Green Bay Packers each had nine drives by the end of the third quarter in Week 1 last year.

Hurts was incredibly efficient. One of his incompletions was a drop by Saquon Barkley and the other three were throwaways, including a play where he shook a blitzing defender to turn a would-be sack into an incompletion.

Hurts was clutch. He regularly delivered on third down, including his game-sealing first down run down on 3rd-and-3 during the Eagles’ final drive.

The recent talking point about how Hurts is feeling more confident than ever isn’t just fluff. He looked to be in complete control. Encouraging start to the regular season for the reigning Super Bowl MVP.

KEVIN PATULLO

Not a perfect debut for the Eagles’ new offensive coordinator but I’d argue there’s more to feel encouraged by than not.

The offense opened the game by scoring on their first four possessions with three straight touchdown drives and one field goal drive. The play-calling flow seemed to be good. Hurts never looked uncomfortable.

The offense did not score on their next three games, which all took place after the weather delay. And two of them were three-and-outs.

So, there’s work to be done here. It felt like the late game approach got way too conservative. And A.J. Brown not being involved until very late in the game was weird.

But I’m pretty confident Patullo won’t struggle to get Brown involved moving forward. If I’m wrong about that and it’s an issue over multiple games, OK, we can talk about that then.

For now, this was a solid start to build on.

JAKE ELLIOTT

The Eagles’ kicker was perfect. He absolutely drilled his sole field goal attempt from 58 yards out. And he made all three extra point kicks.

Elliott went 1/7 from 50-plus yards in 2024. He’s 1/1 in 2025.

JAHAN DOTSON

Hurts targeted Dotson just 22 times for 12 receptions, 122 yards, and zero touchdowns in 14 full regular season games last year.

Hurts targeted Dotson three times for three receptions and 59 yards on Thursday night.

Good to see that Dotson now seems to be a real option in this offense.

DALLAS GOEDERT

Not flashy at all but the top tight end caught all seven of his targets for 44 yards. He was a reliable short option for Hurts. The duo took advantage of what the Cowboys were giving them underneath.

JIHAAD CAMPBELL

There’s one play from this game I can’t stop thinking about:

It’s just wild to see a 21-year-old rookie off-ball linebacker making a downfield pass breakup like this. Other observers in the press box were similarly astonished by this play; I wasn’t the only one to initially mistake Campbell for a defensive back (especially with him wearing a traditional DB jersey number, No. 30).

The rookie first-round pick can clearly play. In addition to making this play in coverage, Campbell was ultimately credited the forced fumble on Miles Sanders for the game’s only takeaway.

ZACK BAUN

Not to be outdone by the rookie, Baun had a downfield pass breakup of his own to help prevent a Dak Prescott touchdown throw. Baun hustling to chase down Sanders from behind on a long run also prevented the Cowboys from scoring with Campbell later forcing the turnover.

Not too long ago, Eagles fans longed for mere competency at off-ball linebacker. Now they seemingly have two bonafide studs at that position. Not to mention high quality depth behind the starters, especially once Nakobe Dean is healthy! (Could Dean eventually be a trade deadline piece to help the Eagles acquire, say, another cornerback?)

JORDAN DAVIS

Carter’s ejection really put Davis to the test by requiring him to take on a bigger workload. To his credit, Davis responded with one of the most encouraging games of his career. Playing a career-high snap count percentage, Davis filled up the box score with six tackles (three solo), one tackle for loss, and one pass deflection that led to a Prescott incompletion. Davis was credited with a team-high three “stops” (tackles that constitute a ‘failure’ for the offense) by Pro Football Focus. He came pretty close to having a sack on Prescott, though the Cowboys quarterback was able to escape his grasp. Still, encouraging to see him getting pressure. We still have to see how Davis’ conditioning holds up over the course of the season but this was a good start to the season for him as he tries to prove he deserves a long-term contract extension.

BYRON YOUNG

Young was a big part of the forced fumble that Campbell was ultimately credited with. He failed to make a diving interception on a tipped pass but it’s not like that’s an automatic play for a defensive tackle. I’ll credit him for making it close. Young was DT3 in this game and he’ll be DT4 moving forward, assuming Carter can stop spitting on people.

ANDREW MUKUBA

Mukuba didn’t look out of place despite being a rookie playing a lot (84% of the defensive snaps) after missing time in training camp. That he had a significant role from the jump bodes well for his outlook. Shouldn’t be long before he’s the full-time starting safety next to Reed Blankenship.

SAQUON BARKLEY

Not the best game for Barkley standards with 18 carries for 60 yards (3.3 average) and four catches for 24 yards (plus one drop). But Barkley certainly passed the eye test. He turned one run doomed for a loss into a small gain. He made a one-handed grab on a screen and then stiff-armed a Cowboys defender into oblivion for a first down. The Cowboys were also clearly keyed in on stopping him, which meant less attention for other members of the offense.

JOSHUA UCHE

Uche was PFF’s highest-graded Eagles defender in this game due to four hurries generated on 18 pass rush snaps. Uche was not on the field for any run defense snaps, so, he’s probably a designated pass rusher for this team.

Uche also made a nice special teams tackle on kickoff coverage.

DOUBLE AGENT MILES SANDERS

Old friend Miles Sanders must still have love for Philly. That fumble was the Eagles’ first defensive stop in this game.

BRADEN MANN

The Eagles’ punter kept the ball away from Cowboys Pro Bowl returner KaVontae Turpin while also managing to flip the field. Mann looked good in the preseason and he’s carrying that over.

LOSERS

THE DALLAS COWBOYS

0-1.

JALEN CARTER

As Jim Schwartz once said: “You do dumbass things, pretty soon you’re going to be labeled a dumbass.”

Carter has to be smarter than to spit on another player at all, let alone right in front of the refs.

The Eagles will hope he learned from this entirely avoidable mistake that could’ve really cost his team. He’s fortunate it didn’t.

ADOREE’ JACKSON

Jackson clearly isn’t the answer at CB2.

That much was already apparent entering Week 1. Jackson did not have a good offseason. He did not win the starting cornerback competition as much as he merely didn’t lose it as badly as Kelee Ringo did.

With Ringo relegated to special teams duty, Jakorian Bennett figures to get the next crack at starting. When? Honestly, it should be as early as Week 2.

Bennett can’t be much worse than Jackson, who was assigned responsibility for five receptions and 103 yards on Thursday night. The Cowboys made it a point to go after the 29-year-old veteran early and often.

Jackson didn’t just struggle in coverage; he was also a liability in run defense.

Even if Bennett is somehow worse than Jackson, there’s at least a path to the 25-year-old getting better. Not saying it’s an apples-to-apples comparison but we saw how Nolan Smith developed over the course of last season. Younger players can improve sometimes. By contrast, players of Jackson’s age are less likely to do so.

THE EAGLES’ COLLECTIVE PASS RUSH

The Eagles’ defense generated zero sacks and one quarterback hit while going up against a Cowboys offensive line that entered this season with multiple question marks. That’s not good enough.

And so it’s no surprise to see that the Eagles signed veteran edge rusher Za’Darius Smith to help out this unit.

THE REF WHO FLAGGED REED BLANKENSHIP FOR UNNECESSARY ROUGHNESS

Really want to know what Blankenship is supposed to differently here.

This was a massive call that turned 4th-and-22 at the plus 23-yard line to 1st-and-10 at the plus 11-yard line for the Cowboys. Fortunately for the Eagles, ball don’t lie, and one play later they forced and recovered a fumble.

If not for that takeaway, the Eagles are likely either down four points or up by just one point.

SYDNEY BROWN

Brown had a limited defensive role as the Eagles’ safety in base defense snaps with Mukuba being the safety in nickel packages. Brown also got banged up at one point, though he managed to finish the game. Just feels like a matter of time until Mukuba completely overtakes him.

BEN VANSUMEREN

Really unfortunate that BVS suffered a season-ending torn patellar tendon on the very first snap of 2025. He’s a good special teams contributor and it would’ve been fun to see him get some occasional touches as a fullback. Here’s wishing him a speedy recovery.

It remains to be seen if the Eagles will scrap their plans for fullback usage or if Kylen Granson might get some more snaps in that role.

I DON’T KNOWS

NICK SIRIANNI

Not trying to crush the Super Bowl-winning head coach after leading his team to a win but his players lacked discipline. The Eagles ultimately had nine accepted penalties for 110 yards. There’s a lot of stuff to clean up.

A.J. BROWN

Brown had an important catch late in the game to set up the game-sealing 3rd-and-3 conversion by Hurts. Bizarre that that was his only target. Is Brown still not fully back from his hamstring issue? For what it’s worth, he wasn’t even listed on the injury report last week.

Brown typically goes off the week right after quiet games, though this is a whole new level of quiet for him. Seems like a weird blip on the radar more than a real concern for now.

LANDON DICKERSON

Dickerson was visibly playing through discomfort before ultimately being unable to finish the game with a back injury. Dickerson’s toughness could prevent him from missing starts. But this could be a situation where he’s in and out of the lineup while battling injuries throughout the season.

QUINYON MITCHELL

Mitchell underperformed relative to the high standards that he earned by looking awesome last season. It was a surprise, really, since he had a great training camp.

Mitchell was ultimately targeted nine times and allowed just four receptions for 30 yards, which is good. But he also got flagged for a 34-yard pass interference penalty to turn 2nd-and-23 at the plus 46-yard line to 1st-and-10 at the plus 12-yard line. Three plays later, the Cowboys scored their second touchdown to go up 14 to 7.

Mitchell was in position to catch a potential game-sealing interception in the fourth quarter but he couldn’t make the grab.

Not worried about his outlook. Would’ve be nice to see a sharper performance, though.

WILL SHIPLEY

Shipley looked good early on (three runs for 26 yards, including a screen catch that counted as a rushing attempt) before suffering a ribs injury and not returning. If Shipley has to miss time, A.J. Dillon is currently the only backup behind Barkley. The Eagles do have newcomer Audric Estimé on the practice squad.

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