PHILADELPHIA -- A thrilling finish at Lincoln Financial Field saw the Philadelphia Eagles (8-1) hold on to beat the Dallas Cowboys (5-3) 28-23 and take control of the NFC East, a showdown which came down to the final play.
Dak Prescott's pass to CeeDee Lamb was a few yards short of the end zone as time expired as Darius Slay made the tackle to seal the win. Sydney Brown was also credited with the tackle.
The Cowboys got to the Eagles' 29-yard line with 1:17 left, but James Bradberry stopped a Prescott pass intended for Jalen Tolbert to force a turnover on downs. That was the second missed opportunity for the Cowboys in Eagles territory in the second half.
On fourth-and-goal from the 1-yard line earlier in the fourth quarter, Prescott found Luke Schoonmaker on a pass that was initially ruled a touchdown. After an official review, the ball didn't cross the plane as the runner's knee was down on the white line. The play was ruled a turnover on downs with the Eagles getting the ball back.
Prescott finished with 374 yards and three touchdowns in the loss.
The Cowboys did rally from a 28-17 deficit to get back in the game. Prescott found Tolbert for a seven-yard touchdown to cut the Eagles' lead to 28-23 with 6:23 left. Prescott failed to run it in for two, keeping it from being a three-point game. The Eagles went three-and-out on consecutive possessions, giving Dallas an opportunity to score a touchdown and take the lead with 4:43 left.
Jalen Hurts threw two touchdown passes in the second half, including a 29-yard strike to DeVonta Smith to give the Eagles a 21-17 lead. Hurts later found A.J. Brown -- who became the fastest to achieve 1,000 receiving yards in a season (nine games) in Eagles history -- for a four-yard touchdown to put Philadelphia up, 28-17, with 1:13 left in the third quarter.
Hurts battled through his recurring knee issues after getting taken down by a Micah Parsons sack late in the second quarter. Once Parsons sacked Hurts, the Eagles quarterback got up gingerly and limped to the sideline. Hurts headed to the locker room two plays later -- but he only missed Prescott taking a knee to close the half. Hurts didn't miss a play.
Be sure to stay pinned to the live blog below for all the real-time updates and analysis from Lincoln Financial Field. Takeaways are below.
Why the Eagles won
The Eagles won on Sunday because they did the little things better than the Cowboys. The Eagles had three fumbles, but they recovered all of them. Philadelphia scored a touchdown on all three of its red zone trips while Dallas went 3-for-5 in the red zone, including missing a touchdown by a literal inch on fourth-and-goal and quarterback Dak Prescott taking a killer sack on their final possession for a loss of 11 once they reached the Philadelphia 10.
Jalen Hurts was an efficient 17-for-23 passing for 207 passing yards and two touchdowns while also totaling a one-yard rushing touchdown via the "tush push" quarterback sneak play. Despite being hampered by a knee injury, he was able to take two fewer sacks than Prescott. That hidden yardage ended up making a difference.
Why the Cowboys lost
They couldn't quite put it all together in key moments. Dallas was unable to gain a yard on fourth-and-goal from the one with just over 10 minutes to play after Prescott's pass to second-round rookie tight end Luke Schoonmaker ended up in a completion a literal inch short. The Cowboys also did a poor job with clock management. They were jogging to the line of scrimmage throughout their penultimate possession, which led to there being only 1:22 left on the clock after Prescott's incomplete pass to wide receiver Jalen Tolbert on a fourth-down scramble killed that drive.
Every second ended up mattering as they ran out of time and finished just seven yards shy of the end zone prior to Lamb appearing to attempt to lateral the football backwards, which resulted in a lost fumble. Prescott being unable to target Lamb on the fourth-and-goal plays that went to Schoonmaker and Tolbert, players who had a combined 20 targets this season entering Week 9, also served as missed opportunities for the Cowboys to get their best player a chance to win 50-50 moments in critical spots.
Prescott finished the game 29-for-44 passing for 374 yards and three touchdowns, but he couldn't lead Dallas to the win.
Turning point
Schoonmaker being ruled just short of the end zone. His touchdown would have pulled the Cowboys within a possession with 10 minutes to play, creating an entirely different ball game. Ultimately, that was one of the close calls that didn't go Dallas' way.
Play of the game
Jalen Hurts' 29-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver DeVonta Smith in the back-left corner of the end zone. Hurts couldn't have made a prettier pass with Cowboys cornerback DaRon Bland, who entered Week 9 with the lowest passer rating allowed as the primary defender in coverage and completion percentage allowed, lurking step-for-step. The play was significant as it gave the Eagles their first lead since 7-0, and it was an edge they wouldn't surrender.
What's next?
The Cowboys will return home to AT&T Stadium to face the 2-7 New York Giants, a team whose quarterback situation is murky after quarterback Daniel Jones suffered a knee injury in their 30-9 loss at the Las Vegas Raiders on Sunday.
The Eagles enter their bye week in Week 10 with the NFL's best record at 8-1.