The game was supposed to be the first battle in the fight to win the NFC East with two heavyweights ready to throw some big punches. The fight ending up being a rout as the visiting Philadelphia Eagles dominated the Dallas Cowboys 33-10 in another Thanksgiving Day slaughter. The Eagles beat the Cowboys 27-0 in 1989 in their only other Thanksgiving meeting. The Eagles jumped out to a quick 14-0 lead and never looked back as Mark Sanchez continues to look strong in Chip Kelly's offense.
The defense was dominant as well as the Eagles contained running back DeMarco Murray, the leading rusher in the NFL this season. Murray ended the game with just 73 yards on 20 carries, scoring the only touchdown for the hosts in the first quarter on a one yard run. The Eagles sacked Tony Romo four times and picked him off twice. Romo's streak of 38 games with at least one touchdown pass came to an end as a result. Romo looked tired and wary of his injured back as the Eagles made life difficult for him in the pocket. Philadelphia dominated the line on both sides of the ball, which made it easy for the skill players to do their job.
The game marked the two year anniversary of Sanchez's infamous "butt fumble" while with the New York Jets. Yesterday he exorcised that demon in a big way. He ran for the first Eagles' touchdown and then found rookie wide receiver Jordan Matthews for the second. Sanchez finished 20-29 for 217 yards and the touchdown. He also ran seven times for 28 yards and touchdown. Last year's leading rusher, LeSean McCoy, had another huge game. He carried the ball 25 times for 159 yards and a touchdown. His only blemish was a fumble early in the third quarter in which Dallas recovered at the Philly 13 yard line but had to settle for a field goal that made the score 23-10. McCoy made up for it on the next possession by running 38 yards for his touchdown, which officially put the game out of reach. Jeremy Maclin also had another big game, catching eight passes for 108 yards.
The Cowboys struggled to get anything going and turned the ball over three times, the two Romo interceptions and a fumble by Cole Beasley. The Eagles defense not only contained Murray but harassed Romo all day and allowed only one big catch by star receiver Dez Bryant, which set up Murray's touchdown. Bryant ended with just four catches for 73 yards, but said after the game he couldn't wait for the rematch in two weeks because the Eagles were "being cheap."
The Eagles came into the game feeling disrespected and under-appreciated. Romo was playing his best football, Murray was literally running away with the rushing title, Bryant was a beast, etc. Experts were saying that the Dallas offensive line was the reason for the success, playing its' best football in a long time. The Eagles defense especially to exception to those comments and pushed around that line all day. McCoy has been dealing with questions all season about his play but he has answered that quite loudly the last two weeks and if he keeps it up while Murray slows down he could possibly catch him for the rushing title. Dallas (8-4) plays next Thursday in Chicago while the now 9-3 Eagles host Seattle next Sunday.