PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Dak Prescott got all the help he needed — thanks to a startling 56 yards of Eagles’ penalties — to deliver the Cowboys to the brink of an extraordinary victory that would have kept them in the mix for the top spot in the NFC.
The Cowboys fell oh-so short.
About 5 yards shy, in fact, of the go-ahead touchdown when CeeDee Lamb was wrapped up by Darius Slay in the final seconds that sealed Dallas’ 28-23 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday night.
The Cowboys (5-3) needed a major comeback to even try and pull this game out — and they’ll need an even bigger resurgence to make a run at the NFC East crown.
The 49ers already blew out Dallas 42-10 last month. This loss — in a game stuffed with close calls that never went their way — left the Cowboys 2 1/2 games behind the Eagles (8-1) for first in the division.
Sure, nine games are left, including a Dec. 10 primetime home rematch against the Eagles, but two losses already to two of the top teams in the conference have left Dallas reeling headed into next week’s game against the Giants.
The Cowboys said all the right things after the loss. They’ll learn from their mistakes. They were in the game against the NFC champs until the end. There’s plenty of season left.
“That’s what we’ll do, get back to work,” Cowboys coach Mike McCarthy said.
Does anyone really believe the Eagles will collapse? That San Francisco will go on a lengthy losing streak? That Detroit will stumble over the final two months?
All at the same time?
The Cowboys are stuck where they have been so many times at the halfway point of the season through the years, lamenting what could have been, rather than celebrating a decisive win against a contender.
“Lot of good we can take from this and use as we keep going,” Prescott said.
Prescott threw for 374 yards and three touchdowns and Lamb caught 11 passes for 191 yards, but the decisive numbers might be the ones not found in the box score.
The few feet, the final inches lost.
Yes, the final drive was the crusher. Prescott needed to move the Cowboys 86 yards in 46 seconds for the potential winning score. Aided by 56 yards of Eagles’ penalties, the Cowboys reached the 6-yard-line.
“We’re gonna win,” Prescott said of his thought process. “At no point in my mind did I think it was going to be anything different.”
So much for that.
With an upset victory in sight, Prescott failed to throw the ball away or make some sort of play for even a yard or two and instead was sacked by Josh Sweat for a crushing 11-yard loss.
Prescott then threw an incomplete pass with 11 seconds left.
After a delay of game penalty on the Cowboys moved them to the 27, Prescott hit Lamb for 22 yards, but he was tackled and actually lost the ball on a fumble. Game over.
Take a second look, though — the officials sure did — and it’s easy to pinpoint where it went wrong for Dallas.
Trailing 28-17 late, Prescott’s determined run toward the end zone was scuttled when Eagles linebacker Zach Cunningham flipped him on a hit to the 1-yard line. On fourth down, Prescott’s pass to tight end Luke Schoonmaker was initially called a touchdown. But a replay review showed Schoonmaker’s left knee was down on about the inch line and the TD was overturned.
Prescott hit Jalen Tolbert for a 7-yard score to make it 28-23 and the QB scrambled for a 2-point conversion that would have made it a three-point game. The replay showed Prescott’s right foot stepped out at around the 2 and the conversion also was overturned
“An inch or two on one of those three plays and we could be talking about a different outcome,” Prescott said.
Instead, the Cowboys had to explain away another L.
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