Cowboys Score 1st: 'Perfect' TD Drive, vs. Eagles Preview: Dak MVP Push Continues with Lamb TD: WATCH
ARLINGTON - The Dallas Cowboys are playing host to the Philadelphia Eagles in a star-studded Sunday night NFC East battle with NFL playoff and MVP implications. ... and Dak Prescott and CeeDee Lamb just drew first blood.
The Cowboys took the opening kickoff, starting with a return from KaVontae Turpin, and just kept marching, using their speed to overwhelm the Eagles defense.
A drive-capping toss from Dak to Lamb for a 13-yard receiving touchdown demonstrated again Lamb's ability to run free against the Philly corners.
Lamb is now the first Dallas player since another No. 88, Dez Bryant, to have five consecutive games with a receiving touchdown.
We don't throw around the word "perfect'' lightly, but that drive was absolutely nailed by Dallas.
More on the game coming in ...
A Dallas win would clear the path toward the NFC's No. 1 seed and extend the Cowboys' home-winning streak to 15 games, the longest active streak in the NFL. Meanwhile ... Quarterbacks Dak Prescott and Jalen Hurts are two of the top favorites to win league Most Valuable Player and Sunday night could be the turning point.
Rest advantage goes to the Cowboys, who beat the Seattle Seahawks last Thursday night in a 41-35 nail-biter. The Eagles suffered a 42-19 blowout loss at home to the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday night.
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And the injury update? Largely all good from both sides, as you see in the "final'' and "official'' injury report ...
History shows that Prescott dominates against division opponents. He has a 30-8 career record against the NFC East. Since 2016, Prescott’s 30 wins against the NFC East are the second-most wins against his division, trailing only Tom Brady (31).
Prescott is on record watch on Sunday night. He has thrown for multiple touchdown passes in six straight games, the longest active streak in the NFL. With 2-or-more passing TDs on Sunday, his streak will tie Tony Romo for most in franchise history (seven games).
The Eagles are 3-0 on Sunday Night Football under coach Nick Sirianni. Philadelphia has also won two of the last three matchups against Dallas, including a 28-23 victory at Lincoln Financial Field in Week 9.
The Dallas defense looks to get after quarterback Hurts, who ranks second in the league with 31 total touchdowns this season. Keep an eye on running back D'Andre Swift, who has the fourth-most rushing yards (783) in the NFL.
PLAYOFF IMPLICATIONS: Dallas would indeed take the division lead with a win, based on the fact that the Cowboys have won one more NFC East game than Philadelphia.
But if both teams win the rest of their games? It’s an advantage that would disappear, as if the Eagles run the table in their final four games while Dallas does the same in its final five, the third tie-breaker - best record in common-opponent games - would drop the Cowboys.
Philly has the lowly Arizona Cardinals coming up on the schedule ... who Dallas already lost to.
RECORDS: Dallas Cowboys (9-3) vs. Philadelphia Eagles (10-2)
ODDS: Dallas is a 3-point favorite vs. the Eagles
GAME TIME: Sunday, December 10th, 2023 at 7:20 p.m. ET
LOCATION: AT&T Stadium - Arlington, TX
TV/RADIO: NBC, 105.3 The FAN
THE FINAL WORD: Coach Mike McCarthy, who had surgery on Wednesday after discovering he had acute appendicitis:
"We wanna get to this 10th win," McCarthy said. "We understand where they are."
