'Lights-Out!' Dallas Cowboys Ballhawks 'Steal' Win Over Philadelphia Eagles With Physical Defense
The Dallas Cowboys' secondary went against the grain in one of the 2023 NFL season's biggest games by the unconventional route of ... hitting.
Tackling is the obvious norm for any gridiron defense, especially one that has been as dominating as Dallas'. But it's no secret that the Cowboys' secondary made its living through the highlight reel, namely by way of the interception.
There are tackles in every game. Earning an aerial turnover, however, was the literal difference between winning and losing for the modern Cowboys: entering Sunday night's game, Dallas was 9-0 when earning at least one interception and 0-3 otherwise.
But the Cowboys created an outlier on Sunday night, crushing the Philadelphia Eagles by a 33-13 final 33-13 without the benefit of swiping one of Jalen Hurts' passes. Instead, the Dallas secondary joined the front seven in the physical trenches and got personal in terms of turnovers.
DaRon Bland, well-known for his end zone visits, earned multiple tackles for a loss for the first time in his career while Donovan Wilson, Stephon Gilmore, and Markquese Bell laid down hits that forced fumbles recovered by their teammates. Together with the traditional pass rushing affairs that made Hurts uncomfortable despite only one sack and a front-seven effort that allowed no rushes past 11 yards, the Cowboys (10-3) made a Sunday night statement and took over first place in the NFC East.
Safety Jayron Kearse, he of four tackles, felt that the physical victory wasn't as far of from the Cowboys' true identity as many would likely to believe.
"(It was) just playing our brand of football, not really much about them," Kearse said of the win, per notes from the Cowboys. "(It was) us just going out there and playing our brand of football. Getting to the ball, causing turnovers, and being tight in coverage."
Gilmore (L) goes for the fumble he forced from Brown during third quarter action on Sunday
Tim Heitman-USA TODAY Sports
Sunday night provided prime time redemption for the unit after a shaky Thursday night outing against Seattle. In a stark contrast to the prior week's 41-35 shootout, the defense did not allow Philadelphia (10-3) to visit the end zone and allowed the offense to embark on casual yet deadly drives that ate away at the Eagles' time to come back.
"I thought our defense was lights-out," Cowboys head coach Mike McCarthy lauded. "You clean up your last game. You're able to learn from it, but you could feel it when they came back from the Thursday night game against Seattle. You could feel it in the coaches on Monday and then obviously carried it through this week. So, there's no surprise they were going to play well today.”
With the win, Dallas continued to make statements all over the field: Bland continues to expand his game beyond the pick-six while Gilmore enjoys a brilliant resurgence as a veteran mentor and difference-maker.
Gilmore's work on AJ Brown, coming 10 days after his second-half shutdown of D.K. Metcalf in the Seattle win, provided some of the biggest highlights of the night. Brown did end the night with 94 yards on nine receptions, but most of the damage came after the Cowboys took a multi-possession lead that proved impossible to shake. Gilmore even forced a fumble from Brown at the onset of the second that stopped a Philadelphia march at the cusp of Dallas territory.
Vital eyes of North Texas see Gilmore as one of the biggest difference-makers as the Cowboys seek to finally end their extended run of postseason futility.
"I would say from the very beginning, Gilmore has gotten (injured star Trevon Diggs) better, Bland better, and everyone he's met, even me," linebacker Micah Parsons said. "We talk about body-breaking and everything he doesn't eat and what I do and how I started doing the stuff he's doing."
"He's the best person we could have added to our team when it comes to the defense, so really grateful he decided to come here and add to this team."
The Dallas defense will look for another shutdown effort next Sunday when they take on the surging Buffalo Bills in Western New York (3:25 p.m. CT, Fox). ... and will be hoping to get its hands on some of the footballs being tossed around by Josh Allen and company.
