Marcus Hayes: A championship team doesn't give away wins. That's exactly what the Eagles did at Dallas.

Marcus Hayes, The Philadelphia Inquirer on Nov 23, 2025

Published in Football

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ARLINGTON, Texas — For the first 30 minutes, the Philadelphia Eagles did everything necessary to win a key game in a hostile stadium. They looked like a team worthy of a title defense.

For the next 30 minutes, they did everything necessary to give it away. They looked like a team unworthy of even a division title.

Two lost fumbles.

Two huge passing plays.

Fourteen — 14! — penalties, their most this season by five.

By the time Dak Prescott found George Pickens for 24 yards with 35 seconds to play, all the good that had been done — the offensive breakout of the Eagles’ passing game, the stinginess of the defense early — all of it had been undone.

Brandon Aubrey kicked a 42-yard field goal as time expired Sunday, leaving the Birds 24-21 losers. They now face a short week and a Black Friday afternoon game against a hot Chicago Bears team whose 8-3 record mirrors their own.

It looked like the Eagles had their Thanksgiving turkey at halftime, perhaps drowsy with tryptophan as they sleepwalked through the Texas evening.

The win saved the Cowboys’ season, for the moment. Now 5-5-1, the ’Pokes have won two in a row; have made their abysmal defense respectable; and have a legitimate shot at the playoffs.

The loss will lead to more questions about an Eagles offense that has been under siege all season.

Jalen Hurts passed for 289 yards, threw for a touchdown and ran for two more, but he sputtered after the first half.

Malcontent receiver A.J. Brown caught a season-high eight passes for 110 yards, but virtually disappeared after the first half.

It was a magnificent first 18 minutes.

It was a pathetic final 42.

Saquon Barkley and punt returner Xavier Gipson each fumbled in the fourth quarter.

Cornerback Cooper DeJean gave up a 48-yard bomb to CeeDee Lamb, which led to Prescott finding tight end Brevyn Spann-Ford for a touchdown from 4 yards with about two minutes to play in the third to make it 21-14. DeJean then gave up a 41-yard bomb to Pickens, which led to Prescott running 8 yards to tie it at 21 early in the fourth.

But the Cowboys went nowhere after Barkley’s fumble and punted, which led to Gipson’s gaffe, which eventually led to fourth-and-goal from the Eagles’ 2-yard line, which led to Brian Schottenheimer’s inexplicable decision to go for it with less than four minutes to play against an offense that had been enfeebled for the second half.

Prescott threw incomplete from the Eagles’ 2. He threw short of the goal line to tight end Jake Ferguson.

With two minutes left the Eagles faced third-and-2 from their 37. Two Tush Pushes, right?

Nope. Straight drop-back. Hurts couldn’t pull the trigger, took a 13-yard sack, gave the ball back to Dallas, and watched as the Cowboys saved their season.

The only question:

Did the Eagles give theirs away?