PHILADELPHIA – The first half barely had enough highlights, much less plays that were forgotten. But the pace picked up in the second half, especially from the Cowboys, who scored two touchdowns and escaped with a hard-fought 17-3 win.
But all games have those hidden plays that can be forgotten, but ended up playing a huge factor in the outcome. And here are a handful of plays that changed this game.
1. 25-yard strike to Williams – The Cowboys and Eagles were knotted in a scoreless tie early in the second quarter and backed up to a third-and-5 from their own 13. That's when Romo went vertical for Terrance Williams, who positioned his body just right to haul in a 25-yard pass, just getting his feet inbounds. The pass got the Cowboys out from their end zone, although they eventually had to punt. But the flip in field position later led to a field goal, the only points of the first half.
2. Pass interference in end zone– Early in the third quarter, the Cowboys took the ball and marched down to the red zone, trying to build on a 3-0 lead. Tony Romo's third-and-goal pass for Dez Bryant was incomplete, but a late flag was thrown in the end zone, flagging an Eagles defender for pass interference. Instead of a field goal to make it 6-0, the Cowboys got the ball at the 1 and later scored on a Phillip Tanner run.
3. Wilcox saves the day – The Cowboys had a 10-0 lead but were challenged in the third quarter after a Tony Romo interception. On the ensuing play, Nick Foles went for the end zone and had DeSean Jackson open in the back. But rookie safety J.J. Wilcox came flying in at the last minute to deflect away the pass. Two plays later, Wilcox appeared to pick off a pass in the end zone but replay officials overturned the call and the Eagles later got a field goal.
4. Selvie sacks Foles, forces injury – With the Cowboys leading 10-0, Foles had a third-and-goal from the 9 and rolled to his right to extend the play. But he was dropped for a loss by George Selvie and newly-signed lineman Jarius Wynn. The hit not only led to a field goal, but injured Foles with a possible concussion. He left the game was replaced by rookie Matt Barkley, who proceeded to throw three interceptions in the fourth quarter. [embedded_ad]
5. Romo responds after INT – The Eagles had just trimmed the 10-point lead to 10-3 with a field goal, which stemmed from a Romo interception over the middle. So on the next drive, with the fans back into the game and trying to make a difference, Romo goes back to the middle of the fied with a 14-yard strike to Dez Bryant. He then proceeded to hit Cole Beasley, Joseph Randle, Bryant again and eventually a 9-yard TD strike to Terrance Williams that seemingly put the game away. But it all started on that first-down throw to Bryant, to help turn the momentum back towards the Cowboys.
