ARLINGTON, Texas–The Dallas Cowboys were served extra stuffing by the Philadelphia Eagles in a blowout loss on Thanksgiving, 33-10 at AT&T Stadium. With the win, Philadelphia sits in the driver's seat for the NFC East title as they improve to 9-3, while the Cowboys drop to 8-4. The two teams will meet again in two weeks in Philly.
Mark Sanchez, LeSean McCoy and the Eagles offense did just about anything they wanted to as they gashed the Cowboys defense for 464 total yards and an alarming 6.18 per play. McCoy broke out of what seemed like a season-long slump today on the ground, eating up 159 yards on 25 carries and found the end zone once. Shockingly, Mark Sanchez looked like a solid NFL quarterback as he sliced and diced the Cowboys. He went 20 of 29 for 217 yards and a touchdown with no turnovers.
Big Picture:
This game stings, however it might be easily forgotten. At least it should be, because the Cowboys were downright bad. They take a hit to their playoff hopes, but by no means are they out of the race. At 8-4, Dallas still has four games to determine if that five-year postseason drought comes to an end. It was bad, but let's not panic just yet. If the Cowboys don't come away from Chicago with a win, then might be the time to do so.
Turning Point:
The Cowboys were down 23-7 with 11:40 to play in the third quarter when LeSean McCoy fumbled on his own eight yard line. Jeremy Mincey recovered the ball and Dallas was in business. That is until DeMarco Murray was tackled for a one-yard loss on second and one and then Tony Romo was sacked the very next play, ending what should of been a seven-point gift served up by the Eagles. Dallas instead settled for a Dan Bailey field goal. LeSean McCoy scored on a 38 yard touchdown the very next series to push the lead to 30-10.
Key Stat:
The entire Eagles side of the stat sheet. Anything and everything they did was better. Yards, yards per play, first downs, third down efficiency, turnovers, everything and it wasn't even close. But look at the Cowboys' time of possession at 29:35. To be that close to the Eagles (30:25) but only manage 10 points shows how empty their possessions were and how quickly the Eagles scored.
Unsung Hero:
Mark Sanchez. The guy was brilliant on this night and that's hard to fathom after his career in New York with the Jets. Chip Kelly said there wouldn't be a drop off from Nick Foles to Sanchez and he was right on the money. It'll be interesting to see how Sanchez does down the stretch as the playoffs loom. Coming into this game, Sanchez had thrown six interceptions in four games this year, but didn't throw one to the Cowboys Thursday night.
Don't Forget About...
Tony Romo's successive games streak with a touchdown pass, which came to an end. Without finding the end zone, Romo's streak ends at 38 games. It's the longest in franchise history and fifth longest in NFL [embeddedad0]history and second-longest among active streaks, behind Peyton Manning's 50. Romo was 18 of 29 for 199 yards in the loss.
