For the last few years, the Philadelphia Eagles looked a lot like Mike Tyson, circa 1986-1989.
These days, the Eagles look a lot more like Mike Tyson, searching for his mouthpiece in Japan after getting knocked on the canvas by Buster Douglas.
Not that the San Francisco 49ers nor the Dallas Cowboys are Buster Douglas – but you get the analogy.
Last week, the 49ers pasted the Eagles in the mouth, 42-19, in Philadelphia, and this week, it was the Cowboys finishing the job, 33-13, at AT&T Stadium in Arlington (Cowboys pull even with Eagles in NFC East with 33-13 victory).
And this one really hurt. That AP headline can say all it wants about “pulling even.” But combined with the first loss, the blow by the Cowboys knocked the Eagles from the top of the NFC, all the way down to the No. 5 seed, right now.
The Eagles, the Cowboys and the 49ers are all 10-3, but the 49ers would be the top team in the NFC today, by virtue of their convincing wins over both of those teams. The Niners also lead the NFC West.
Even though the Cowboys and Eagles each hold a win over the other and have the same overall record, Dallas leads the NFC East by virtue of the better division record.
Detroit fell on the road at Chicago, and is 9-4, a game back from the Philly-SF-Dallas trio, and Tampa Bay – with a losing record (6-7) – leads the pitiful NFC South, where three teams are 6-7 and the one that’s not, Carolina, is 1-12.
So, how did Dallas overcome Philly?
An early Jalen Hurts fumble hurt the Eagles, allowing Dallas to take a 10-0 lead; Cowboys kicker Brandon Aubrey continues to amaze, going 4-of-4, including two over 59 yards (the first time any kicker in NFL history has done that in a single game); and the Eagles, who pride themselves in doing the little things right, couldn’t protect the football: Hurts and receivers DeVonta Smith and A.J. Brown all had fumbles in the game that were lost.
It was the 15 th straight home win for Dallas and the fifth straight overall win for the Cowboys.
Aubrey, by the way, is a freaking rookie, and is 30-of-30 on the season, originally from the Dallas Metroplex area.
Dak Prescott threw touchdown passes to CeeDee Lamb and Michael Gallop, and Rico Dowdle had a touchdown run. Prescott went 24-of-39 for 271 yards and the two TDs.
Now, the road ahead gets tougher for the Cowboys: they visit Buffalo (7-6) on Sunday, and the Bills, who upset Kansas City, literally, on the road yesterday and need to probably win out to assure themselves of a playoff berth.
Philadelphia, losers of back-to-back games, could be in danger of losing a third: the Eagles visit Seattle on Monday night, one of the most difficult places to play in the league. And Seattle, 6-7, also needs a win to stay in the NFC Wild Card race.
