Dallas Cowboys and Philadelphia Eagles tied at 7 after first quarter
1st Quarter
The Eagles won the toss and deferred which set the Cowboys offense up to work first.
Initially Cooper Rush looked like he has in all of his starts so far. He was calm, cool, collected and taking mostly low-hanging fruit.
It was on 3rd and 3 that Rush pressed and did so in a very wrong way. He tried to force one and instead found CJ Gardner-Johnson who took it all the way back for a touchdown.
It would have been easy for the Cowboys to feel like the early mishap was a sign of things to come, but they have shown that they are not the kind of team who is going to just fold up shop and quit this season.
Across 12 total plays the Cowboys responded by traveling 65 yards with Cooper Rush finding Jalen Tolbert in the endzone to cap it off. With his touchdown earlier in the season in Pittsburgh, Tolbert officially scored in every game in Pennsylvania in 2024.
Philadelphia took over on offense for the first time in the game with about 5 minutes left in the first quarter and did basically nothing at all. Kenny Pickett’s group went 3 and out in their first attempt and in particularly unimpressive fashion.
The Cowboys followed that up with a 3 and out of their own and partly thanks to an interesting call on 3rd and 6 where Mike McCarthy chose to hand it off. I digress.
Amazingly the Eagles went 3 and out yet again, but it was a little interesting in that it got down to a 4th and 1 decision from their own 46-yard line. Ultimately they chose to punt as opposed to their classic go for it move which was strange given how much was on the line for them in the game.
The quarter ended with Dallas beginning to move a bit.
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Notable Recent News
One of the first matters the Cowboys will have to tend to when the offseason begins is Mike McCarthy and whether or not they are going to bring him back. Recent reports suggest that McCarthy could have suitors if Dallas does not. For the record, McCarthy’s contract is expiring so he could choose to leave on his own.
Injury Updates
The Cowboys announced a number of roster decisions on Saturday.
The @dallascowboys added TE Princeton Fant (calf) to the injury report following the team’s practice on Saturday, and his status for the game is questionable. The club also made the following transactions:
Reserve/Injured:
WR CeeDee Lamb
CB Amani OruwariyeActivated from…
— Dallas Cowboys Public Relations (@DallasCowboysPR) December 28, 2024
With the team officially eliminated from playoff contention last week these sort of things were inevitable.
NFL News Relevant To The Cowboys
On Saturday the modern-era player finalists for the Pro Football Hall of Fame Class of 2025 were announced.
Darren Woodson is here once again.
Up Next For The Cowboys
As you are aware there will be no playoffs for the Cowboys this season which means next week is the last time that we will see them for quite a while. Dallas will host the Washington Commanders in their finale. It remains to be seen if the game will carry any significance for Washington relative to playoff positioning.