By Brooks Kubena, Saad Yousuf, Jon Machota and Amos Morale III
The Philadelphia Eagles clinched the NFC East division title Sunday as running back Saquon Barkley topped the 2,000-yard mark in a 41-7 win against the Dallas Cowboys.
Barkley, who now has 2,005 rushing yards this season, tallied 167 yards on 31 carries Sunday for an Eagles team that played without starting quarterback Jalen Hurts. The quarterback remains in the NFL’s concussion protocol.
Backup Kenny Pickett started for the Eagles, and completed 10 of 15 passes for 143 yards and a touchdown and rushed for another score before leaving the game in the third quarter with a rib injury.
Tanner McKee made his NFL debut while finishing the game in Pickett’s place. McKee posted a nearly perfect passer rating while completing three of four passes for 54 yards and two touchdowns. He connected with receiver A.J. Brown for a 20-yard third-quarter score and found Devonta Smith in the fourth for a 25-yard touchdown.
📁 Things We Love To See
📁 Tanner McKee & DeVonta Smith
📁 Touchdown vs. the Cowboys (Kelly Green) pic.twitter.com/kG2zCubj17— Philadelphia Eagles (@Eagles) December 29, 2024
Philadelphia’s defense added to the scoring with defensive back C.J. Gardner-Johnson returning one of Cooper Rush’s two interceptions for a touchdown in the first quarter.
The Eagles (13-3) will end their regular season against the New York Giants, while the Cowboys (7-) will face the Washington Commanders in Week 18.
Saquon Barkley eyeing record
Barkley is the ninth player in NFL history to surpass 2,000 yards rushing in a single season. Barkley (2,005 yards) is within range of the record set by Eric Dickerson (2,105) in 1984. Barkley will have one more game to set the record. And, no less, it will be in the regular-season finale against his old team: the Giants.
Barkley already holds the single-season record for the Eagles. It’s difficult to be hyperbolic about his impact on this year’s offense. Barkley was given an ovation after eclipsing the 2,000-yard mark with a 23-yard run in the fourth quarter.
Each offensive lineman embraced Barkley. The fanbase inside Lincoln Financial Field chanted “M-V-P.” Barkley finished the game with 167 yards rushing, his 11th 100-yard game of the season. — Kubena
Saquon Barkley is just the 9th player in NFL history to reach 2,000+ rushing yards‼️@saquon | #FlyEaglesFly pic.twitter.com/3o7SCoMWO0
— Philadelphia Eagles (@Eagles) December 29, 2024
C.J. Gardner-Johnson gets Eagles rolling
The Eagles demolished the Cowboys in their first meeting by winning the turnover margin. Again, the Eagles won the margin and forced two fumbles.
Gardner-Johnson had two interceptions, including a 69-yard pick-six on the game’s first possession. Gardner-Johnson has a team-leading six interceptions in 2024, tying his career high.
By beating the Cowboys 34-6 in their first meeting and 41-7 in their second, the 62-point margin is the second-most, one-sided pair of games in the rivalry’s history. — Kubena
Turnovers prove costly for Dallas
When the Cowboys went 4-1 in their last five games, their turnover margin was one of the team’s strengths. The Cowboys were plus-eight during that span, which was second-best in the NFL, only behind the Kansas City Chiefs’ plus-nine. As the Cowboys got blown out by the Eagles, who played a good portion of the game with their third-string quarterback, Dallas lost the turnover battle 4-0.
Sunday’s game had a bit of everything from a horrendous pick-six on the first drive of the game, a bad fumble by Jake Ferguson in Dallas’ territory, a Rico Dowdle fumble in Eagles’ territory and another Rush interception.
Meanwhile, the defense became a doormat to Barkley and didn’t force a single turnover, whether it be an interception of Pickett or McKee, or forcing a fumble. The pass rush was unable to get home much and the defensive secondary was atrocious, specifically, Andrew Booth getting torched early and often. Mix that with the offense’s propensity to turn the ball over Sunday and it was a recipe for the disaster the game ended up being. — Saad Yousuf, Cowboys beat writer
Cowboys worn down
Cowboys coach Mike McCarthy said his message to the team heading into Sunday’s game was to “cut it loose.” McCarthy added that they were “going in there to win.” While that sounded good, an injury-depleted Cowboys roster would eventually cost them against better competition. Even without Hurts, the Eagles are the best team Dallas has faced over the last month.
The Cowboys went into Sunday’s game without six key starters: quarterback Dak Prescott, wide receiver CeeDee Lamb, right guard Zack Martin, defensive end DeMarcus Lawrence, linebacker DeMarvion Overshown and cornerback Trevon Diggs. It looked like a team missing six of their top 10 players. — Jon Machota, Cowboys beat writer
Required reading
(Photo: Mitchell Leff / Getty Images)
