Cowboys fans’ weekend got a whole lot better Sunday afternoon. The Eagles just needed to lose one of their next two games while the Cowboys needed to win out. Well, the Cowboys won their first of two and the Eagles lost to the Cardinals.
This was a game that the Eagles led by multiple possessions. Cardinals seemed to dominate throughout the first half but Kyler threw a costly interception in the red zone that Philly’s Sydney Brown returned for a 99 yard score. This was perhaps the only mistake from Murray all game, who otherwise had a stellar performance.
Arizona’s Second Half Emergence
The Cards found themselves down 21-6 at halftime, Head Coach Jonathan Gannon must’ve fired his guys up at the break as he wanted to beat his former team. Arizona’s offense responded with two back to back touchdown drives thanks to James Conners rushing, tying the game at 21 a piece going into the 4th Quarter.
Both teams made the most of their first fourth quarter quarter possessions. Each team scored 7, leaving the game at a tie once again. The following drive, Eagles looked like they might run all the way down but a costly penalty and then a negative quarterback run backed them up. Eagles settled for 3 and gave the ball back to the Cards with 2:30 left.
Cardinals drive inside the 10!
📺: #AZvsPHI on FOX
📱: Stream on #NFLPlus https://t.co/sFjqko01pD pic.twitter.com/VML5vJhBHK— NFL (@NFL) December 31, 2023
Cardinals started the drive with ten yard play after ten yard play. Kyler got the ball to midfield before the 2 minute warning. Quickly, it felt as if Arizona now had every ounce of momentum in the stadium. Greg Dortch caught a short pass and ran 30 yards, bringing the ball to the 5 yard line. Conner was given the ball the next two plays, reaching over the line for the game-winning score.
Impact for the Cowboys
This loss helped the Cowboys out tremendously. I personally believed that after the team lost to the Dolphins, our chances of winning the division were very minimal. This unsuspecting Cardinals win gave the Cowboys’ division hopes life.
All Dallas has to do in order to win the division now is just beat Washington. As long as they win, they will win the division regardless of the Eagles and Giants outcome. They are in the best case scenario currently as they control their own destiny as far as the NFC East goes.
Another positive from this game was the fact that the Eagles are playing poor football as of the past 5 games. Today Philly’s defense was underwhelming with the exception of the Sydney Brown touchdown. The Eagles simply underestimated the Cardinals and never expect to find themselves down.
This is the exact same thing that happened when the Cowboys played the Cardinals. I do believe that this Dallas team is much better than they were earlier in the year and they will fly as high as Dak, Cee Dee and the defense takes them in the NFL playoffs.