The Philadelphia Eagles opened their Super Bowl title defense with a 24-20 win over the Dallas Cowboys on Thursday night, but it was far from easy.
Philadelphia, which won 16 of its last 17 games a season ago, looked shaky in the opener and needed some late help from Dallas receiver CeeDee Lamb, who dropped two critical passes in the final minutes.
The biggest miss came with under three minutes left, when Lamb let a deep ball slip through his hands that would have set the Cowboys up inside the 20-yard line with a chance to take the lead. He had another shot on fourth down, but couldn’t make a diving grab.
“Man, that’s terrible,” Lamb said afterward of his four drops. “I can’t point the finger at anybody else.”
Eagles win ugly
It wasn’t a polished night for Philadelphia. Defensive tackle Jalen Carter was ejected before the very first snap for spitting on Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott, leaving a major hole in the middle. The defense struggled early without him, and the offense sputtered in the second half.
Star receiver A.J. Brown was a nonfactor until the final minutes, finishing with just one catch. Running back Saquon Barkley scored once but managed only 60 rushing yards, well below his 2024 average.
Still, the Eagles survived and celebrated a win on the night they raised their championship banner.
Fast starts on both sides
The game opened at a frantic pace. Dallas scored on its first four possessions, with Javonte Williams punching in two short touchdowns and kicker Brandon Aubrey adding a pair of field goals.
The Eagles kept pace thanks to quarterback Jalen Hurts, who scored twice on scrambles and connected on a 51-yard bomb to Jahan Dotson to set up Barkley’s 10-yard touchdown run just before halftime. Philadelphia led 21-20 at the break.
Despite trading star pass rusher Micah Parsons to Green Bay last week, Dallas’ defense held its own and never let the game turn into the blowout many expected.
Long delay, tense finish
The second half slowed down, literally. A lightning delay with 4:44 left in the third quarter stopped play for more than an hour. Just before the break, Cowboys running back Miles Sanders had coughed up a fumble at the Eagles’ 11-yard line, swinging momentum toward Philadelphia.
Both defenses settled in after the stoppage, trading stops until the Cowboys got the ball back with just over three minutes to play, trailing 24-20. That’s when Lamb dropped the would-be game-changer, and the Eagles hung on.
Philadelphia moves to 1-0, but Thursday showed this team still has plenty to fix. Last year, the Eagles didn’t hit their stride until October. If history repeats itself, this narrow escape might end up being just another September footnote.
