By Brooks Kubena, Jon Machota, Saad Yousuf and Cale Clinton

What was billed as one of the most important matchups of the weekend ended in a blowout as the Philadelphia Eagles thoroughly dismantled the Dak Prescott-less Dallas Cowboys 34-6 on Sunday at AT&T Stadium. With the win, the Eagles (7-2) defeated the Washington Commanders for first place in the NFC East, while the Cowboys (3-6) continued their downward trajectory with no coaching change in sight.

In the second half, Philadelphia began to separate itself on the scoreboard. Jalen Hurts finished the afternoon 14-for-20 through the air for 202 yards, two touchdowns and an interception, adding another 56 yards and two touchdowns on seven rushing attempts. Backup quarterback Kenny Pickett took over for Hurts early in the fourth quarter. AJ Brown posted his first 100-yard receiving game since Week 4, while Saquon Barkley finished the afternoon with 66 rushing yards on 14 carries.

Dallas’ defense initially gave the Cowboys a chance to keep this game close. The unit sacked Hurts five times and coughed up two turnovers in the first half. A Trevon Diggs interception in the end zone took an Eagles touchdown off the board, while a Micah Parsons strip sack two drives later gave the Cowboys offense a first-and-goal on the Eagles’ 6-yard line. However, the Cowboys were unable to capitalize on either turnover, gaining only 6 yards in seven plays on the pair of turnovers.

The Cowboys’ inability to move the ball on offense defined their day. Dallas finished with 146 total yards and five total turnovers between Cooper Rush and Trey Lance. It’s only the fourth time in franchise history that the Cowboys have given up five turnovers while also posting fewer than 150 total yards. The Cowboys reached the red zone only twice, resulting in a field goal and Ezekiel Elliott’s first-ever turnover in the red zone. Their best chance at a touchdown against CeeDee Lamb was squandered due to the infamous sunset blindsided Lamb in the end zone.

Even when Dallas had Prescott at quarterback, these offensive shortcomings were still a consistent storyline. Dallas fell to 0-4 at home this season for the second time in franchise history and the first time since 2010. The Cowboys’ minus-94 point differential through their first four home games is the worst of any team since the 2019 Dolphins and sixth. -worst of all time.

Eagles get hot at the right time

The Eagles are reaching their top form. It’s good timing. They will receive the Commanders on Thursday evening. The winner will take over the lead in the NFC East. For now, the Eagles are ranked No. 1. They look like a team that will need to secure at least partial home field advantage in the playoffs. They secured an offensive identity behind Barkley. Their defense held a third team without an offensive touchdown. The team looks as dominant as it has since the 2022 season. Their 28-point victory over the Cowboys is their highest margin of victory over their division rival since 2017, when the Eagles won Super Bowl LII. The flailing Cowboys were clearly an easier target without Prescott. But the Eagles did what great teams have to do to bad ones. They stomped them. — Brooks Kubena, Eagles beat writer

Philadelphia’s defense demands the ball back

I’ll be honest. I didn’t think the following stat would be so common for the Eagles. But at least one opponent has lost four fumbles in at least one game in each of the past three seasons. The others: a 34-28 win over the Vikings last season; a 29-21 win over the Jaguars in 2022. After forcing just two goals in their first six games, the Eagles have now forced 10 in their last three. The turnover yielded 13 points. But the Eagles’ defense especially impacted the game when it forced the Cowboys to make a field goal after Hurts lost a fumble at its own 6. That kept the Eagles’ lead at 7-6 with 1:51 remaining in the first half. Hurts drove down the field on the next drive and hit Dallas Goedert for a 14-yard touchdown to start the offense. The Cowboys averaged 2.6 yards per play and benched Rush for Lance in the fourth quarter. — Kubena

Barkley’s influence felt without impact on the box score

Barkley’s influence on this offense is clear. He may have only rushed for 66 yards on 14 carries — 9 yards shy of his fourth career 1,000-yard season. But his impact helped Hurts take the pressure off and create one-on-one opportunities in the passing game. On one drive, Hurts hit Brown with a 44-yard bomb on a play-action pass, Barkley gained 30 yards on four straight runs and Hurts scored on an 8-yard zone read keeper. Hurts, who was sacked five times, found ways around the intense pressure. He sidestepped a free rusher and hit Goedert for a touchdown to end the first half. — Kubena

GO DEEPER

Trey Lance replaces Cooper Rush at QB for Cowboys

The loss in Dallas exceeded already low expectations

Most of us thought the Cowboys were likely to lose on Sunday. But this season too they were even worse than expected. It didn’t matter what gifts the Eagles gave them. The Cowboys did nothing with it. Besides DeMarvion Overshown, has anyone impressed you wearing a Cowboys jersey?

The quarterback situation was also worse than expected. Rush didn’t seem anywhere near the solution in Prescott’s absence. Lance wasn’t much better. It’s easy to look at the rest of the schedule and wonder where else there are wins. Maybe on Thanksgiving against the Giants. Maybe week 15 in Carolina. This will be a three to five win team. The one positive: a top-five draft pick is a realistic possibility. And this group needs all the help it can get. — Jon Machota, Cowboys beat writer

Cowboys aren’t just bad, they’re boring

This game showed that the Cowboys are close to owner and general manager Jerry Jones’ worst nightmare: not just a bad football team, but a boring and irrelevant team. At the end of the first half, when the Cowboys somehow managed to keep things close enough that it became a one-possession game with the Eagles up 14-6, there were boos from AT&T Stadium crowd after an incomplete third down by Haast. When the Eagles pulled away in the second half, there was still a noticeable boos – when Rush returned after Lance’s first appearance of the game – but it was mainly a demoralized crowd that seemed to accept his fate.

There were a handful of bright spots – Overshown, the return of Rico Dowdle and Parsons – but nothing that’s more than a blip on the radar in the grand scheme of things. The question is: how do the Cowboys keep the fanbase engaged in the coming months? Both quarterback options seem completely unattractive, the defense has been bad all season, and a post-season overhaul seems in order, making things largely irrelevant this year. Jones can handle losing, as the last thirty years have shown, but irrelevance is a scary proposition for him, and that’s where the Cowboys find themselves now. — Saad Yousuf, Cowboys beat writer

Required reading

(Photo: Cooper Neill/Getty Images)