Recap: Eagles blowout Cowboys with dominant second half

By: Jesse Larch, Sports Talk Philly editor 

After a slow start the Eagles exploded for 30 points in the second half to blowout the Dallas Cowboys in AT&T Stadium on Sunday Night by a score of 37-9.

The Eagles were in hot water early when Ryan Switzer returned the opening kickoff to the Eagles 36 yard line. Jake Elliott saved a touchdown by lowering his head and driving Switzer out of bounds. 

The Eagles defense opened strong and held the Cowboys to field goal to open the game when all of the momentum was on Dallas's side early. 

The Eagles responded with a surgical drive on their first possession. Three running backs got a carry and three players caught a pass on an eight play, 75 yard drive that resulted in a Kenjon Barner rushing touchdown to give the Eagles a 7-3 lead. 

Dak Prescott looked much better on his second drive of the game, leading the Cowboys into the Eagles red zone with great passes as the Eagles dialed up more pressure, and a tricky read option that completely fooled the Eagles defense. 

When the Cowboys got into the end zone the Eagles defense stepped up again, specifically the returning Ronald Darby. Darby made a great open field tackle on Dez Bryant and on third down knocked away a fade intended for Bryant to force a field goal. 

After an Eagles punt the Cowboys were looking to drive again, but the Eagles defense had the answer once more. Derek Barnett beat Byron Bell clean on the edge to force Prescott to get rid of the ball. Malcolm Jenkins deflected the Prescott pass and the Ronald Darby forced another incompletion by converging on Terrence Williams. The ball went up in the and Rodney McLeod pounced on it for a huge interception. 

Unfortunately, the Eagles offense failed to convert on excellent field position, and failed to pick up a first down. Jake Elliott missed a 34-yard field goal attempt. The first quarter would end with a 7-6 Eagles lead. Elliott would go the locker room to be evaluated for a head injury following the missed attempt

The Eagles would intercept Prescott again early in the second quarter. Prescott was hurried by Derek Barnett, who sacked Prescott two plays earlier, and Prescott threw the ball deep out of desperation. Ronald Darby extended upward to intercept the pass, giving him his first interception as an Eagle. 

 The Cowboys persisted despite the tough defense from the Eagles, and Mike Nugent would connect on his third field goal of the first half to give Dallas a 9-7 lead right before halftime. 

The Eagles opened the second half the same way that they started the first, with a methodical touchdown drive. Corey Clement starred on this drive, capping it off with an 11-yard touchdown run. Clement would also catch the ball on a beautifully designed play to convert the two-point conversion. 

The difference between the second half and the first is that the Eagles managed to follow up their opening score with another one. Set up by a 71-yard Jay Ajayi run – the longest since Brian Westbrook ran the same distance in 2006 – Carson Wentz found Torrey Smith along the goal line for Wentz's first touchdown pass of the night. Wentz stood tall in the pocket and stepped up when the pocket began to bend and took a hit to make the pass.

Wentz would evade two defenders while rolling all the way to the sideline before finding Alshon Jeffery in the end zone for another two-point conversion, and a 23-9 Eagles lead. 

The Eagles continued to pour it on in the second half, when Wentz found Jeffery on fourth down for a 17-yard touchdown. Wentz fired a dart to Jeffery in between three defenders and Jeffery stretched out to snag the ball out of the air before landing on the goal line:

thegoalkeeper: Alshon Jeffery touchdown NBC Sunday Night Football: Philadelphia Eagles at D… https://t.co/IlByYixpQZ pic.twitter.com/o7o8kp580m

— FanSportsClips (@FanSportsClips) November 20, 2017

The Eagles defense would get on the board next when Derek Barnett got a strip sack on Prescott and Nigel Bradham would return the fumble for a 37-yard touchdown. 

The Cowboys would begin to move the chains on the following drive, but as they neared the Eagles end zone the defense tightened up again. Brandon Graham would sack Prescott, and then two plays later Prescott would throw his third pick of the game when Malcolm Jenkins picked him off in the end zone. 

The Eagles did not allow a point in the second half, while scoring 30 unanswered. Dallas did not score a touchdown in the game. 

Carson Wentz added two passing touchdowns to his league leading total, and the Eagles ran for 215 yards as a team. 

Derek Barnett had two sacks and three quarterback hits, and played a role in three of Dak Prescott's four turnover in the game. The Eagles had four sacks in the game. 

The Eagles continue to hold the best record in the NFL (9-1) and advance to 4-0 against the NFC East after their eighth straight win and will head home to hos the Chicago Bears (3-7) in week 12.