Cowboys Come Up Short, But Show Signs of Life in Week 1 Loss to Eagles

Despite the loss, Week 1 wasn’t a total disaster. There were a couple of genuine bright spots that should give fans a sliver of hope that the Cowboys can be competitive this year. Let’s start with the run game.

Surprisingly, it looked competent. Jerry Jones and the Cowboys were lambasted this offseason for once again punting on the running back position, but for at least one night, it looked good.

Javonte Williams, who we didn’t see at all in the preseason, looked healthy and ran hard—he scored both of Dallas’ touchdowns. Miles Sanders only had a handful of carries, but one of them went for 50. Yeah, the fumble was brutal, and yeah, it flipped the game. But as a pure rushing unit, this backfield didn’t embarrass itself. And that’s a promising sign. 22 carries for 119 yards against Philadelphia’s defensive front is a lot more than any of us expected.

More impressive, though, was the offensive line. Even without Jalen Carter, the Eagles’ front seven is strong—and Dallas held up. Prescott had time to make it through his progressions and he wasn’t sacked once. That’s a big improvement over what we saw in 2024.

You also have to tip your cap to head coach Brian Schottenheimer. For a guy many believed didn’t deserve this opportunity, he acquitted himself nicely in his first game at the helm. Schottenheimer found a way to get the run game going, dialed up some deep shots, and generally kept Dak out of obvious passing situations. They may not have executed everything cleanly, but the on-field product generally looked good.

The offense gave you enough in this game to believe there’s something to build on. But will it be enough to overcome their deficiencies?

Familiar Flaws

For all the promising signs, the Cowboys are still 0-1—and the reasons why shouldn’t be surprising.

Let’s start with the obvious: the pass rush. The Cowboys failed to generate consistent pressure on Jalen Hurts, who looked unbothered and comfortable in the pocket. It’s almost like Dallas was missing the most disruptive pass rusher in the NFL… oh right—they were. Without Micah Parsons, the pass rush was toothless. Hurts had clean pockets and too much time to go through progressions or take off and run.

And that’s the other issue: run defense. While Saquon Barkley was held in relative check, the Eagles still ran for 158 yards and three touchdowns—two by Hurts. The Cowboys weren’t gashed, but were still pushed around at the point of attack. Philadelphia controlled the line of scrimmage and did exactly what Cowboys fans feared: run the ball at will.

The secondary held up better than expected, but it’s hard to evaluate their performance when Hurts didn’t really need to throw—he completed 19 of 23 passes for just 152 yards. The one shot he did take resulted in a 51-yard completion to Jahan Dotson. A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith were quiet—four catches for 24 yards between them—but they weren’t needed in this game. When Hurts’ first read was covered, he pulled it down and ran.

If Dallas can’t stop the run and can’t create pressure, it won’t matter who’s in the secondary. And if this defense can’t generate negative plays, the Cowboys will struggle to get off the field. Just like they did on Thursday night.

Cowboys’ Week 1 Loss: No Moral Victories, But Something To Build On

The team stats in this game were pretty even.

Dallas finished with 22 first downs. Philadelphia had 20. The Cowboys ran 56 plays. The Eagles ran 62. Total yardage? 307 to 302. Dallas had every chance to win this game, they just came up a little short.

There are no moral victories in the NFL, but even in Dallas’ Week 1 loss, there were encouraging signs. And if just one of the three things from our preview had hit, the Cowboys probably steal this one.

But they didn’t.

Now it’s on to Week 2. If Dallas can clean up the mistakes and stay healthy, they showed enough to believe they can be competitive. But the margin for error is razor-thin, and in a stacked NFC, “almost” won’t be good enough.