NFL News & Analysis

NFL Week 16 Game Recap: Dallas Cowboys 40, Philadelphia Eagles 34

Arlington, Texas, USA; Dallas Cowboys wide receiver CeeDee Lamb (88) celebrates with Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott (4) after scoring a touchdown during the first half against the Philadelphia Eagles at AT&T Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports

In yet another classic game in a historic rivalry, the Dallas Cowboys took down the Philadelphia Eagles 40-34 on Christmas Eve.

Dallas improved to 11-4 with the victory and kept its chances of winning the NFC East alive. Meanwhile, Philadelphia suffers just its second loss of the season at 13-2 and has to wait to clinch home-field advantage until next week.

Offensive spotlight: CeeDee Lamb was simply unguardable against the Eagles. The third-year wide receiver caught 10 of his 11 targets for 120 yards and two touchdowns, with an absurd 151.7 passer rating when targeted. 

Defensive spotlight: Linval Joseph dominated on the interior of the Eagles defensive line. He currently has an 89.8 grade on first review, which would be his highest in a game since 2018 when he was with the Minnesota Vikings. Joseph especially excelled as a run-defender, where he had three stops and two tackles for loss/no-gain.

Rookie spotlight: Cowboys left tackle Tyler Smith continues to impress, finishing with a 78.5 grade on first review against the Eagles. The first rounder from Tulsa only allowed one pressure on 40 pass-blocking snaps in the victory.

Offensive line spotlight: The Eagles offensive line continues to show why we consider it the best in the league. Philadelphia didn’t allow any sacks to Micah Parsons and company while only giving up six pressures on 30 pass-blocking snaps. Right tackle Lane Johnson and center Jason Kelce went the whole game without allowing a single pressure.

Box Score

Passing
Philadelphia Eagles
Player Fantasy Comp/Att Yds YPA TD Int
Gardner Minshew 28.7 24 / 40 355 8.9 2 2
Dallas Cowboys
Player Fantasy Comp/Att Yds YPA TD Int
Dak Prescott 31.98 27 / 35 347 9.9 3 1
Rushing
Philadelphia Eagles
Player Fantasy Car Yds YPC TD Long
Gardner Minshew 28.7 4 5 1.2 1 3
Kenneth Gainwell 9.8 4 17 4.2 0 11
Miles Sanders 7.1 21 65 3.1 0 13
Dallas Cowboys
Player Fantasy Car Yds YPC TD Long
Dak Prescott 31.98 6 41 6.8 0 16
Tony Pollard 14 9 19 2.1 0 8
Ezekiel Elliott 13.1 16 55 3.4 1 22
Receiving
Philadelphia Eagles
Player Fantasy Tgt Rec Yds YPR TD
DeVonta Smith 34.3 12 8 113 14.1 2
A.J. Brown 19.3 8 6 103 17.2 0
Kenneth Gainwell 9.8 4 4 41 10.2 0
Dallas Goedert 9.7 3 3 67 22.3 0
Miles Sanders 7.1 1 1 6 6 0
Quez Watkins 2.9 5 1 19 19 0
Zach Pascal 1.6 1 1 6 6 0
Dallas Cowboys
Player Fantasy Tgt Rec Yds YPR TD
CeeDee Lamb 37 11 10 120 12 2
Tony Pollard 14 8 6 61 10.2 0
Michael Gallup 13.6 7 4 36 9 1
Ezekiel Elliott 13.1 1 1 6 6 0
Dalton Schultz 7.3 4 3 43 14.3 0
T.Y. Hilton 6.2 1 1 52 52 0
Jake Ferguson 3.4 1 1 24 24 0
Noah Brown 1.5 2 1 5 5 0

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