Fun fact, on the kickoff just before the half ended, Aubrey hit the crossbar for the second time in the game. With just 27 seconds left, McCarthy dialed up passes, and on the second, Prescott found Gallup for the TD and a 24-6 lead at halftime. Helped by both a pass interference call and a facemask infraction on Kelee Ringo, Prescott was able to find Brandin Cooks, who also was the player Ringo fouled even though Cooks still caught the ball, inside the 1-yard line. McCarthy had used a time out to get the ball back with 1:48 on the clock to try and increase the 11-point lead. It led to another Jake Elliott field goal. It would tie him with Reggie White as the only two players in the league with 12+ sacks in their first two seasons. But Parsons would get the first sack of the game despite battling flu symptoms. Philly came right back at Dallas, with Hurts using both his arm and his legs to get them into the red zone at the two-minute warning of the first half. Incidentally, Bryan Anger was still waiting to make his first punt since Thanksgiving. The call was overturned, and the Cowboys had a 17-3 lead, scoring on all three of their possessions so far. McCarthy challenged the call, as replay seemed to show the ball breaking the plane. A pass to Ferguson would get broken up, and Dowdle would be ruled just short. A little shovel pass to Lamb would get them into the red zone again Pollard and Prescott would combine to get them to first and goal at the 4-yard line, then Pollard would set up second and inches. Dowdle would get the next three touches, and gain 19 yards. The Cowboys would move quickly into Eagles territory with a now expected pass to Jake Ferguson for 27 yards down the middle. The defense would stiffen and force Philadelphia to settle for a 52-yard field goal to move things to 10-3. The Dallas defense would force a fourth and two, but the Eagles would use a pass from the punter to get a first down all the way to the Cowboys’ 39. That would finally stall the drive, and Brandon Aubrey came out and calmly nailed a 60-yard field goal to give Dallas a 10-0 lead with just 50 seconds left in the first quarter. But the flags were now raining down on the Cowboys as Tyler Smith got caught holding. Pollard would unfortunately have a 17-yard gain wiped out by a Terence Steele holding call, but Darius Slay would get called for pass interference on Michael Gallup to keep the drive alive. They would face a fourth and two at the Philadelphia 44, and Mike McCarthy, now sans his appendix after surgery on Wednesday, didn’t hesitate, with Dallas picking up the first down on a Pollard run as the Eagles were defending the pass. Facing a third and nine, Prescott would find Lamb again for 25 yards. But Donovan Wilson would rip the ball out from Hurts as he ran the ball and recover it to give the ball to the offense at their own 21. It looked like the Eagles would come right back and put their own points on the board as they overcame multiple penalties to get as far as the Cowboys 21, including a 30-yard pass from Jalen Hurts on third and 16. Dak Prescott capped it all off by moving to his left to escape pressure and finding a wide open CeeDee Lamb who strolled untouched into the end zone for the early 7-0 lead on a drive that took exactly five minutes. After taking the opening kickoff, they moved with ease down the field, mixing up short passes, some effective running from both Tony Pollard and Rico Dowdle, and an end around by KaVontae Turpin that was the longest play of the drive. The game couldn’t have started better for the Cowboys. It was a game where the Cowboys seemed in control from start to finish and proved conclusively that they can indeed beat a good team, while a certain quarterback continued to burnish his MVP résumé. The Dallas Cowboys scored early and often in the first half, then used field goals and three fumble recoveries to cruise to a 33-13 win over the Philadelphia to tie them at 10-3 and claim a momentary lead in the NFC East.
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