The Dallas Cowboys proved on Sunday that they can hang with the Philadelphia Eagles, but moral victories won't do much justice after a loss of that magnitude.
After all, the Cowboys are now a full two games behind the Eagles in the NFC East and NFC and now will need help along the way -- on top of beating Philly in the Week 14 rematch in Dallas -- to unseat their rivals atop the division.
At the end of the day, Dallas had too many drops, made too many mistakes and came up short (literally and figuratively) one too many times in high-leverage moments to win the game. There's a lot to feel good about from the Cowboys' performance, but these three players came up small in the biggest game of the season.
3. Luke Schoonmaker
No, this has nothing to do with Schoonmaker's near-TD in the fourth quarter. Earlier in the half, a Schoonmaker holding penalty wiped out an 18-yard run from Rico Dowdle, who, for what it's worth, didn't see the field enough.
Getting back to Schoonmaker, his penalty killed the drive. Dowdle's scamper would have had the offense poised to score with a 1st and 10 from the Eagles' 27. The penalty was enforced at Philly's 40, so instead the Cowboys had 1st and 10 from midfield. They didn't get close enough to attempt a field goal and punted.
Sure enough, the Eagles scored the game-deciding touchdown on the next possession to make the score 28-17. The drive admittedly was buoyed by woeful officiating and poor discipline by Dallas' defense, but you can't help but point to Schoonmaker's holding penalty as something that flipped the momentum at a crucial moment in the game.
At worse, the Cowboys get a field goal following Dowdle's big run to get within a point. In the best-case scenario, they score a touchdown to take a 24-21 lead.
2. Michael Gallup
In fairness to Michael Gallup, he bounced back admirably down the stretch after his devastating drop on third down near the end of the first half. He started the second half on the bench and that decision was absolutely called for. Most fans would argue it was overdue.
Tied 14-14 with a chance to go up a touchdown before halftime, the Cowboys were driving reasonably deep into Eagles territory. After not getting a sniff of Prescott's target share all game, Prescott turned to Gallup on 3rd and 3 and Gallup dropped it, forcing the Cowboys to settle for a field goal and three-point lead.
Do the Cowboys end up scoring if Gallup moves the sticks? We'll never know, but given the heater Prescott was on, you couldn't rule it out. A 21-14 lead going into halftime changes everything. Sure enough, the Eagles got the ball to start the second half and marched down the field to open up a 21-17 lead.
The Cowboys never led again despite a heroic performance from Prescott. In a game between evenly-matched rivals, one third down conversion could have made all the difference. Gallup didn't come through and Dallas paid the price.
1. Terence Steele
What is it with the Cowboys and handing out contract extensions to players who are coming off major knee injuries? They did it with Michael Gallup two years ago and followed suit with Terence Steele this past offseason after he suffered a torn ACL in the second half of the 2022 schedule. Both decisions look regrettable.
The Cowboys were handed a gift of an opportunity to steal the game and Steele allowed a massive sack of Dak Prescott that made it impossible.
On 1st and 10 from the Eagles 11-yard line, Prescott got sacked for an 11-yard loss. While Haason Reddick gave Steele fits all game, it was fellow edge rusher Josh Sweat who got the better of Dallas' right tackle in this moment.
Out of timeouts, precious seconds ticked off the clock. In desperation mode, Prescott threw an incomplete pass in the end zone for Jalen Tolbert before he connected with CeeDee Lamb five yards short of the end zone.
Steele's pass protection (or lack thereof) killed the Cowboys in the entire second half. He's been a liability all season but has coasted by. Now, though, some uncomfortable (but necessary) conversations will be had about his role going forward.
These players deserve blame but you can score a HUGE payday if the Cowboys rebound next week against the Giants thanks to FanDuel Sportsbook's stellar $150 sign-up promo! If you bet $5 or more (with a $10+ deposit) on the Cowboys' moneyline odds to beat the Giants, you'll get an extra $150 in bonus bets if Dallas wins! Sign up for FanDuel now and let's get back in the win column.