3 Studs (and 2 Duds) From Cowboys' Week 9 Loss to Eagles

With a huge chance to pull within a half-game of the Philadelphia Eagles, the Dallas Cowboys came up short in Week 9. They gave the home team all they could handle, but in the end, the Cowboys fell to their division rivals in a 28-23 defeat.

Dallas deserves credit for fighting back in this one and staying in it until the end, but ultimately let too many opportunities slip away, including a late fumble that would have set the stage for a potential comeback.

Here, we look back over the game and identify three studs and two duds from the loss.

Stud: CeeDee Lamb, Wide Receiver

CeeDee Lamb continues to shine for Dallas.

He came into this one on the heels of back-to-back 100-yard games and didn't disappoint against the Eagles, extending his streak to three in a row. Lamb had one of his best outings of the year as he pulled in 11 receptions for 191 yards. He did have a fumble, but that was at the end of the game when he'd already been stopped short of the end zone. Other than that, he came up huge every time the Cowboys needed him to.

His first big play was on fourth down during their second drive. Trailing 7-0, Dallas rolled the dice and went for it, finding Lamb for a huge 29-yard gain. That moved the ball to the 4-yard line, setting up Jake Ferguson for a touchdown (more on him later).

Lamb then came up big on the Cowboys' second touchdown drive. On third-and-long, he hauled in a 20-yard pass from Dak Prescott, advancing Dallas into the red zone and setting up another touchdown.

Lamb's big game wasn't enough to get the win, unfortunately, but he was still a star in Week 9.

Dud: Mike McCarthy, Head Coach

Mike McCarthy has had some issues with game management in his career, and he made a blunder on the first defensive series of the game. The Cowboys head coach failed to challenge a spot on the opening drive when Jalen Hurts was stopped short on third down. The Eagles elected to go for it on fourth down and promptly converted thanks to their patented QB sneak play.

The replay showed, however, that Hurts was actually two yards shy of the sticks rather than one. Perhaps that extra yard would have changed Nick Sirianni's mind and he might have punted away. Instead, McCarthy kept the challenge flag in his pocket and that led to a 7-0 deficit with Philly scoring on a Kenneth Gainwell touchdown.

McCarthy also needs to take some heat for his opening series play-calling. Despite facing the best run defense in the NFL, Dallas came out and ran the ball twice up the middle. Tony Pollard gained just 1 yard on the first attempt then 3 on the second. They were unsuccessful on third down, giving Philly the ball right away before allowing them to march down the field and score.

The Cowboys head coach had another issue late in the game when he allowed far too much time to come off the clock after the two-minute warning. McCarthy played as if his team was going to score and win, but when they came up short, there was hardly any time left at all. That led to them being rushed at the end and played a major part in the outcome.

Stud: Jake Ferguson, Tight End

Dallas responded well to the Eagles' first score by going 53 yards on eight plays. Of course, KaVontae Turpin going 48 yards on the kick return didn't hurt.

Second-year tight end Jake Ferguson capped the drive off with a 4-yard touchdown but that might not have happened had it not been for a catch he made two plays earlier.

On second-and-eight, Ferguson caught a short pass and was able to push forward for 7 yards despite being hit by multiple defenders. That made it third-and-one, and while Prescott couldn't hit Hunter Luepke on third down, the fact that the Cowboys were only facing a fourth-and-one gave them the confidence to go for it.

Lamb got wide open and reeled in a 29-yard pass (mentioned above) to move the ball to the 4-yard line. That set up the touchdown for Ferguson, who kept playing well from there.

After Philadelphia was forced to punt, Dallas scored again on an 8-play 77-yard drive. Turpin was the one to catch a 5-yard touchdown, but it was Ferguson who set them up.

On first-and-10 from the 18, Prescott fired a pass for the tight end, who had Nakobe Dean beaten. Ferguson would've had his second touchdown if Dean hadn't grabbed him. The linebacker was flagged for pass interference, putting the ball at the five.

Ferguson even came up with a huge conversion on fourth down as well, catching an 11-yarder on fourth-and-one.

Dud: Michael Gallup, Wide Receiver

One of the worst decisions Dallas has made recently was to trade Amari Cooper and then use the saved salary to extend Michael Gallup. Sure, there was a time when he was a 1,000-yard receiver and a go-to target, but Gallup hasn't been the same since tearing his ACL in January 2022.

Gallup struggled upon his return in the 2022 campaign, catching just 39 of 74 passes for 424 yards. Throughout the offseason, however, we heard how much better he looked and how prepared he was to show out in 2023.

So far, that hasn't happened.

Gallup came into the weekend with just 224 yards on 20 receptions without a touchdown. Then when he was targeted for the first time against Philly, he had a huge blunder.

Facing a third-and-three with just 1:20 to go in the half, Prescott found Gallup wide open for a pass that should have resulted in a first down. That didn't happen, though, as Gallup dropped the pass, which resulted in the offense settling for a field goal.

The defense was able to force a punt, but that could have led to more points for the Eagles. Not only that, but if the Cowboys could have scored a touchdown instead of taking the 3 points, they might have been able to find a way to pull off this close contest.

Stud: Dak Prescott, Quarterback

If anyone tries to pin this loss on Prescott, they clearly didn't watch the game.

Prescott played about as well as anyone could. Not only was he facing the NFC East-leading Eagles — who have just one loss on the season — but he also wasn't getting much help at all in the run game. Dallas finished with just 73 yards on the ground, leading to far too many dropbacks for Prescott.

Even so, he still managed to throw for 374 yards with 3 touchdowns and no interceptions. He was connecting on one critical play after another and somehow gave his team a shot to win after it appeared all hope was lost.

Down 28-23, the Cowboys forced a punt but then had to start at their own 14-yard line with just 46 seconds to go. To make it tougher, there were no timeouts left.

Prescott still got them all the way down to the Philly six, but that was when the offensive line fell apart. First, it was a false start from Tyler Smith, moving them back five yards. Then, Terence Steele was beaten — something that happened all game long — and Prescott was sacked for an 11-yard loss. That was the third time in the final three minutes he was sacked and in each of those instances, he was hit nearly as soon as he got the ball.

There will be those who point to Prescott missing the 2-point conversion when he stepped out of bounds, but in the end, they wouldn't have been close without him as he gave absolutely everything he had in this game.

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