Mar 14, 2024; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Philadelphia Eagles linebacker Zack Baun speaks at a press conference after signing with the team. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Ross-USA TODAY Sports Kyle Ross
Coming into the day, the Eagles had lost six consecutive games at AT&T Stadium, with their last road win over the Dallas Cowboys coming in 2017.
During his six seasons with the New York Giants, Saquon Barkley had never won in Dallas.
Both of those streaks came to a close Sunday, as the Eagles throttled the Cowboys 34-6, earning their fifth win in a row and moving to 7-2 on the season. Here's five takeaways from the latest victory for Nick Sirianni's squad.
Truthfully, it's probably been time. Howie Roseman and the Eagles signed Baun to a one-year, $1.6 million deal and the fifth-year pro has thrived in Fangio's system.
So better late than never.
The Cowboys had first-and-goal at the six-yard line of the Eagles late in the second quarter and looked poised to take the lead. That was until Baun forced an Ezekiel Elliott fumble that Cooper DeJean recovered in the end zone for a touchback:
Cooper DeJean recovers the ball in the end zone 😤
pic.twitter.com/sB95EsJayd
As Bleeding Green Nation's Brandon Lee Gowton pointed out, Baun also had two tackles for a loss on an extremely impactful drive.
Baun forced another fumble in the fourth quarter that was recovered by Reed Blankenship:
REEEEEDDD NO DOUBT ABOUT IT!
OUR BALL! @reedus99_reed | #FlyEaglesFly pic.twitter.com/1hZpXzNj62
Baun finished the game with eight total tackles, two tackles for a loss, two forced fumbles and a fumble recovery.
Jalen Hurts was sacked five times in the first half, and early on Sunday it looked like the Cowboys might hang around because of Micah Parsons and the rest of Mike Zimmer's Dallas defense. Instead, it was Fangio's defense that kept the Cowboys from ever really getting anything going.
Granted, this is a legitimately terrible Cowboys team, particularly now that they are likely without Dak Prescott for the remainder of the season and stuck with some combination of Cooper Rush and Trey Lance at quarterback. But the Cowboys' receiving corps is brutal after CeeDee Lamb. Tight end Jake Ferguson hasn't been able to build on a breakout campaign from a year ago. The Cowboys probably have the worst group of running backs in the NFL.
Nonetheless, it's become clear that the Eagles have bought into Vic Fangio's scheme and are getting tremendous results out of it.
Not only did Baun have a monster performance, but Jalen Carter, Brandon Graham, Milton Williams and Bryce Huff all had half a sack or more. Baun, Carter, Williams, Huff and Nolan Smith Jr. all recorded a tackle for a loss. Carter — as On Pattison's Anthony SanFilippo predicted — had a monster day, adding two quarterback hits in addition to the other stats mentioned.
But Tony Romo couldn't help but to gush on the CBS broadcast about the one-two punch that the Eagles now have in their secondary with first-round cornerback Quinyon Mitchell and second-round defensive back/punt returner Cooper DeJean. The Eagles appear to have found two stalwarts in their secondary, which helped them to limit the Cowboys to a meager six points Sunday.
Over the first month of the season, Fangio's defense gave up an average of 24 points per game. In the five games since then, the Eagles' defense has limited opponents to just 13 points per game. There's a reason they've won all five of those games.
Hurts started to pop up on some lists ranking the NFL MVP candidates this past week, given that he had gone four consecutive weeks without turning the ball over, a stretch in which the Eagles were 4-0. Hurts combined for four total touchdowns Sunday afternoon, and that's with the Eagles pulling him early in the fourth quarter in favor of Kenny Pickett with the win well in hand. Overall, it was a strong day for Hurts.
Hurts wasn't able Sunday to continue his stretch of not turning the ball over in Sunday's win, though.
Early in the second quarter, Hurts tried to fit a ball into a tight window to Dallas Goedert in the end zone. Instead, Trevon Diggs picked it off:
PICKED! Trevon Diggs denies six points AND gets the ball back for the @DallasCowboys 🙌
📺: #PHIvsDAL on CBS/Paramount+
📱: https://t.co/waVpO909ge pic.twitter.com/KmhqQtCukM
In Hurts' defense, that was a pretty incredible interception by Diggs. Sometimes you just have to tip your cap.
But just two plays after the first fumble forced by Baun, Hurts was stripped of the ball by Micah Parsons, with Marist Liufau recovering it for the Cowboys:
Micah Parsons is back to wrecking plays 😤@DallasCowboys ball!
📺: #PHIvsDAL on CBS/Paramount+
📱: https://t.co/waVpO909ge pic.twitter.com/gFDkvd3TO4
In 30 starts between 2021 and 2022, Hurts threw 15 total interceptions and fumbled the ball 18 times. In 26 games since, he's thrown 20 interceptions and fumbled the ball 15 times. While he's gifted, he isn't Brett Favre or Josh Allen where he's so special that he can get away with turning the ball over at such a high clip. The best version of Hurts does a better job of managing the game than he has since the start of the 2023 season.
The Eagles will have a quick turnaround as they will host Offensive Rookie of the Year front-runner Jayden Daniels and the Washington Commanders on Thursday Night Football.
Washington will be looking to rebound from a crushing 28-27 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers Sunday afternoon that dropped them to 7-3 on the season.
