Ezekiel Elliott powered into the Philadelphia secondary and simply ran over safety Malcolm Jenkins.
The apparent 14-yard touchdown run by the star Dallas running back was overturned on review because his knee was down at the one — but the message had been sent early in a game with the division lead on the line.
The Cowboys (4-3) are back in control of the National Football Conference East after ending a three-game losing streak that clouded the high expectations of the defending division champions following a 3-0 start.
Photo: AFP
Elliott on Sunday scored his touchdown the play after overpowering Jenkins on his way to 111 yards and Dak Prescott threw an easy scoring pass on a great fake to his backfield mate before a late touchdown run as the Cowboys rolled to a 37-10 victory over the Eagles.
“That’s how I play every week,” Elliott said. “I like to think of the defense as a shield. In the first quarter, you hit them a couple times, you dent the shield a little bit. You keep on hitting it.”
Prescott’s eight-yard scoring run for the final points broke Roger Staubach’s club record of 20 rushing touchdowns by a quarterback and sent the Cowboys into their open week feeling good after a week of talk that coach Jason Garrett’s job might be on the line.
Next time out, they will be going for a season sweep of the New York Giants and possibly a firmer hold on first place.
“No doubt in my mind about how we were going to come out and perform tonight,” Prescott said. “We didn’t panic. We didn’t have to say everything hit the fan, let’s start over. We doubled down on who we are and just got better.”
Carson Wentz threw an interception and had two of Philadelphia’s three lost fumbles. The Eagles (3-4) dropped their second straight game after a two-game winning streak that looked like it might get their season going.
“A little embarrassed,” Wentz said. “We didn’t show up.”
Brett Maher capped the highest-scoring half against Doug Pederson since he became coach of the Eagles in 2016, kicking a 63-yarder on the final play before halftime for a 27-7 lead.
Maher is the first kicker in NFL history with three field goals of at least 60 yards — and all three have been at least 62.
He kicked a 62-yarder last week against the New York Jets. Maher’s other from 62 was against the Eagles last season, his first in the league.
Pederson tried to reverse Philadelphia’s trend of slow starts by taking the ball after winning the coin flip. It backfired when the Eagles fumbled on their first two possessions, leading to a pair of touchdowns after the Cowboys got the ball on their opponents’ side of the 50 for the first two times this season.
Before that, Dallas were the only team in the NFL that had not started a drive on the favorable side of midfield.
“I feel like he got a statement today and so we’re going to let him go sleep on it,” said defensive end DeMarcus Lawrence, whose sack of Wentz created the second turnover.
Elsewhere, the Packers routed the Raiders 42-24, the Saints battered the Bears 36-25, the Ravens sank the Seahawks 30-16, the Titans tamed the Chargers 23-20, the Colts overcame the Texans 30-23 and the Vikings vanquished the Lions 42-30.
The Rams flayed the Falcons 37-10, the Cardinals downed the Giants 27-21, the Bills downed the Dolphins 31-21, Jaguars beat the Bengals 27-17 and the 49ers shut out the Redskins 9-0.
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