The Cowboys got the result they needed on Monday night. They also got a reminder from Troy Aikman that one win over a battered Eagles team does not suddenly change what this team is.
Dallas leaned on its running game in a season-saving victory over Philadelphia, a win that kept pace with the 4-2-1 Giants in the NFC East. On paper, that sounds like progress. In reality, the performance still left plenty of questions.
Aikman, who was on the call for ESPN, was asked by Scott Van Pelt on SportsCenter whether he was impressed by what he saw from Dallas. He didn’t exactly hand out a glowing review.
“Eh, not really," Aikman said on SportsCenter. "And I don’t mean that as a negative, but this is a beat-up Philadelphia team.
Coming here and winning tonight, let’s not get carried away. They kind of did what you expected them to do.
It’ll bear itself out. This team’s capable.
Defense did some good things. They’ve still got a ways to go, but that’s gonna be the key to this team, is how far along can this defense come between now and when the playoffs roll around, if they get in.”
That’s the heart of it. The Eagles were missing their backup quarterback, their top two receivers, DeVonta Smith and Dontavious Wicks, and multiple starting offensive linemen, including All-Pro right tackle Lane Johnson, who retired midseason. That is not the version of Philadelphia Dallas would normally expect to see at Lincoln Financial Field.
And yet, for long stretches, the Cowboys still had trouble putting the game away.
Philadelphia scored touchdowns on its first two drives and didn’t punt until there were five minutes left in the first half. After Dallas forced a pair of punts, the Eagles opened the second half with a 17-play, 84-yard touchdown march that chewed up 9:16 and put the game back on edge. Dak Prescott and the offense answered with a nine-play touchdown drive, but the Cowboys still spent most of the night needing points nearly every time they touched the ball.
The final score can make the defense look better than it was. Holding the Eagles to 21 points sounds sturdy enough until you look at how the game actually unfolded. Dallas gave up 5-of-12 on third down and allowed 4.8 yards per carry, even though Philadelphia posed almost no real threat throwing the ball.
That’s the part that should linger. The Cowboys knew exactly what the Eagles wanted to do with Tanner McKee at quarterback and a depleted receiving group, and they still had too many issues getting off the field and controlling the line of scrimmage. Against a healthier offense, those problems get tougher to survive.
Two months into the season, the bigger question is still sitting there: what, exactly, has this defense improved at since Week 1? Joey Porter Jr. has played really well, but one standout defender can’t hide everything that’s wrong around him.
There’s still a lot of football left, but it’s getting harder to imagine the defense making the kind of leap Dallas needs. With the offensive talent this roster has, maybe just becoming a middling bad defense would be enough. Even that feels like a stretch seven games in.
The Cowboys were 4.5-point road favorites for a reason, and winning by two touchdowns in Philadelphia is always going to feel good. But this was the kind of game Dallas was expected to win given the state of the Eagles’ roster. Anything less would have opened the door to real questions about Brian Schottenheimer.
Instead, Dallas spent much of the night making it more complicated than it had to be. The Cowboys trailed deep into the third quarter, and the game stayed within one score until 9:07 remained in the fourth. It wasn’t truly sealed until DeMarvion Overshown picked off Tanner McKee with 7:55 left.
So yes, celebrate the win. Road division games get weird, no matter who is available.
But Aikman’s point lands: this was a necessary step, not a grand declaration. The Cowboys beat a shorthanded team they were supposed to beat.
That’s useful. It’s not proof that the bigger issues are gone.
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