The defending Super Bowl champions got their title defence off to a winning start as they beat the Dallas Cowboys 24-20 in the NFL season opener on Thursday night.
But the game may well be remembered for an incident before a play had even been made from scrimmage. Eagles defensive tackle Jalen Carter was ejected after just six seconds after spitting on Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott.
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Carter, one of the Eagles’ best players, approached Prescott as the teams lined up after the kick-off. The pair exchanged words, and Carter then spat on his opponent. Prescott looked shocked as a gob of phlegm landed on his chest and Carter was immediately sent from the field. He shook his head and smiled as he walked to the tunnel but did not argue with the decision as Eagles fans booed. Replays that emerged later showed Prescott had spat in the general direction of Carter, but at the ground, before the confrontation.
“One of the officials observed him spitting on an opponent,” referee Shawn Smith said. “It’s a disqualifiable foul in the game. It’s a non-football act.”
The effect on the Eagles was immediate: the Cowboys drove down the field and scored on their first possession to go 7-0 up. When Javonte Williams ran in the touchdown, the Eagles line was notably missing the disruptive Carter.
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Indeed, the first eight possessions of the game resulted in points – but after a 65-minute lightning delay interrupted the third quarter, neither team could score again.
Jalen Hurts accounted for 214 yards (152 passing, 62 rushing) and Saquon Barkley rushed for 60 yards and a touchdown for the Eagles, who overcame self- inflicted mistakes along with a revamped Dallas defensive front that no longer stars Micah Parsons.
Carter’s ejection was the first of many undisciplined moments for the Eagles, who committed nine penalties for 110 yards.
“I think our discipline wasn’t in it early in the game,” Hurts said. “Great job by our defense being able to battle and respond. Guys stepped in and filled those roles. We came into this game talking about discipline and focus, and we’ll leave it saying the same things.”
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Javonte Williams ran for 54 yards and a pair of one-yard touchdowns in his first game for the Cowboys, while Prescott was 21-for-34 passing for 188 yards. CeeDee Lamb led all receivers with seven catches and 110 yards.
Jake Elliott nailed a 58-yard field goal to make it 24-20 Eagles 6:30 into the second half. The Cowboys drove into the red zone and got a free set of downs when Reed Blankenship committed unnecessary roughness in the end zone on a third-down incompletion. However, Miles Sanders fumbled on the next play, Quinyon Mitchell recovered for the Eagles and the lightning delay immediately followed.
Both offenses seemed to be out of juice by the game’s 11.30pm resumption. The next five possessions ended in punts, and Dallas received the ball with three minutes to go. But after Dallas reached their 38-yard line, Lamb dropped passes on second and fourth downs.
Hurts didn’t target star receiver AJ Brown until after that turnover on downs, inside the two-minute warning. Brown made a key eight-yard catch and Hurts scrambled for a first down to ice the game.
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