Eagles Edge Cowboys, 24-23 : Cunningham Leads Philadelphia to Last-Second Win

The Philadelphia Eagles scored a touchdown in the final seconds against Dallas for the second straight year. This time, however, the Cowboys couldn’t cry foul.

Randall Cunningham’s 2-yard touchdown pass to Anthony Toney with 4 seconds left helped lift the Eagles from a 20-0 first-half deficit to a 24-23 victory Sunday at Veterans Stadium.

Last year, the Eagles scored on the last play of a 37-20 victory over Dallas, leading the Cowboys to accuse Eagles Coach Buddy Ryan of running up the score.

This time, the Eagles needed the score to hand the Cowboys their fourth straight defeat, dropping the Cowboys to 2-6, their worst start since 1963.

Philadelphia got the ball with 2:11 left, and Cunningham, who completed 26 of 53 passes for 298 yards and 2 touchdowns, marched the Eagles 85 yards in 16 plays.

Cunningham converted a pair of fourth-down plays on the drive, including a 13-yard completion to Gregg Garrity at the 2. Cunningham then rolled to his right and found Toney in the end zone for the touchdown that tied the score at 23-23 and Luis Zendejas kicked the decisive extra point as the Eagles beat the Cowboys for 2 straight times for the first time in 21 years.

Cunningham gave credit to the coaching staff for the last play.

“I wanted to fake and throw to Ron Johnson. They wanted a sprint out and pass to Toney. They got it. It worked.”

Ryan said the lingering controversy with Dallas put extra pressure on the Eagles.

“They responded real well,” he said. But, he added, “I said a lot of prayers with 2:11 left.”

The game lived up to its billing as a “grudge match.” There were two fights and three personal foul penalties. The Cowboys were assesed 16 penalties for 138 yards, the Eagles 7 for 32.

The Eagles, who have been outscored 63-0 in the first quarter of their last 6 games, fell behind 20-0 after Dallas scored on its first 4 possessions.

Dallas quarterback Steve Pelluer hit 32 of 45 passes for 342 yards and 1 touchdown despite being sacked 3 times.

Pelluer, recovered from a concussion suffered last week in a loss to Chicago, completed 11 of his first 12 passes as the Cowboys took a 17-0 lead in the first period. Dallas took a 20-0 lead with 9:36 left in the second period on a 34-yard field goal after Ron Francis intercepted a pass and returned 29 yards to the Philadelphia 42.