Jalen Hurts and defending champion Eagles defeat Cowboys in NFL season opener
- Share via
- Defending Super Bowl champion Eagles defeated the Cowboys 24-20 behind Jalen Hurts’ two rushing touchdowns.
- Eagles defender Jalen Carter was ejected for spitting on Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott after exchanging words.
- The game featured a 65-minute lightning delay and multiple skirmishes typical of the heated NFC East rivalry.
PHILADELPHIA — Jalen Hurts rushed for two touchdowns for the Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles, who lost star defender Jalen Carter for spitting on Dak Prescott, then withstood a rare weather delay and needed a late stop to beat the Dallas Cowboys 24-20 early Friday in a wild start to the NFL season.
The Eagles led 24-20 with 4:44 left in the third quarter when the game was delayed 65 minutes because of lightning in the area around Lincoln Financial Field.
Prescott threw an incomplete pass on fourth-and-three with 1:54 left to end Dallas’ last-gasp rally. He passed for 188 yards.
Hurts wore out a defense without Micah Parsons on touchdown runs of four and eight yards — no legal tush push needed. Saquon Barkley also ran for a 10-yard score, even if his final rushing total of 60 yards was minuscule compared to the last season when he topped 2,000 yards.
Devin Woodhouse, the Chargers’ head strength and conditioning coach has a reputation for making players better. He’s also the son-in-law of Chiefs coach Andy Reid.
Hurts punctuated one score by chucking the ball into the stands and shrugging his shoulders much like his friend and mentor, Michael Jordan, who received a nice ovation when he was shown on the big screen.
“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.”
Hurts, Barkley and the rest of the Eagles spent a pregame ceremony where the team raised their 2024 championship banner inside the locker room, per the wishes of coach Nick Sirianni.
“It’s a new team. It’s a new journey. We got tested tonight,” Hurts said. “We know how they are when Dak is back and they’ve got their crew all together. We’ve played better football, but it’s always good to say that and find a way to win.”
Carter headed right back inside only moments after the banner was raised.
Prescott and Carter exchanged words after the opening kickoff, and Carter spit on Prescott’s jersey before backing away. Prescott quickly motioned to a nearby official who threw the flag and sent Carter packing. Fans booed as Carter walked off slowly, the standout defensive tackle holding his helmet in his hands behind his back.
Social media detectives broke down the play to see if Prescott, indeed, did spit first.
Either way, Carter could be headed toward a hefty financial penalty, if not worse, in the first major test of the NFL’s increased emphasis this season on sportsmanship.
Still one of the NFL’s nastiest division rivalries, the game was full of skirmishes and a near-costly unnecessary roughness penalty late in the third against the Eagles that put the Cowboys in position to take the lead.
Micah Parsons making his debut for the Green Bay Packers isn’t the only notable storyline to follow as a new NFL season kicks off.
Dallas running back Miles Sanders, though, fumbled the ball at the 10 and the Super Bowl champions recovered. Prescott made a touchdown-saving diving tackle on the play.
It would be a while until the Eagles got the ball back, with the game stopped with 4:44 left in the third quarter because of lightning.
The scores by Hurts and Barkley made the Eagles the first defending Super Bowl champions to score touchdown on the first three drives of the season since Green Bay in 2011. Jake Elliott put the finishing touches on the scoring with a 58-yard field goal.
Javonte Williams had a pair of one-yard touchdown runs — the first on the opening driving after Carter was ejected — and Brandon Aubrey kicked field goals of 41 and 53 yards.
