The Eagles-Cowboys rivalry is a rivalry between the Dallas Cowboys and Philadelphia Eagles. The rivalry has been one of the higher profile rivalries in the NFL over the past three decades, characterized by bitterly contested games that are typical of the NFC East.
1980 NFC Championship Game, January 11, 1981 – After losing to the Cowboys in all but 3 games from 1967–79, the Eagles finished first in the NFC East in 1980 due to tie-breaking procedures (both teams 12–4 and splitting the meetings between each other, but the Eagles having scored more points) and thus claimed the number one overall seed. The 1980 NFC Championship was also called the "Blue Jersey Game", on the account that the Eagles, having the choice as the home team, made the Cowboys wear their seemingly cursed blue jerseys (a stigma that dated back to Super Bowl V). To the cheers of a roaring Veterans Stadium crowd, the Eagles defeated the Cowboys 20-7.
The 1987 NFL Season – With many of the Cowboys players crossing the picket line during the strike, Dallas humiliated the replacement-laden Eagles 41–22. Buddy Ryan accused Tom Landry of running up the score (something Buddy Ryan had accused him of before), and Ryan had his heart set on revenge. With little time remaining and the Eagles up by ten, Randall Cunningham faked a kneel down and tossed a long pass into the end zone, resulting in a pass interference call. With the Eagles at the one, a final touchdown sealed the revenge for the Eagles, 37–20.
The Bounty Bowls (I and II) and The Porkchop Bowl – The first two Cowboys-Eagles games of the Jones-Johnson era in Dallas were dubbed the Bounty Bowls, due to the accusation by Cowboys coach Jimmy Johnson that the Eagles had set a bounty on Dallas players, particularly Quarterback Troy Aikman and Kicker Luis Zendejas.
1991 Regular Season – The Eagles began the 1991 season by pounding the Cowboys 24–0 in Texas Stadium in Week 3. Riding a three-game winning streak, Dallas entered Veterans Stadium in Week 16 with a chance at a playoff berth, their first since 1985. The Cowboys benefited from Eagles QB Randall Cunningham being injured, and rode a Kelvin Martin punt return for a touchdown to a 25–13 victory. The loss jolted the Eagles from the playoff picture. A rivalry was rejuvenated.
1992–1995 – With Cunningham back to health, the Eagles went five weeks into the 1992 season without a loss and met the undefeated Cowboys on Monday Night Football. En route to a 31–7 win, the Eagles' number one-ranked defense held the Cowboys' high-powered offense to one first-quarter touchdown; it was the fewest points the Cowboys would score all season, and the most points they would allow. However, later that year, the Cowboys ousted the Eagles from the Divisional Round Playoffs in a 34-10 rout, which ended the Eagles' prospects for a "Super Bowl season" in Jerome Brown's honor. Two years later, the Cowboys bounced the Eagles from the Divisional Round of the Playoffs a second time, triumphing in a 30–11 rout. The Cowboys eventually advanced to, and won, Super Bowls in both seasons.
Trailing by one point, the Eagles were a chip shot field goal on the last play of the game from defeating the Cowboys on Monday Night Football. Punter Tom Hutton could not handle the snap for kicker Chris Boniol and, after a brief scramble, was tackled by the Dallas defense to secure a 21-20 Cowboys victory.
On October 10, 1999, in Week 5 of the 1999 season, Dallas wide receiver Michael Irvin suffered a career ending spinal cord injury while playing at Veterans Stadium. The crowd cheered when Irvin did not get up and chanted "Deion sucks" when Irvin's teammate, Deion Sanders, consoled him.
In September of 2000, the Eagles and Cowboys met in what would later become known as the "Pickle Juice" game. With temperatures at 109+ degrees, the Eagles pulled their players off the field and; to prevent cramping, had the players drink pickle juice, a practice the club had begun during training camp as a means to combat both dehydration and cramping. The experiment proved to be a success as the Eagles handed the Cowboys their worst opening day loss since 1963: defeating them by a score of 41-14.
October 12, 2003: In Week 6 of the 2003 season, the 2-2 Eagles met the 3-1 Cowboys and fell to them 23-21; their first loss since 1999. One of the most notable moments during that game occurred during the opening kickoff. Andy Reid had tried an onside kick to start the game; however, the Cowboys' new coach, Bill Parcells, was not fooled and the gamble blew up in Philadelphia's face. Randal Williams fielded the bouncing kick and raced into the end zone untouched in three seconds – the fastest touchdown in NFL history.
On October 8, 2006, controversial wide receiver Terrell Owens, who had previously played for the Eagles, played his first game in Philly as a Cowboy. The Eagles won 38–24 with a late interception return for a touchdown by Lito Sheppard. Owens was held to just 3 catches and 45 yards.
On December 28, 2008, in Week 17 of the 2008 season, the Eagles and Cowboys faced off in Philadelphia with a wild card playoff berth on the line. The winner would claim the sixth and final wild card spot in the NFC, and the loser would be eliminated from playoff contention. This situation was brought about by losses earlier in the day by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the Chicago Bears, which kept the Eagles playoff hopes alive. (Tampa Bay needed to win along with a Dallas loss to advance to the playoffs while Chicago needed a win and losses by Tampa Bay and Dallas.) The Eagles knew they would at least play spoiler, but the new found playoff opportunity gave the Eagles new life. They did not squander the opportunity, and took a 27–3 halftime lead on their way to a 44–6 blowout of the Cowboys. It was Terrell Owens' last game as a Cowboy. The Eagles went all the way to the NFC Championship before losing to the Arizona Cardinals.
On January 3, 2010, in Week 17 of the 2009 season, the Cowboys (10–5) hosted their regular season finale against the Philadelphia Eagles (11-4) in a regular season-sealing claim for the NFC East crown. The Cowboys would win the day, shutting out the Eagles, 24–0. With the victory, the Cowboys would once again reclaim first place in their division and improve to 11–5 to top off their regular season.
Despite the loss, the Eagles claimed the #6 seed in the NFC, while the Cowboys claimed the #3 seed, setting the stage for a rematch in the first round of the playoffs. For the third time that year, the Cowboys defeated the Eagles, with a final score of 34–14. The Cowboys and Eagles combined to set an NFL record for the most penalty yards in a playoff game, ever. The two teams were penalized 23 times for 228 yards. With the win, not only did the Cowboys improve to 12–5, they finally won their first postseason game since 1996. This was the last game with the Eagles for star quarterback Donovan McNabb.
On December 29, 2013, in Week 17 of the 2013 season, the Eagles and Cowboys faced off in Dallas for the de facto NFC East Championship. The winner would thus claim the third seed in the NFC Playoffs and the loser would be eliminated from playoff contention. The Eagles won 24–22 on an interception by Brandon Boykin with the Kyle Orton pass intended for Miles Austin. This sealed the victory with 1:43 remaining in the game. Tony Romo missed the game after being injured in a victory over the Redskins the previous week.
On November 27, 2014, on Thanksgiving Day the Eagles and Cowboys had their first meeting of the season played at AT&T Stadium in Dallas. Although the Eagles were leading the division, their quarterback Nick Foles, who had gone 14–4 under Chip Kelly, was injured and out for the season. Backup Mark Sanchez scored a 2-yard rushing touchdown on the opening drive, a fast lead which they never let go all while shutting down the Cowboys offense by keeping Tony Romo to have 0 touchdown passes and holding DeMarco Murray to under 100 yards. The Eagles embarrassed the Cowboys winning 33-10, and moved up to 9–3, which gave them the best record in the NFC.
On December 14, 2014, the Cowboys met the Eagles on a Sunday night with both teams at 9–4, however the Eagles still led the NFC East due to their better divisional record. The Cowboys took a 21–0 lead early in the 2nd Quarter, but the Eagles would score 24 straight points capped off by a Darren Sproles 1-yard run to take a 24–21 lead with 5 minutes left in the 3rd. The Cowboys would however re-take control and win 38–27 to split the season series and take possession of the NFC East lead for the first time in the season. The Eagles, who controlled the division for the entire season, were eliminated from playoff contention the next week after they lost to the 3–11 Redskins.
On March 12, 2015, former Cowboys running back and reigning NFL rushing champ DeMarco Murray signed with the Eagles. This enraged some Cowboys fans, calling Murray a "traitor". The Cowboys and Eagles met for the first time of the 2015 season in week 2 at Philadelphia. This was DeMarco Murray's first game against his old team in which he was held to a pathetic 2 rushing yards on 13 carries. Additionally, this was an ugly game that totaled an embarrassing offensive performance by Philadelphia and forced a record setting 18 penalties in a game for Dallas. The Cowboys would go on to win 20-10; but not before Tony Romo was knocked out of the game by Eagles rookie LB Jordan Hicks on a devastating sack and forced fumble that would keep him out of action for weeks to come.
On November 8, 2015 the Eagles and Cowboys would clash again under the Sunday night lights at AT&T Stadium in Dallas. Dallas while riding a 5-game losing streak, was still feeling the effects of Injured QB Tony Romo from the Week 2 game in Philadelphia and the loss of the now Eagles RB DeMarco Murray in the offseason. Philadelphia came in with an underwhelming (3–4) record with questions about their offensive scheme and the direction of HC Chip Kelly's personnel moves. However, both teams would still find themselves in the thick of the NFC East race with a win, mainly due to the fact that the Giants were only 4–4 at the time. Many expected a low scoring defensive battle but that was clearly not the case as the Eagles would win in OT over the Cowboys 33-27. A wild game in Dallas that featured back and forth action between the two teams with their seasons on the line. It would come down to overtime when Sam Bradford threw a TD pass to wide receiver Jordan Matthews to seal the Eagles victory. It was the third-straight season split between the two, the third straight time the road team won both games, and the twelfth straight year the road team won at least once in the series.
On October 30, 2016, the Eagles and Cowboys faced off in a battle of rookie QB's between Carson Wentz and Dak Prescott. Thanks to a fourth quarter rally by Dak Prescott, the Cowboys were able to tie the Eagles at 23-23, sending the game into overtime. Despite a rough start, Prescott finished the game with 287 yards with two touchdowns, including a 5-yard pass to tight end Jason Witten that allowed the Cowboys to defeat the Eagles with a final score of 29-23.
On January 1st, 2017; the Eagles and Cowboys met for the second time of the 2016 season. Playing for nothing but pride; and with Dallas already on their way to the playoffs, the Eagles defeated them by a score of 27-13. During the game; the Cowboys rested numerous key starters, including Ezekiel Elliott and Sean Lee, and only played Dak Prescott for two series. Tony Romo played for the first time since November 2015 and in his one series, threw a touchdown pass to Terrance Williams. In addition, Mark Sanchez was introduced: but finished 9-of-17 passes for 85, no touchdowns and two interceptions.
This is a list of results from all of the Cowboys-Eagles meetings through the 2015 season.
Updated January 1, 2017.
The Cowboys and Eagles have met 12 times on Monday Night Football, with the last meeting on September 15, 2008. The series has been played at Dallas' home field 7 times and 5 times at Philadelphia's home field.
The Cowboys and Eagles have met 10 times on Sunday Night Football, with the last meeting on October 30, 2016.
