Birds’ playoff hopes slip away
ARLINGTON, TEXAS >> Amari Cooper’s impact on Dallas quarterback Dak Prescott has been dramatic.
The new No. 1 receiver for the Cowboys shook up the NFC East race, too.
Prescott threw his third touchdown pass to Cooper on the first possession of overtime, and the Cowboys took a big step toward the division title with a 29-23 victory over the Eagles on Sunday.
On third down, Rasul Douglas tipped the pass into the air, and Cooper grabbed it and had a clear path to the end zone from the Philadelphia 7 for the 15-yard score. The Cowboys used almost all of the 10-minute overtime, scoring with 1:55 remaining.
By winning the third overtime game in the past four seasons at A&T Stadium between these division rivals, the Cowboys (85) won their fifth straight game and took a two-game lead over the defending Super Bowl champion Eagles (6-7) and Washington with three games left.
The Cowboys dominated almost from the start, but let the Eagles stay close to set up a wild fourth quarter. Dallas, which can clinch the NFC East title with a win at Indianapolis next Sunday, finished with 576 yards, the most since gaining 578 against the St. Louis Cardinals in 1973.
Cooper finished with 217 yards receiving on 10 catches in his second game in the past three with at least 180 yards and two scores. All three of Cooper’s touchdowns — the others from 75 and 28 yards — were in the fourth quarter and overtime.
Acquired from Oakland for a 2019 first-round draft pick seven games into the season, Cooper leads the NFL with 642 yards receiving since Week 9, his first game with the Cowboys. He had nine catches for 190 yards after halftime.
“He’s made a huge impact on our team since we’ve gotten him,” coach Jason Garrett said. “I thought he did a good job staying patient early on in the ballgame and just continuing to work to get open. I thought Dak did a really good job getting him the ball in critical moments.”
Carson Wentz threw for three touchdowns, including a pair of tying scores in the fourth quarter. But he never got a chance in overtime because of the 13-play, 75-yard drive engineered by Prescott.
The third-year quarterback overcame two interceptions and a lost fumble to set career highs in completions (42), attempts (54) and yards passing (455).
The Cowboys converted a fourth-and-1 from the Eagles 19 with a 1-yard plunge from Ezekiel Elliott, who had 192 yards from scrimmage on 40 touches — 28 carries for 113 yards and 12 catches for 79.
Cooper converted a pair of third downs on the winning drive. The first one was big, too — a 12-yarder on thirdand-9 from the Philadelphia 40.
Brett Maher set a Dallas franchise record with a 62yard field goal on the final play of the first half and had three field goals.
The game went from a defensive struggle with missed Dallas opportunities that kept the Eagles close to a wild fourth-quarter shootout.
Wentz thought he had answered a 75-yard touchdown to Cooper with a matching 75-yarder to tight end Dallas Goedert. But Goedert was called for pass interference, apparently for pushing off against Jeff Heath before bouncing off a helmet-to-helmet hit from Xavier Woods that wasn’t called and running to the end zone from midfield.
Philadelphia scored anyway, with Wentz leading a more methodical march to his third touchdown pass, a 6-yarder to Darren Sproles for a 23-23 tie.
The Eagles, outgained 233 yards to 70 before halftime, were scoreless when Corey Graham returned Prescott’s second interception to the Dallas 2 in the third quarter. Wentz threw a 2-yard screen to Alshon Jeffery on the next play, and Jake Elliott missed the extra point for a 9-6 deficit.
After Prescott’s third turnover — a fumble near midfield — led to Elliott’s tying field goal, Prescott capped a 75-yard drive with a 28-yard TD to Cooper.
The teams exchanged punts before Wentz took advantage of another short field, capping a 47-yard drive with a 3-yard scoring toss to Goedert for another tie, 1616.