Eagles take charge in NFC East
McCoy, Sanchez lift Philly as Dallas loses at home again.
ARLINGTON, TEXAS — LeSean McCoy threw open his arms just before crossing the goal line on a touchdown run that essentially put away another big win over Dallas.
While Philadelphia didn’t walk off with a playoff berth in hand after beating the Cowboys 33-10 on Thursday, it was a sweet Thanksgiving for McCoy, Mark Sanchez and the Eagles.
McCoy ran for 159 yards and a touchdown, Sanchez had his first scoring run in almost three years and the Eagles rolled in a matchup of NFC East co-leaders on the field where McCoy clinched last season’s rushing title and Philadelphia won a playoffsor-bust finale.
“This really felt like last year,” said McCoy, who had a season-high 25 carries. “It really did.”
Tony Romo wasn’t around for that game because he was two days removed from back surgery. This time he was trying to play a quick turnaround for the first time, and after yet another back injury. He looked ragged as the Cowboys (8-4) lost their third straight home game.
“It was definitely short just from the Sunday night coming to here,” said Romo, who threw two interceptions without a touchdown, snapping a streak of 38 straight games with at least one TD toss. “I don’t really think that had much to do with the outcome of the game. I think they just played better than us.”
The Eagles (9-3) opened with quick drives of 80 and 88 yards for touchdowns. They took sole possession of the division lead with four games remaining.
McCoy, who had 1,604 yards last season, earned his fourth 100-yard game in the past seven after going without one the first five weeks and secured his fourth 1,000-yard season since 2010.
Although his deficit to Dallas’ DeMarco Murray in the rushing race is probably insurmountable, McCoy outgained Murray, who was held under 100 yards for just the second time this season.
Murray finished with 73 yards and Dallas’ only touchdown on 20 carries, the last a 6-yard loss when he was dropped by Mychal Kendricks on fourth-and-1 early in the fourth quarter.