Eagles’ win streak reaches eight
ARLINGTON, Texas — No kicker, no problem for the Philadelphia Eagles.
Carson Wentz threw for two touchdowns and three two-point conversions after Philadelphia lost kicker Jake Elliott to a head injury, and the Eagles all but wrapped up the NFC East with a 37-9 victory over the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday night.
The Eagles (9-1) outscored the Cowboys 30-0 in the second half while extending their winning streak to eight games, their longest since 2003-04 and tied with New Orleans for the best current run in the NFL.
Philadelphia leads the second-place and defending division champion Cowboys (5-5) by four games with six to play after handing Dallas its worst home loss at 8-year-old AT&T Stadium.
Dallas’ Dak Prescott threw a career-high three interceptions and lost a fumble that was returned for a touchdown in his second straight loss without star running back Ezekiel Elliott, serving a six-game suspension for alleged domestic violence.
Jake Elliott’s injury wasn’t a factor for nearly a half because the NFL-leading Eagles couldn’t get in scoring position. They failed to get a first down on five straight firsthalf drives, starting with one at the Dallas 15 when Elliott missed a 34-yard attempt and soon after left the field.
Trailing 9-7 at halftime, Wentz led the Eagles on scoring drives of 75, 90 and 85 yards, the middle one boosted by Jay Ajayi’s 71-yard run against his hometown team in his second game since getting traded by Miami.
“The biggest thing was sticking with the game plan,” said Wentz, who is up to 25 touchdown passes with only five interceptions. “The big boys up front kind of came out angry. We ran the ball the second half really effectively.”
Ajayi had 91 yards in seven carries and LeGarrette Blount added 57 in 13 carries, including a 30-yarder leading to the last offensive touchdown.
After protecting Prescott fairly well before halftime, Dallas allowed three sacks and 180 of Philadelphia’s season-high 215 yards rushing in the second half.
Prescott was 18 for 31 for 145 yards.