Saquon Barkley rushed for 167 yards to join the 2,000-yard club and the Philadelphia Eagles clinched the NFC East title with a lopsided 41-7 victory against the visiting Dallas Cowboys on Sunday.
The Eagles (13-3) swept the rival Cowboys (7-9) for the first time since 2011 and locked up at least the No. 2 seed in the NFC playoffs.
With his 11th 100-yard game of the year, Barkley became the ninth player in NFL history to rush for 2,000 yards in a season. Sitting on 2,005 yards, he needs 101 to break Eric Dickerson’s NFL single-season record of 2,105 set in 16 games in 1984.
Starting for Philadelphia with Jalen Hurts in the concussion protocol, Kenny Pickett tallied a touchdown pass and a touchdown run before exiting early in the third quarter with a rib injury.
Tanner McKee, making his NFL debut, replaced Pickett and threw a 20-yard touchdown pass to A.J. Brown to put the Eagles up 34-7 with 2:44 left in the third quarter.
McKee added a 25-yard TD pass in the fourth quarter to DeVonta Smith, who finished with six catches for 120 yards and two scores.
The Cowboys turned the ball over four times. Cooper Rush threw two interceptions and one touchdown pass and Rico Dowdle rushed for 104 yards to notch his first 1,000-yard season (1,007).
Philadelphia built a 24-7 halftime lead by scoring 17 points off three Dallas turnovers.
The Cowboys’ opening drive ended in a 70-yard interception return for a touchdown by C.J. Gardner-Johnson.
Rush shook off the pick-6 and fired a game-tying 4-yard TD pass to Jalen Tolbert with 5:38 left in the first quarter.
Pickett’s 22-yard strike to Smith put Philadelphia ahead for good at 14-7 midway through the second quarter.
Jake Elliott’s 31-yard field goal made it 17-7 after Jordan Davis recovered a fumble by the Cowboys’ Jake Ferguson.
Gardner-Johnson’s second interception gave Philadelphia the ball back with 36 seconds left in the half. Smith’s 49-yard catch got the Eagles to the doorstep and Pickett punched it in.
Elliott’s 26-yarder extended the lead to 27-7 on the first drive of the third quarter, but Pickett’s day was over after absorbing a hit from Micah Parsons.
–Field Level Media
