Eagles shake brutal start in NFL opener to remind Dallas Cowboys the road to Super Bowl XL runs through Philly

The first dose of the 2025 NFL season was a struggle to get down.

The defending-champion Philadelphia Eagles were flagged for nine penalties in Thursday’s season opener, most notably All-Pro defensive tackle Jalen Carter’s ejection for spitting at Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott six seconds into the game.

And Dallas wasn’t immune, committing four penalties for 42 yards, including one head slapper for having too many men on the field in the third quarter.

Then there was the questionable severe weather delay, which left both teams in the locker room for an hour while a few benign showers passed over the Philadelphia area. Lincoln Financial Field’s public address announcer had warned fans to take shelter due to a ‘severe weather warning,’ only for the National Weather Service to reveal on X that such an alert was ‘not currently in effect.’

As well intentioned as it was, the break only served to turn a competitive game into a prolonged, tedious affair as a few thousand Eagles supporters made early exits with Philadelphia leading 24-20 with 4:44 left in the third quarter.

The many more who remained were reminded of what makes these Eagles so special. Philadelphia was far from mid-season form during Thursday’s 24-20 win. Still, quarterback Jalen Hurts and running back Saquon Barkley remained difference makers, and while the defense looked overwhelmed without Carter for one half, the unit buckled down in the fourth quarter to suffocate Dallas’ offense and move to 1-0.

Later new Cowboys head coach Brian Schottenheimer said his team was ‘good enough to beat the Eagles’, while conceding that the team’s failure to score a point in the second half was ultimately too much to overcome. 

‘Yeah, it was really a tale of two halves,’ Scottenheimer said. ‘I talked to the guys about that in the locker room. We came out on fire on offense in the first half and defensively we struggled a little bit, and then I thought we made some great defensive adjustments in the second half and we flipped it. 

‘We gave ourselves a chance to win and offensively we didn’t really do enough. We put ourselves in more third-and-longs and we just weren’t able to capitalize. But that’s how a division game should feel. We had good moments, they had good moments. They do what they do, they bleed the clock on you and they limit your opportunities.’

Both Prescott and owner Jerry Jones were complimentary towards Schottenheimer, who was promoted from offensive coordinator to replace the departed Mike McCarthy after last season’s 7-10 disaster. 

‘He did everything he can to give us opportunity,’ Prescott said. 

The ending may have been sweet for Philadelphia, but the game’s opening couldn’t have gone much worse.

First fullback Ben VanSumeren was lost to a knee injury on the opening kickoff moments before Carter’s ejection, all of which took place before the first snap of the game.

The Fort Worth Star-Telegram’s Nick Harris later reported on X that Prescott spit first in the general vicinity of the Eagles huddle, which Carter objected to. And while Prescott was defending his actions, Carter returned fire, leading to his dismissal.

The exact details may take some time to unravel, but the consequences of Carter’s actions were felt immediately and throughout the first half as Philadelphia struggled to generate a pass rush.

Soon Prescott would connect with star receiver CeeDee Lamb on a 32-yard pass before a relatively innocuous defensive-pass interference penalty and an easy one-yard touchdown run for new Cowboys running back Javonte Williams.

Dallas wasn’t without fault. Special teams players Marist Liufau and Markquese Bell were called for unnecessary roughness on the kickoff following the first of two Jalen Hurts touchdown runs in the first quarter. Newly acquired receiver George Pickens would get his own unnecessary roughness flag in the third quarter, taking Dallas out of the red zone on a drive that ultimately ended with a turnover.

The Cowboys’ mistakes notwithstanding, the Eagles were sloppier.

Nolan Smith, a college teammate of Carter’s at Georgia, was flagged for taunting, turning a tackle for a loss into a 15-yard gain for Dallas on a drive that ultimately ended with a Brandon Aubrey field goal.

He’d follow with a roughing-the-passer penalty 34 seconds before halftime to bring the Cowboys up near midfield — a mistake that helped set up another Aubrey field goal, this time from 53 yards away to cut the Eagle’s lead to 21-20.

But for all of the mindlessness, the Eagles were rescued by their dominant ground game and Hurts (19 of 23 passing, 153 yards), who was precise, if not prolific through the air, while scoring two touchdowns on the ground.