ARLINGTON, Texas – Michael Vick, LeSean McCoy and DeSean Jackson weren't on the field Sunday night for the Philadelphia Eagles. But you'd never know it by just looking at the total yardage and the final score.
The Dallas Cowboys held on for a 38-33 victory at Cowboys Stadium but they allowed the Eagles to rack up 423 yards, the most the team has managed since Nick Foles became the starting quarterback three weeks ago.
The rookie signal caller finished with 251 yards, a touchdown and a 96.6 QB rating, all career-bests. Rookie running back Bryce Brown also had a big night, rushing for 169 yards and two touchdowns on 24 carries.
"We got to play better than what we've been playing, obviously, on defense," Cowboys defensive coordinator Rob Ryan said. "We got a lot of pride there. We'll step it up. I know we'll do a better job."
Like they have all season at home, the Cowboys fell behind in the first quarter, 7-0. Philadelphia also led at the end of the second (17-10) and third quarters (24-17). The Cowboys didn't take the lead for good until a Dez Bryant six-yard TD grab with 5:35 remaining.
Not many expected the Eagles, who have now lost their last eight games, to give the Cowboys so much trouble. But several significant injuries on the defensive side of the ball have left Ryan scrambling to mix-and-match his personnel.
Entering Sunday night's game, the Cowboys were without five defensive starters (defensive end Kenyon Coleman, nose tackle Jay Ratliff, safety Barry Church and inside linebackers Sean Lee and Bruce Carter).
"We were struggling, obviously. That goes without saying," Ryan said. "It's tough identifying exactly what we're going to be best at with the situation we're in. We're not making excuses. We battled back. We won. Thank God for our offense.
"We got to fix it. We got to play better. And we will."
Follow Jon Machota on Twitter: @jonmachota
