Cowboys-Eagles in 2025 NFL Kickoff Game: What We Learned from Philadelphia's 24-20 win

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READ : Eagles’ Carter ejected for spitting on Dak

READ : Kickoff Game suspended during third quarter due to lightning

Carter ejected before first snap, hurting his team. It was an absolutely bizarre opening kickoff to the 2025 season, with Pro Bowl defensive tackle      Jalen Carter      ejected for spitting on Cowboys quarterback      Dak Prescott      prior to the first actual snap. Eagles linebacker      Ben VanSumeren      was injured on the opening kickoff and, during the delay while VanSumeren was being tended to, Carter walked over to Prescott and appeared to spit on his jersey – with a referee a few feet away. That took the air out of the building with firework smoke still wafting in the air. The Cowboys promptly marched 53 yards in three minutes to put the Eagles in an early hole, and Dallas scored on its first four possessions. Carter has been a terrific player for the Eagles, and even if Dak egged him on, Carter’s selfish decision hurt his team. He will be fined, and a suspension might be on the table. The Eagles won the game – barely – with Carter’s teammates bailing him out. But this story will linger.

Prescott stands tall in loss, but CeeDee’s drops haunt Cowboys. Dak Prescott appeared to revel in Jalen Carter’s disrespect, carving up the Eagles’ defense early on. Prescott and   CeeDee Lamb   caught fire early, and Dak’s pocket movement and ballhandling were strong – better than the last time we saw him in 2024, when Prescott suffered a season-ending hamstring injury. There was little sign of it Thursday, even with the challenging weather, as Prescott escaped pressure multiple times. His most miraculous play was taking down   Quinyon Mitchell   – the first tackle of Dak’s career – after   Miles Sanders   ‘ fumble, possibly saving a touchdown. But the Cowboys had every chance to win the game in Brian Schottenheimer’s debut, and three big fourth-quarter drops from Lamb were drive killers. The first drop on third-and-10 ended a drive; the second one prevented a 40-yard completion into the red zone with less than three minutes left. The final play was a tough one, but Lamb separated downfield and couldn’t haul in Prescott’s fourth-down heave, effectively ending the game. The team hung tougher than many expected but came up short on offense.

Eagles’ offense bogged down late as Brown barely avoids goose egg. Early in the game, Jalen Hurts was calmly picking Dallas apart like it was a 7-on-7 drill, and when he wasn’t doing that, he was gutting the Cowboys with his scrambling. Even with  A.J. Brown  and  DeVonta Smith  having little impact, the Eagles were moving the ball with ease early. But the hourlong lightning delay also appeared to come at the worst time for the Eagles, with rookie linebacker  Jihaad Campbell  forcing a massive turnover against ex-Eagle  Miles Sanders  in the red zone just prior to play being stopped. After play resumed, the Cowboys forced the first of three straight punts, including two three-and-outs. Brown played 54 snaps, ran 23 routes and yet saw nary a target until catching an 8-yard pass to put the game away in the final minute. But the Eagles really hit the wall offensively in the second half, seeing  Will Shipley  go down in the first half and  Landon Dickerson  in the second, failing to return after the delay due to a pre-existing back injury. Was the weather to blame? Perhaps. The Eagles will relish the mini-bye after a tougher-than-expected opener.

Cowboys D struggled initially without Micah, then made multiple stands. In their first three defensive series after trading  Micah Parsons  , the Cowboys allowed three straight touchdowns. Hurts had all night to throw in the first half, with the Cowboys – mostly rushing four – generating only two pressures in the first 30 minutes. The Cowboys were losing contain badly on the edge and overpursuing, taking poor angles to the ball and missing tackles. The Cowboys struggled defensively last year with Parsons out with injury, with their pressure rate, sack rate and passer rating allowed all worse when he was off the field, so Thursday’s early struggles were not a complete shock. But Dallas defensive coordinator Matt Eberflus started bringing more pressure in the second half, and the results were shockingly good. Even if you argue the field conditions muddled things up, the Cowboys ratcheted up the pressure significantly after halftime, allowing only 86 yards and three points. It’s too bad they couldn’t unleash that kind of pressure early. What kind of defense do the Cowboys have? We don’t yet know, but it’s far too soon to write them off.

Around the NFL will have more from Eric Edholm shortly.

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