ARLINGTON, Texas -- Coach Brian Schottenheimer likes to tell his Dallas Cowboys team that a game can't be won in the first, second or third quarters. It can only be won in the fourth quarter.
The Cowboys certainly tried to show that a game can be lost in the first two quarters Sunday, going down, 21-0, to the Philadelphia Eagles with the game barely 18 minutes old.
But in the final 42 minutes, the Cowboys put together a franchise-record tying comeback to beat the Eagles, 24-21, on a 42-yard field goal by Brandon Aubrey as time expired.
As music blared from the speakers inside the locker room, defensive tackle Osa Odighizuwa waved a flag with Marshawn Kneeland's name and No. 94 on it. Eighteen days earlier, Kneeland died from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound.
In the last seven days, the Cowboys have won their last two games.
"Brian has got this team with no quit in their vocabulary," owner and general manager Jerry Jones said. "They will not quit. They've obviously had a real setback from the loss of a teammate. And they've had a setback from not being the team that we wanted to be in the early part of the year. But I hope all of our fans agree with me that they showed a lot of grit. They showed a lot of want to. And they certainly showed they haven't given up as far as giving us a chance to actually get in the playoffs this year."
At 5-5-1, the Cowboys remain on the outside of the playoff chase at the moment. Their path to winning the NFC East will likely need a collapse from the 8-3 Eagles that matched what happened Sunday. A path to a wild-card spot is no sure thing either.
On Thursday, the Cowboys play the Kansas City Chiefs, now 6-5 after an overtime win against Indianapolis Colts.
How the Cowboys won -- overcoming a 21-point deficit, two turnovers from the offense, a missed field goal, a roughing the punter penalty, which would have been overturned had replay assist had an enhanced look at the play from the broadcast, a fourth-down stop after Schottenheimer eschewed a short field goal try with 3:46 left and the game tied -- matters more than just winning, according to Dak Prescott.
"There's going to be moments when you're down a touchdown or maybe two touchdowns and that's not going to be the last time this season," Prescott said. "When you have a game like this, talking about the belief and the knowing, that's what allows these guys in the locker room to believe we're going to comeback or know that we have the team, the brotherhood, the connection to do just that."
Schottenheimer said Prescott's touchdown pass to George Pickens with 21 seconds left in the first half to cut Philadelphia's lead to 21-7 was key. Prescott's 8-yard touchdown run, flipping into the end zone, tied the game with 11:40 to play. And then there was the play of a maligned defense. After allowing touchdowns on the first three series, they did not give up another point. Saquon Barkley finished with 22 yards rushing.
"You ain't going to win the game in the first, second or third quarter," linebacker DeMarvion Overshown said. "It was just about staying true to ourselves, knowing the mindset doesn't change. We just have to take it a play at a time, a drive at a time, get off the field. And do that with 100% effort, energy and passion."
Twice in the fourth quarter the Cowboys' defense and special teams got the ball back for the offense, but they could not convert either time. Schottenheimer opted to go for it on fourth-and-goal from the Eagles 1 and was denied.
"We make decisions in 10, 15, 20 seconds. You don't have five minutes to talk about it," Schottenheimer said. "When you sign up to sit in this chair and be the playcaller, you have to make those calls. And again, you know, did the defense bail me out? Yeah. And sometimes that's a good thing for a coach."
An Odighizuwa sack of Jalen Hurts gave the Cowboys one final chance to win. Taking over at their 27 with 1:35 to play. Prescott, who became the Cowboys' all-time leader in passing yards Sunday, hit Jake Ferguson for 19 yards and Pickens for 24 yards. With four seconds left, he spiked the ball to set up Aubrey's kick.
His 51-yarder was pulled slightly left in the third quarter, but this kick was true. It was his second game winner of the season (Week 2 vs. the New York Giants).
"This is a division game as well, but you kind of feel like the season is lost if we lose that game," Aubrey said. "To come back the way we did, cap it off with a field goal, it's just exciting."
