The Dallas Cowboys faced the defending Super bowl champion, the Philadelphia Eagles, at Lincoln Financial Stadium on September 4, 2025, to open the 2025 to 2026 season. This game is not only significant because the Eagles won the Super Bowl and played at home, but because of the history behind the rivalry.
They both play in the eastern division of the NFC conference, making them division rivals, but this is not the only reason behind their rivalry. The two teams have played 132 times, dating back to 1960 when the Cowboys joined the NFL. The rivalry truly started in 1987 when the Cowboys humiliated the Eagles 41 to 22. Eagles player, Buddy Ryan, accused Cowboy, Tom Landry, of “running up the score”, or when a winning team continues to score points after the game’s outcome is no longer in doubt, usually by keeping starters in or using aggressive plays. After this, Ryan had his heart set out on revenge.
Since 2000, the Eagles lead the rivalry with 27 wins against the Cowboys who only have 23. All time however, the Cowboys lead with a 74 to 58 record. The Cowboys went 7 to 10 compared to the Eagles 14 to 3 record and Super bowl win. Dallas fans hoped to have a promising offseason with some new acquired talent from both the NFL draft and free agency, but Jerry Jones only seemed to let them down. They drafted Tyler Booker and Donovan Ezeiruaku, but lost arguably their best player, Micah Parsons, to Green Bay a week before the season started. This left fans with little hope going into the game as the Eagles, even with losing some notable players, looked very strong.
On Thursday Night Football, the first of the season, the game started out hot with an ejection and injury on the Eagles. Defensive tackle, Jalen Carter and the Cowboy’s offense got in a heated verbal fight that ended with Carter spitting on Cowboys quarterback, Dak Prescott. Some argue that Prescott spit first, causing Carters reaction, but ultimately Prescott was not punished.
The game did not die down with both teams scoring on the opening drives and continuing to score during the first half. There were a total of five touchdowns and several field goals during the first half.
Moving into the second half, the Eagles’ defense shut out the Cowboys’ offense, that once looking strong, seemed to weaken. Dak Prescott played well with a 76.6 QB rating, but as promising as star wide receiver Ceedee Lamb looked in the first half, he had two major drops, a total of three all night, that may have cost his team the game.
In between the third and fourth quarters there was a major 63-minute weather delay due to lighting and wind that may have slowed down the cowboys momentum.
The final score was 24 to 20 with Jalen hurts having two rushing touchdowns and Saquon Barkley with one. Wide receivers one and two, AJ brown and Devonta Smith, had a combined 4 receptions of 24 yards. This shocked NFL fans as wide receiver three, Jahan Dotson, and Tight end, Dallas Goedert led the team in receiving yards.
Overall, the Eagles and Cowboys go down was one of the of the most intense rivalries, in late years. The Cowboys may have started out on top, but the Eagles are making their comeback.
