‘He Earned It’: Brian Schottenheimer Gives Christian Parker Game Ball After Cowboys Defense Closes Out Eagles

PHILADELPHIA — The Philadelphia Eagles did not score after the third quarter Monday night, and the Dallas Cowboys closed out a 38-21 win at Lincoln Financial Field. Philadelphia’s last four possessions ended in a punt, an interception, a turnover on downs, and the end of the game.

The Eagles’ 21 points came on drives of 75, 76, and 84 yards. Philadelphia ran for 121 yards, went 5-of-12 on third down, and scored touchdowns on all three of its red-zone trips.

Dallas entered the night ranked 30th in the NFL in defense under first-year coordinator Christian Parker, according to The Associated Press. The Cowboys hired longtime defensive assistant Mike Pettine earlier this month.

Cowboys coach Brian Schottenheimer gave Parker the game ball after the win. Parker had family in Philadelphia for his return there, Schottenheimer said Tuesday, and his adjustments after the Eagles opened the second half with an 84-yard touchdown drive earned it.

“Those defensive guys, they put a lot of time and effort in. I’m not just talking about the players. I’m talking about the staff as well,” Schottenheimer said Tuesday. “I gave him the game ball after the game because it was him coming back to Philly, a division rival. He had some family there. But also because of the adjustments that he made after the long touchdown drive.”

“You guys all saw the first touchdown drive of the second half was a long 15, whatever it was, play drive. But some of the adjustments after that I thought were terrific by he and the defensive staff. And so he earned it,” Schottenheimer continued.

Linebacker DeMarvion Overshown, back from a hamstring injury that cost him five games, said the defense is getting better each week.

“Man, I think we finna hit our stride at the right time. Like I said, we’re getting better each week, and when we look at our film and we look at what we’ve given up even today, it’s just like … man, we beating ourselves. Like, how can we not beat ourselves? Or how can we just make them earn it? Like, make him play quarterback,” Overshown said. “And I feel like once we get that to where those M.E.s are at zero and not at three, not at four, and we [stop] giving up those explosive plays, I think you’re going to really start seeing this defense not allow more than 10, seven points. We got that ability, and I’m looking forward to showcasing that because we got the talent.”

DeMarvion Overshown On Christian Parker’s Defense

Overshown intercepted Tanner McKee at the Dallas 30 with 7:55 left and finished tied for the team lead with 6 tackles. Parker is getting more comfortable each week, according to Overshown, and the players can bring him ideas.

“We got the dogs that’s willing to put in the work to do it. And like you said, we got CP who’s getting better each week. He’s getting confident. He’s getting more comfortable each week,” Overshown explained. “And I think we’re learning each other pretty well on what he feels comfortable. We can play fast then, and we can go to him and talk about anything that we feel like, hey, we can get a beat on this, and he’ll dial it up. So I feel like we get in a good connection.”

Parker sent Overshown a message before the game, Overshown said, telling him he did not have to do anything spectacular.

“So it’s just about trusting my instincts. That’s what CP sent me before the game. He’s like, ‘Bro, you a dog. I’m happy to have you back. You don’t have to do nothing spectacular. Just trust your instincts,’” Overshown said. “And that’s exactly what I did on that play call.”

The Eagles opened the game with a four-play, 75-yard touchdown drive. Cornerback DaRon Bland said the defense came out too fast.

“It was really just us coming out too fast, just slowing ourselves down, just reading our keys, and really just slowing ourselves down,” Bland said.

Dallas was flagged 8 times for 47 yards. On the Eagles’ second touchdown drive, an offside penalty wiped out a fumble recovery on fourth-and-1, and a roughing-the-passer call on third-and-7 gave Philadelphia a first down at the Dallas 5. Linebacker Shemar James, who wore the green dot, said the Cowboys kept shooting themselves in the foot.

“We just had to figure out where the team would be. I mean, we just kept shooting ourselves in the foot, kept getting penalties. They kept converting on third downs,” James said. “And we just had to come together as a team and just be like, we got to get off the field on third down. We got to get after the quarterback. We got to get turnovers.”

Dallas Cowboys Want More Against The Run And Fewer Penalties

The Cowboys had allowed 4.7 yards per carry entering the night, The Associated Press reported. Philadelphia averaged 4.8 on Monday, with Saquon Barkley running for 62 yards on 7 carries before he was listed as questionable to return in the fourth quarter.

Schottenheimer said Monday night that Dallas tightened up on third down in the second half.

“Again, we gotta be a little bit better against the run. Third down, we tightened up a little bit in the second half. But all in all, you hold the team to 21 points, that gives us a chance,” Schottenheimer said. “Guys were excited, it’s been a couple weeks coming, but they were excited. But we’re ready for Arizona. We play here in a couple days.”

The Eagles scored 14 points in the first half, including a touchdown on their first possession. Schottenheimer said the staff talked Tuesday morning about ways to be better early in games, and that the reasons have varied from week to week.

“We talked about that actually this morning, about some different things. A lot of different things. We’re looking at all kinds of options. We’re not sure how exactly it’s going to play out, but we need to be better early in games,” Schottenheimer said. “But there’s been different reasons. The start of Houston was different than the start of last night. But again, we’re looking at all those factors.”

Dallas had 5 penalties before Philadelphia had one, according to Schottenheimer, and 1 after halftime, which he said was on purpose. The pre-snap flags are the ones that have to stop.

“The pre-snap penalty side, those have to stop. We can’t jump offsides. They did a good job with our cadence, but we’re better than that. That’s not being very disciplined,” Schottenheimer said. “You saw you jump offsides, we take you out. Some of the other ones, when you look at them, and again, roughing the passer happens. I do think that again, at the end of the day, it was five penalties for us, none for them, early in the game. But we have to be better.”

“And I was proud of ourselves. We had eight total penalties, one in the second half, and that was on purpose. So we got better in the second half with that,” Schottenheimer continued. “But you can’t have the self-inflicted wounds pre-snap.”

Defensive tackle Quinnen Williams had a sack and 3 tackles for loss. He said the defensive line has to be better when it comes to stopping the run.

“I think we’re heading in the right direction. I think that, like I said, I’ve got to watch the [film], and we’ve got to fix some things, especially up front as a D-line, especially when we come down [to] stopping the run. I feel like we can do better at that,” Williams said. “And, yeah, just watching the [film] and getting better every single week and going in the right trajectory.”

The win kept Dallas in the NFC East race at 3-4. Williams said the focus stays on what the defense can control.

“I think it’s big just focus on what we can control, and then that’s getting better every single week, learning from our mistakes and building on the things that we did good and fixing the things that we did bad every single week,” Williams explained. “And going in the right trajectory that we know we can be as special as a defensive unit.”

Donovan Ezeiruaku had the Cowboys’ other sack, along with 2 quarterback hits. Cornerback Cobie Durant returned from a hamstring injury and played 24 defensive snaps.

Dallas hosts the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday at AT&T Stadium. Kickoff is set for noon CT on FOX.