Arlington, Tex. - When the Philadelphia Eagles came into Jerry World to tangle with their arch-rival Dallas Cowboys on Thanksgiving, they had to do two things to leave with a win and the first-place spot in the NFC East.
Control the ground game and pressure the Cowboys' vaunted backfield.
Check and check.
Philadelphia outrushed Dallas 256-93 on the day as the Eagles easily defeat the Cowboys 33-10 in the 111th game of their 54 year rivalry.
LeSean McCoy rushed 25 times for 159 yards in the winning effort for Philadelphia (9-3). He notched the Eagles' third and final touchdown when he powered up the middle and over an empty secondary for a 38 yard score in the third quarter.
McCoy earned his 4th game this season of 100 or more yards and his 4th-career season of 1,000 yards rushing.
DeMarco Murray entered the game as the league's best rusher by yardage, with a Sunday average of 134 yards, gaining 100 yards or more in 10-of-11 games.
Thursday found him gain only 72 yards on 20 attempts and the Cowboys' only touchdown, a 1 yarder in the second quarter on a drive aided in the red zone by penalties.
Linebacker Mychal Kendricks stuffed Murray behind the line when the back ventured a 4th-and-1 rush over the right side late in the contest.
Tony Romo was held to 199 yards passing and no touchdowns in defeat and was sacked 4 times as the Eagles' front-seven easily found their way through the Cowboys' previously invincible offensive line.
He was intercepted twice, by Cary Williams on an underthrown ball in the third quarter, and a late, uninspired pass when the game was in hand to Nate Allen, the only man in the area of the throw.
"I thought our defense played really hard," Chip Kelly said of his 27th-ranked unit. "You gotta bring it. I thought our guys did."
Fletcher Cox recorded two tackles-for-loss and a sack on Romo as Dallas (8-4) goes 3-4 at home on the year.
Even when LeSean McCoy fumbled on the Eagles 13, the visitors' defense held the Cowboys to only 3 of their 10 points. Cox and Bennie Logan stuffed DeMarco Murray on a 2nd-and-1 from the Eagles 4 for a 1-yard loss.
Romo was dragged down for a 5 yard sack on the next play when Casey Matthews powered through a fast-willowing Dallas front.
"I thought Casey did a great job," Kelly said afterwards. "I thought the whole group on defense played really well."
Brandon Graham and Vinny Curry added to the Birds' defensive scoresheet, each notching a sack on Tony Romo.
"I thought our defense overall did a really nice job," Kelly said.
But it was the Eagles' offensive prowess that likely decided the outcome early.
Early, as in the first five minutes they held the football.
Philadelphia jumped out to a 14-0 lead in the first quarter on their first two drives. Mark Sanchez led the Eagles 80 yards in 3:05, aided by Darren Sproles' two third-down conversions, the latter a 3rd-and-2 screen pass that swung right to the Cowboys 10.
LeSean McCoy rushed for 36 yards over the left side on the drive, ended when Mark Sanchez faked the handoff left to McCoy, but pulled the ball and ran himself right for the 2 yard score.
"I thought Mark played a really clean game today," Chip Kelly said of this quarterback. Sanchez last featured in a Thanksgiving contest two years ago, suffering the infamous "Butt Fumble" as the signal caller for the New York Jets in defeat to the Patriots.
His performance this time around was the exact inverse of that debacle.
He would lead the visitors the second time, over 88 yards a minute quicker than his first outing. LeSean McCoy took a rush around right end for 19 yards on its first play and Jordan Matthews snagged a 15 yard catch after the quarterback rolled right.
Sanchez rolled left thirty-seconds later on a read-option fake, a dominant feature of the Chip Kelly playbook, finding Jordan Matthews racing across the field for a 27 yard touchdown.
Mark Sanchez finished 20-of-29 on 217 yards passing in victory, 202 of which came in the first half.
"Our guys came ready to play," Chip Kelly said of the opening scores. "We were excited about playing here today."
Jeremy Maclin took a 2nd-and-20 pass for 58 yards in the second quarter, outracing the confused secondary before being pushed out of bounds on a drive that ended with a field goal.
He led the Eagles receiving with 108 yards on 8 catches.
Cody Parkey kicked four times for Philadelphia, three times in the second quarter and once more in the fourth.
Dallas struck paydirt once when Murray rushed from 1 yard. Cole Beasley caught a 16 yard pass from Romo and Lance Dunbar rushed for 28 yards seconds later. Dez Bryant hauled in a 38 yard pass to the Eagles 3, one of his 4 catches on the day.
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