ARLINGTON -- The Cowboys didn't get the result they wanted Sunday night in an overtime loss to Philadelphia, but the offense finally showed some life.
Dez Bryant looked much healthier than he did a week ago in his first game back from a fractured right foot, Cole Beasley caught his first pass -- and several more -- in nearly a month, and running back Darren McFadden resembled a workhorse in the same mold as DeMarco Murray.
In the end, however, it still wasn't enough as the Cowboys never got the football in overtime in the 33-27 loss.
The Cowboys are 0-6 without Tony Romo. They'll play at least one more game -- Sunday at Tampa Bay -- without their franchise quarterback.
At least they'll have some positives to build on after totaling 411 yards of offense against the Eagles.
Owner Jerry Jones was asked what still gives him hope.
"First of all, the intense way our team is competing, and it's competing on both sides of the ball," Jones said. "They're basically doing, from the standpoint of effort, their passion, their competitiveness, they're going right down to the last play and have for the last several games, so we want to keep that. We have to have that. We have to put the pieces together to get a win."
Bryant looked much closer to the Pro Bowl player everyone is familiar with rather than the one who didn't play at full speed a week ago and caught only two passes against Seattle.
Bryant finished with five catches for 104 yards and an athletic, score-tying touchdown in the fourth quarter. Quarterback Matt Cassel spun and heaved the football high in the air to the left side of the end zone. Three Eagles defensive backs and three Cowboys receivers were bunched together when Bryant outjumped everyone for the football and 18-yard touchdown catch.
The Cowboys also had a big game from Beasley, who had developed a great rapport in the slot with Romo but had disappeared of late.
Before Sunday, Beasley hadn't had a catch since the fourth quarter of the New England game Oct. 11. But he had nine catches for 112 yards and two touchdowns against the Eagles.
Beasley gave credit to Cowboys offensive coordinator Scott Linehan and Cassel.
"Linehan did a great job of giving me opportunities to get open and I had a few good looks with single coverage, and Cassel did a great job of finding me," Beasley said. "[He] really just dropped it in my lap every time. He made it easy on me."
Then there was McFadden, who for the first time had 20 or more carries in a game for a third consecutive time.
McFadden never seemed to wear down. He finished with 27 carries for 117 yards, showing a striking resemblance to the workhorse back that Murray was for the Cowboys a year ago when he led the league in rushing before bolting in the offseason for the Eagles.
"I was real proud of how McFadden ran," Jones said. "We asked him to really extend himself. He did. His energy stayed at a high level all the way through. He did some things out there that I liked."
But a critical mistake by Cassel early in the fourth quarter proved hard to overcome for a Cowboys team that doesn't have much room for error. Cassel's pass to the right side intended for McFadden was picked off by Eagles linebacker Jordan Hicks -- the same player who broke Romo's collarbone in Week 2 -- and he returned it 67 yards untouched for a touchdown.
"You can say the turnover was the difference," Jones said. "I thought he [Cassel] played well enough we could have won that ballgame with a turnover. We've got to have more big plays, which includes turnovers.
"A lot of people lose players, and a lot of people win games. We're very disappointed for everybody concerned we hadn't won more games."
Dez Bryant looked much healthier than he did a week ago in his first game back from a fractured right foot, Cole Beasley caught his first pass -- and several more -- in nearly a month, and running back Darren McFadden resembled a workhorse in the same mold as DeMarco Murray.
In the end, however, it still wasn't enough as the Cowboys never got the football in overtime in the 33-27 loss.
The Cowboys are 0-6 without Tony Romo. They'll play at least one more game -- Sunday at Tampa Bay -- without their franchise quarterback.
At least they'll have some positives to build on after totaling 411 yards of offense against the Eagles.
Owner Jerry Jones was asked what still gives him hope.
"First of all, the intense way our team is competing, and it's competing on both sides of the ball," Jones said. "They're basically doing, from the standpoint of effort, their passion, their competitiveness, they're going right down to the last play and have for the last several games, so we want to keep that. We have to have that. We have to put the pieces together to get a win."
Bryant looked much closer to the Pro Bowl player everyone is familiar with rather than the one who didn't play at full speed a week ago and caught only two passes against Seattle.
Bryant finished with five catches for 104 yards and an athletic, score-tying touchdown in the fourth quarter. Quarterback Matt Cassel spun and heaved the football high in the air to the left side of the end zone. Three Eagles defensive backs and three Cowboys receivers were bunched together when Bryant outjumped everyone for the football and 18-yard touchdown catch.
The Cowboys also had a big game from Beasley, who had developed a great rapport in the slot with Romo but had disappeared of late.
Before Sunday, Beasley hadn't had a catch since the fourth quarter of the New England game Oct. 11. But he had nine catches for 112 yards and two touchdowns against the Eagles.
Beasley gave credit to Cowboys offensive coordinator Scott Linehan and Cassel.
"Linehan did a great job of giving me opportunities to get open and I had a few good looks with single coverage, and Cassel did a great job of finding me," Beasley said. "[He] really just dropped it in my lap every time. He made it easy on me."
Then there was McFadden, who for the first time had 20 or more carries in a game for a third consecutive time.
McFadden never seemed to wear down. He finished with 27 carries for 117 yards, showing a striking resemblance to the workhorse back that Murray was for the Cowboys a year ago when he led the league in rushing before bolting in the offseason for the Eagles.
"I was real proud of how McFadden ran," Jones said. "We asked him to really extend himself. He did. His energy stayed at a high level all the way through. He did some things out there that I liked."
But a critical mistake by Cassel early in the fourth quarter proved hard to overcome for a Cowboys team that doesn't have much room for error. Cassel's pass to the right side intended for McFadden was picked off by Eagles linebacker Jordan Hicks -- the same player who broke Romo's collarbone in Week 2 -- and he returned it 67 yards untouched for a touchdown.
"You can say the turnover was the difference," Jones said. "I thought he [Cassel] played well enough we could have won that ballgame with a turnover. We've got to have more big plays, which includes turnovers.
"A lot of people lose players, and a lot of people win games. We're very disappointed for everybody concerned we hadn't won more games."
