We've got some time to kill before tonight's Eagles-Cowboys kickoff, so let's take a look at some (mostly) fun statistical nuggets from throughout the first 60 years of this rivalry!
1. Lito Shepard has as many 100-yard INT returns against the Cowboys as every other player in NFL history combined. Shepard had a 101-yard pick-6 off Vinny Testaverde in Dallas in 2004 and a 102-yarder off Drew Bledsoe at the Linc in 2006. The only other 100-yard INT returns against the Cowboys were a 102-yarder by Erich Barnes off Eddie LeBaron in 1961 and a 103-yarder by Aqib Talib of the Broncos off Dak Prescott in 2017. Lito is the only player in NFL history with two 100-yard INT returns against the same team.
2. Damaris Johnson’s 98-yard return of a Brian Moorman punt against the Cowboys in 2012 is the 4th-longest punt return in NFL history and longest ever against the Cowboys.
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3. Buddy Ryan was 8-1 against the Cowboys as Eagles head coach and 35-34-1 against everybody else (not including 1987 strike replacement games).
4. The Eagles haven’t had a 100-yard rusher against the Cowboys since LeSean McCoy in 2014 and they haven’t had a 100-yard wide receiver since Jordan Matthews in 2015.
5. The Eagles’ three worst playoff defeats have all been in Dallas: 34-10 in a 1992 conference semifinal, 34-14 in a 2009 wild-card game and 30-11 in a 1995 conference semi. The only other teams to lose three playoff games by 19 or more points to the same opponent are the Oilers vs. the Raiders, the Bears vs. the 49ers and the Rams vs. the Cowboys.
6. The Eagles’ biggest comeback ever against the Cowboys came at the Vet in 1988. The Cowboys took a 20-0 lead early in the second quarter. But the Eagles rallied back on a Randall Cunningham TD pass to Keith Byars and a Luis Zendejas field goal before halftime and closed to within 10 on another Zendejas field goal in the third quarter. Roger Ruzek - who would replace Zendejas a year later with the Eagles - made it 23-10 Cowboys before two 4th-quarter Anthony Toney TDs - the second one with 8 seconds left on a 2-yard pass from Cunningham - gave the Eagles a wild 24-23 win. It was one of only seven comebacks from 20 points down in Eagles history.
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7. The only Eagles QBs to beat the Cowboys twice in a season are Sonny Jurgensen in 1961, Randall Cunningham in 1988, 1989 and 1990, Donovan McNabb in 2000, 2001 and 2004 and Michael Vick in 2011.
8. The Eagles have swept the Cowboys 11 times, and six of them were while Andy Reid was the head coach. They haven’t swept the Cowboys since 2011, and that’s their only sweep since 2006.
9. Both the Cowboys Hall of Fame running backs recorded their career rushing high against the Eagles. Tony Dorsett had 206 yards against the Eagles in 1977 and Emmitt Smith had 237 in 1993, the most ever against the Eagles.
10. The Eagles have only had two rushing touchdowns of 40 yards in 118 regular-season games against the Cowboys - Herman Hunter’s 74-yarder in 1985 and Correll Buckhalter’s 64-yarder in 2003. (Plus Wilbert Montgomery’s 42-yarder in the 1980 NFC Championship Game).
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