It was incredibly stressful.

However, the Dallas Cowboys are a very good team, and it was hard to expect anything less than a close game.

But the Philadelphia Eagles are also a good team, and good teams just find ways to win — and that is just what the Eagles did en route to a 28-23 victory.

Listen, say what you want about the defense. Was it perfect? Absolutely not. But the Eagles did stop the Cowboys when it mattered, especially at the end. Dallas had a first-and-10 at the Eagles’ 11. Josh Sweat sacked Dak Prescott, he threw an incomplete pass, the Cowboys had a delay of game and finally fumbled on a desperation fourth-down play.

The Eagles defense stepped up in the moments that mattered. Earlier on, Luke Schoonmaker’s knee went down at the goal line after a great TD-saving tackle by Reed Blankenship. They sacked Prescott five times, some coming at very crucial moments. In a game of inches, Dallas lost the battle.

So, there you have it.

Good teams find ways to win.

Again, don’t get me wrong, Dallas is a very good team. The Cowboys just came up short against the better team. It’s that simple. The Eagles gave Dallas many chances to win, and the Cowboys did not capitalize. That final drive was insane with the opportunities the Eagles handed them. But they won a very important football game.

The Eagles and Dallas play again Dec. 10, but until then, it was great to see the Eagles finally beat Prescott, or even just Dallas. The Eagles lost 14 of their last 22 games against Dallas, including nine of their last 14 at Lincoln Financial Field.

And it was an absolutely massive victory for the Eagles. The Eagles are now 2.5 games up not only in the division but the conference. With the Eagles’ upcoming schedule, that is such an important cushion to have. They go into the bye with a comfortable lead. If they continue to win, they could be the first team to repeat as NFC East champions since they won the title from 2001-2004.

But the joy of winning doesn’t get the Eagles off the hook that easily.

One thing I wanted to see Sunday was a clean game and not have any turnovers. The Eagles did not have any turnovers, which was great. But the game was not clean. The Eagles were called for 10 penalties, which resulted in 98 yards.

Kevin Byard had an unnecessary roughness call inside the 20, and Haason Reddick had a roughing the passer call to Dallas the ball down at the 25 with about 40 seconds left. Reddick and Byard should not make these mistakes, and that cannot happen in the coming weeks.

The secondary is also an issue that needs to be fixed. Prescott threw for 374 yards with three touchdowns. Last week, Howell also went off against the Eagles’ secondary, which only has four interceptions this year. As much as those turnovers on offense has hurt the Eagles, the lack of generating turnovers has been just as infuriating. Injuries and many young players can factor into that, but the secondary has to get better. Having a new lineup almost every week this season doesn’t help, but they need that consistency. The secondary needs some improvement, obviously. But hopefully the injuries stop and the young, inexperienced players find and build chemistry.

And that’s why this bye week is important. Still, it feels like the same thing each week with this defense. The Eagles let up big plays and yards— CeeDee Lamb had 191 and Prescott had 364. But they are winning games and making plays when they have to. Can that continue against even better teams, like the Chiefs on Nov. 20? Well, Dallas is very tough and this was a great test for the Eagles, both on offense and defense.

Jalen Hurts took a shot to his bad knee at the end of the second quarter. Luckily, he was still able to play on. He is tough! He was definitely in pain, but he powered through. Despite being banged up, Hurts finished 17 for 23 with 207 yards and three touchdowns. Hurts has been dealing with this injury for a few weeks and still putting up impressive stats. I would not worry too much about that. He is still playing at a high level, and he gets this bye week now to rest up, too.

The thing to worry about is Dallas Goedert. He is expected to undergo surgery to repair his fractured right forearm l, an injury he suffered in the win. Goedert is only expected to miss a month, but that that is a huge blow. The Eagles passing game is so much better when he is on the field, whether he gets receptions or not. So, losing him will definitely hurt going forward. Luckily, it’s not a long absence but the Eagles will not have him for this big stretch with the Chiefs, the Bills, the 49ers and the Cowboys again. Hopefully the Eagles come up with a strong strategy without Goedert for a while, like running more!

The Eagles finished 109 rushing yards on 33 carries for 3.3 yards per carry. They have been averaging under 3.6 yards per carry the last four games, and they were averaging more earlier in the season. Cam Jurgens should return for the Chiefs, so that should help with the running game.

Right now, the Eagles are 8-1 heading into the bye, and that’s fantastic. The Eagles are in great position to possibly not only win the division again, but be the top seed in the NFC for two consecutive seasons