PHILADELPHIA - What turned into a bizarre season opener that saw Jalen Carter get ejected before the first offensive play of the game, an hour-long weather delay with fans not getting home until well into the early morning hours ultimately ended in an Eagles 24-20 victory over the Dallas Cowboys.
As the dust settled and fans powered through their final day of the work week, here are some notes and quotes that stood out from the game.
What was said
First and foremost, Carter addressed a large media scrum in the left corner of the Eagles' locker room to explain why he spat on Dak Prescott, resulting in his ejection before the Cowboys had one snap on offense after the opening kick.
"It was a mistake that happened on my side. It just won't happen again," Carter said.
"I feel bad for just my teammates and fans out there. I'm doing it for them. I'm doing it for our family, you heard them out there today and to not even start the game even, but we'll get better and it won't happen again."
WIP's Devan Kaney shared his entire conversation with the media.
https://twitter.com/Devan_Kaney/status/1963828078259360126
It was a frustrating night for A.J. Brown. His demeanor and answers suggested the same. Now in fourth season in Philadelphia, the star wideout knows that he has to choose his words carefully, or they can serve as a flame to ignite a fire with the media and fans until proven otherwise.
Thursday night, standing in his locker in his gameday suit and tie loosely around his neck, Brown was mindful of how to answer questions regarding why he only had one target and catch in the game, both coming under the two-minute warning the fourth quarter.
https://twitter.com/Cory_Nidoh/status/1963940676007055462
Eagles' rookie Jihaad Campbell had a very solid regular season debut accounting for three tackles, an impressive pass deflection well down field that you would not expect an off-ball linebacker to make and was credited along with Byron Young with that key forced fumble late in the third quarter to stop Dallas from potentially retaking the lead. To top it off, he did all of that against his newest team's biggest rivals.
https://twitter.com/PhiladelphiaSN/status/1963831875106943314
Eagles' Notes and trends
The Eagles are now 5-0 in season openers under Nick Sirianni and Sirianni becomes just the eighth head coach in NFL history to start their career with five straight wins to open a season.
https://twitter.com/john_gonoude/status/1963842104020394436
The Eagles have won six of the last seven games against the Cowboys at Lincoln Financial Field
Last season, the Eagles allowed just 8.9 points in the second half which was good for sixth-best. The unit shutout the Cowboys in the second half after allowing 20 first half points.
Jalen Hurts had just four incompletions. Three were throwaways and one was a drop by Saquon Barkley. The quarterback finished with 214 total yards of offense and two rushing touchdowns. His two rushing touchdowns marked the 16th time he has done that in his career which is the most among quarterbacks since 2020.
Jahan Dotson finished the game with three catches and 59 yards in the win with the bulk of that total coming on the big 51-yard connection with Hurts. Last season, Dotson only had one game with three or more catches which was the final game of the regular season against the Giants when he hauled in seven passes for 94 yards.
Mandatory Credit: Eric Hartline-Imagn Images
