Winners, losers of 2025 NFL opener: QB Jalen Hurts and Mother Nature

The Philadelphia Eagles defeated the Dallas Cowboys 24-20 in the NFL season opener.
Eagles defensive tackle Jalen Carter was ejected for spitting before the first play from scrimmage.
The game was delayed for over an hour due to lightning in the area.

PHILADELPHIA − What a start to the 2025 NFL season.

Thursday night’s meeting between the reigning Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles and the NFC East rival Dallas Cowboys at Lincoln Financial field included the unveiling of a championship banner, ejection of a Pro Bowler for spitting before the first play from scrimmage and a weather delay of more than an hour that pushed the final result into Friday morning. It didn’t include one of the league’s biggest stars, the Cowboys star stripped from Micah Parsons after he was shockingly traded to the Green Bay Packers last week.

As for that aforementioned result? The Eagles prevailed 24-20 in what morphed into a surprisingly tight result, Philadelphia entering the game favored by more than a touchdown.

It’s merely the first of the league’s 272 regular-season games. But one this unique and anticipated deserves its own breakdown of winners and losers, so here we go:

WINNERS

Jalen Hurts and Dak Prescott

Despite quarterbacking two of the league’s most prominent teams, this duo has largely been out of the headlines in recent months. Hurts, by nature, is a say less, do more kind of guy − and the Super Bowl 59 MVP delivered plenty, efficient through the air while running for a pair of scores. The summer’s Parsons saga in Dallas largely overshadowed Prescott’s return from a serious hamstring injury that cost him the final nine games of the 2024 season. But he appeared comfortably in command of a Dallas offense that had little trouble moving the ball on a Philly defense that ranked as the league’s best in 2024 … albeit with DT Jalen Carter on the field (more on him later). And while you could ding Prescott for failing to come up with a key sequence in the fourth quarter, the guys who are supposed to be making plays for him … didn’t. It’s just one game obviously, but always a good sign when your passer is in postseason-adjacent form in Week 1.

Cowboys run game

Ranked 27th a year ago, when Dallas averaged 100.3 yards on the ground per game, it showed encouraging signs of life Thursday with 119 yards and 5.4 a clip. Recently signed Javonte Williams rushed for multiple TDs for only the second time in his five-year career. RB Miles Sanders’ third-quarter fumble was a killer, though.

Mother Nature

And you thought football was an all-weather sport. A lightning strike proximal to Lincoln Financial Field with 4:44 to play in the third quarter delayed the game for 63 minutes. Notably, no points were scored after the stoppage. Coincidentally, when the Eagles last opened an NFL season seven years ago following their win in Super Bowl 52, the start of their Week 1 game against the Atlanta Falcons was delayed for almost an hour by severe weather. Even crazier? When the Cowboys were in Pennsylvania a year ago, albeit in Pittsburgh, the kickoff of their Week 5 game against the Steelers was pushed to nearly 10 p.m. ET by inclement weather.

Boyz II Men

Philly guys singing the national anthem – as only then can? And repping Eagles legends Brian Dawkins, Jerome Brown and Reggie White? Perfection.

LOSERS

Jalen Carter

The Eagles’ best defensive player didn’t last even one snap, ejected a following the kickoff for spitting on Prescott’s jersey as Dallas huddled during an injury timeout. Carter was summarily escorted off the field by Eagles security chief ‘Big Dom’ DiSandro. Whatever advantage Philly had by not having to face Parsons was at least largely offset by losing the anchor of a unit that lost several players from its front seven during free agency along with the retirement of DE Brandon Graham. It’s also worth wondering if Carter might miss more time if the league decides a further suspension is warranted.

Cowboys run defense

As well as Dallas moved the ball on the ground, it got plowed on the other side of the ball − and that’s got to be concerning to owner Jerry Jones given his avowed desire to stop the run was allegedly part of his rationale for trading Parsons in return for DT Kenny Clark and two first-rounders. The Eagles piled up 158 yards and all three of their TDs on the ground.

Georgia Bulldogs

Carter wasn’t the only ‘Dawg to have a rough night. Eagles GM Howie Roseman famously collects football players from Athens and has eight former UGA players on the expanded roster, including six active on the 53-man unit. And, make no mistake, the championship DNA definitely carried over, evidenced by the Georgia guys’ impact on Philly’s charge to the Super Bowl 59 crown. But not only was Carter kicked out Thursday night, OLB Nolan Smith incurred a pair of 15-yard penalties for taunting and roughing. DT Jordan Davis and CB Kelee Ringo had negligible impacts, and OLB Azeez Ojulari wasn’t active.

DUDE Wipes

The newly announced ‘presenting sponsor’ of the ‘Tush Push’ … didn’t get much to present Thursday night. The Eagles didn’t use the play until the fourth quarter and didn’t need it to get into the end zone.

Mazi Smith

The Dallas defensive tackle, a first-round pick in 2023, was inactive − basically a healthy scratch. Pretty damning development given Jones’ newfound obsession with stopping the run in the aftermath of the Parsons trade. Said NBC analyst Cris Collinsworth during the broadcast: ‘That’s as close to being cut as you can be’ … and don’t be surprised if that’s a fate Smith, who made very little impact during his first two seasons, is facing soon enough.

A.J. Brown

Philly’s star receiver with just one catch? Gotta wonder how healthy his hamstring actually is, though Eagles coach Nick Sirianni credited Dallas’ defense and the game’s flow for limiting Brown’s stat line. Still, Brown’s 8-yard grab inside the final two minutes helped the Eagles salt away the win.

CeeDee Lamb

Unlike Brown’s, his fantasy owners will be fairly pleased after Dallas’ top pass catcher reeled in seven balls for 110 yards. But his multiple drops Thursday really cost Prescott and the Cowboys.

Jerry Jones

After taking quite a few Ls from his fans for his handling of Parsons’ contract negotiations before throwing in the towel, the last thing Jones needed was to take another one in a game his team could have stolen in rookie head coach Brian Schottenheimer’s debut.