Josh Huff had never seen a play like that. An opening kickoff from Dallas' Dan Bailey fluttered in the air at Lincoln Financial Field on Sunday night and landed between upback Brad Smith and Huff, the deep man, at the Philadelphia 15-yard line.
And the trouble was on.
Huff sprinted to try to pounce on the live football, but Cowboys' cover man C.J. Spillman beat him to it and Dallas had the football on the Eagles' 15-yard line to open the game. Five plays later, the Cowboys scored a touchdown and led 7-0, en route to a 38-27 lead and first place in the NFC East.
"The ball just died and I was running up trying to get to the football," Huff said. "It was just a freak-of-nature play, I guess. I've never seen that happen in all of my years of playing football, the ball just dying like it did. i tried to run up there as fast as I could to catch it, but I got there too late."
The strategy was intentional as the Cowboys didn't want to give Huff a chance to break off a big kickoff return. He had four returns for 54 yards, an average of 13.5 yards per return. Smith had one return for 21 yards. Huff entered the game averaging 38.1 yards per return this season, including the 107-yarder against Tennessee.
"I think the wind was a little tricky tonight," said Dallas head coach Jason Garrett. "It certainly was a great night to play football, but that wind was a little bit of a factor on a couple of those kicks. So our guys really ran well. C.J. does a heck of a job making the play on that ball to give us that early opportunity."
Huff had a 44-yard catch and run and showed his explosiveness on the play. He's a talented rookie who said he put the team in a "bad predicament" on the opening kickoff, but it's hard to say that it was his fault. The Cowboys just executed a play to perfection.
"The normal protocol is that when the ball goes over Brad's head he calls back to me to come up and field it," Huff said. "Once the ball went over his head and I saw him point back to me, I was making my way to the ball and it just instantly died once it got over his head and I tried to come up and make a play on it. Unfortunately I got up there too short."
It's Sunday night and the biggest game in the NFL is the Cowboys-Eagles' showdown for first place in the NFC East ...
TE Zach Ertz hurdling the tackler
RB Darren Sproles crossing the goal line for the touchdown
RB LeSean McCoy
RB Chris Polk celebrating his touchdown
The Linc lighting up for tonght's game
S Malcolm Jenkins making the tackle
WR Jeremy Maclin warming up for the big game
G Andrew Gardener warming up for tonight's game
QB Nick Foles is here to enjoy the divisional rivalry
T Dennis Kelly out on the field before the game
C/G Julian Vandervelde
Fans are here for the big game!
TE Trey Burton during warmups
TE James Casey
WR Josh Huff returning the kick
QB Mark Sanchez back in the pocket
RB LeSean McCoy trying to get the offense going
LB Trent Cole with the pressure
DE Fletcher Cox with the tackle
And then DE Cox with the celebration
A happy DE Fletcher Cox
TE Brent Celek making the third down completion
K Cody Parkey making the point after
TE Brent Celek with the catch
RB LeSean McCoy on the run
Eagles cheerleaders out in the cold for tonight's game
QB Mark Sanchez finding TE Brent Celek down field
RB LeSean McCoy throwing out a stiff arm on the tackler
TE Zach Ertz making the catch
Eagles fans are in full force tonight at the game
WR Jordan Matthews and RB Chris Polk celebrating the touchdown
RB Chris Polk carrying tacklers into the end zone
LB Connor Barwin putting pressure on the quarterback
CB Nolan Carroll II with the special teams tackle
WR Josh Huff bouncing off of players on the return
RB Chris Polk accepting the ball from QB Mark Sanchez
RB Chris Polk now has two touchdowns on the night!
LB Casey Matthews making the tackle
LB Connor Barwin and the defense is starting to feel it
TE Zach Ertz
BrotherlyLove
S Chris Prosinski making the shoe string tackle
The stands are packed tonight!
RB LeSean McCoy
QB Mark Sanchez on the roll out
S Chris Prosinski fighting through the block
CB Bradley Fletcher making the tackle
The field goal unit before the snap
DE Cedric Thornton getting to the QB
WR Jeremy Maclin catching the ball for a big gain!
WR Jeremy Maclin fighting through the tackle
QB Mark Sanchez
WR Jeremy Maclin coming up just short of the goal line
RB Chris Polk tossing the ball into the stands after his second score
RB Darren Sproles scampering into the end zone
RB LeSean McCoy looking for a hole in the defense
Celebrating the Sproles touchdown
