Darius Slay and James Bradberry were banged up on the Cowboys’ frantic final drive, but the Eagles hung on

Inside the royal blue walls of the sideline medical tent, cornerback James Bradberry couldn’t see the sea of midnight green-clad fans that flooded the stands of the Linc. But, boy, could he hear them.

With 46 seconds remaining in regulation between the Eagles and the Cowboys, quarterback Dak Prescott had the ball in his hands for one last series, trying to erase a five-point Cowboys deficit. On the first play of the drive, Bradberry hyperextended his left leg while attempting to make a play on a pass intended for wide receiver Michael Gallup.

Instead, Bradberry incurred a penalty for pass interference and an injury scare. He eventually walked off the field under his own power and into the tent. The crowd noise, as intense as the moment itself, permeated its walls and Bradberry’s consciousness.

“It was almost like a playoff game,” Bradberry said. “I could tell by the cheering and stuff while I was in the tent, cause I couldn’t see, but I could tell we were still in a good position. So I just wanted to make sure I was able to come out and be able to play for the team.”

But while fans were on their feet, the Eagles weren’t exactly in a good position. On the play following Bradberry’s injury, cornerback Darius Slay hurt his right shoulder while pushing tight end Jake Ferguson out of bounds and collapsed on the sideline. To make matters worse, edge rusher Haason Reddick was flagged for roughing the passer for his late hit on Prescott, moving the ball to the Eagles’ 25-yard line.

Fortunately for the defense, Bradberry and Slay were only missing for a couple of plays, returning to action on a critical drive in which the Eagles secured a 28-23 win.

“[Heck] yes, I was getting back in the game,” Slay said. “I was gonna steal my [stuff], helmet if I needed to to go out there, because I ain’t want to put them … I mean our young guys are good, they’re tough, they’re smart, but I didn’t want to put my young guys in that situation. So yeah, I was gonna get back out there.”

When Slay and Bradberry were out of commission, the Eagles secondary featured a young, inexperienced trio of Eli Ricks and Josh Jobe on the outside and safety Sydney Brown in the slot. Ricks had been playing in the slot all night long, primarily in passing situations, while Brown was also making appearances in the slot in apparent run situations. After Slay came out, Prescott completed a pass to potent receiver CeeDee Lamb, whom Brown mistakenly left wide open in the slot for a 14-yard gain.

“Both of them coming back gave the defense great confidence to finish off the drive,” Ricks said.

Most notably, with Slay’s return to action, the Eagles had their most viable option to cover Lamb, who finished the game with a season-high 191 receiving yards on 11 receptions. As the game wore on, Slay had started to travel with Lamb across the line of scrimmage, even in the slot.

“At the end of the game I told Coach, ‘Look, if he go in the slot, I’ve got to go in the slot now,’” Slay said of Lamb. “He was having an amazing game, getting out there with it with our young guys. So with a guy that’s that good, that can happen. So we expected that, as in like not really expected expected him to go off, but we understood that it’s a possible chance. But in clutch situations, I knew I had to go in there.”

On his first play back, Slay lined up in the slot across from Lamb, but edge rusher Josh Sweat sacked Prescott. On second-and-21, an incompletion for Jalen Tolbert in the end zone, Lamb lined up outside, and Slay stayed with him. On third-and-21, a Cowboys delay of game, Slay did the same.

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On the final play of the game with just five seconds remaining, the majority of the Eagles defense deep near the goal line, Slay and Brown tackled Lamb short of the end zone.

“We did a good job of rallying to the ball and make sure we got him down,” Bradberry said.

Through four quarters, the secondary had their struggles. Prescott went 29 of 44 for 374 yards, his season high, and three passing touchdowns. Both Lamb and Ferguson had stellar nights, the latter racking up 91 yards and a touchdown on seven receptions.

But the secondary also had their successes, from Slay and Brown tackling Lamb shy of the end zone on the final play of the game to safety Reed Blankenship stopping tight end Luke Schoonmaker an inch short of the goal line early in the fourth quarter.

The Eagles defense held the Cowboys to six points in the second half, thanks to the resilience embodied by Bradberry and Slay’s determination to finish out the game.

“I was proud of the way they continued to fight and continued to just keep fighting for the next play,” coach Nick Sirianni said. “Our guys did that. They had that dawg mentality. Shoot, we had the pass interference call on the first play with 45 seconds left, to put them at mid-field and just kept refocusing themselves.

“All that mattered is they played that next play, the next play, the next play, and you saw what happened and the great resiliency by our guys.”