{"id":343995,"date":"2025-09-05T15:40:13","date_gmt":"2025-09-05T15:40:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/343995\/"},"modified":"2025-09-05T15:40:13","modified_gmt":"2025-09-05T15:40:13","slug":"how-uncrustables-saved-the-day-during-philly-weather-delay","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/343995\/","title":{"rendered":"How Uncrustables saved the day during Philly weather delay"},"content":{"rendered":"

What do you feed 100-plus hungry football players during an hour-long lightning delay<\/a> in the third quarter of an NFL game? On Thursday night, the answer was Uncrustables peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. <\/p>\n

The weather delay occurred with 4:44 remaining in the third quarter of the Cowboys<\/a>\u2019 24-20 loss in Philadelphia. Nearly halfway through the delay, a couple of Eagles players left their locker room and were spotted going into the field level clubs and asking if there was any food because there was no food in the home and visitors locker rooms. But quickly thereafter, boxes of pre-packaged individual Smucker\u2019s Uncrustables were delivered to both locker rooms. And, yes, both grape and strawberry flavors were available. So, if you have any Uncrustables in your pantry, feed them to the kids so they may, too, eat like the pros!<\/p>\n

Just when you think you\u2019ve seen it all: Sure, every blue moon there may be a pregame dustup in which players are feisty and chirping at opponents before the ball is teed up. But I\u2019ve never seen a player ejected for spitting on an opponent before the first play from scrimmage. That\u2019s what happened, however, on Thursday when Eagles DT Jalen Carter spat on Dak Prescott<\/a> while players were waiting for athletic trainers to assist an injured Eagle player (FB Ben VanSumeren) who was down on the field due to an injury suffered during the opening kickoff.<\/p>\n

Even Cowboys players standing near Dak were unsure of what happened. RB Javonte Williams<\/a> said he didn\u2019t learn what caused the ejection until he got back to the sideline after the series. But the officiating crew saw Carter spit and threw a flag. Before the first offensive snap the Eagles lost arguably their best defender. Carter was summarily escorted off the sideline and up the tunnel.<\/p>\n

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How big a blow was Carter\u2019s ejection to the Eagles\u2019 defense? <\/p>\n

\u201cIt changed our plan and our blocking scheme,\u201d Dak said postgame. \u201cAs I told you before the week, we\u2019re going to protect against him. So, it helped in that manner.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s obviously impossible to quantify what kind of difference Carter would have made in the game, but the Cowboys averaged 5.4 yards per rush, their highest average in a season opener since 2014 (5.5 yds vs 49ers). And the offensive line did not allow a sack.<\/p>\n

Guyton\u2019s game all the way: Tyler Guyton started at left tackle and played the entire game even though he missed significant portions of training camp and preseason after sustaining a bone fracture in his right knee during a practice in Oxnard on July 28. Nate Thomas got the vast majority of work at LT in Guyton\u2019s absence. But there was no intention of giving Thomas a series or two of snaps in place of Guyton. The coaching staff determined that this would be Guyton\u2019s game all the way. <\/p>\n

Why didn\u2019t Jaydon Blue play? One of the rookies who has had Cowboys fans buzzing post-draft, as well as training camp, is RB Jaydon Blue. So why was he a healthy scratch (inactive \u2013 coach\u2019s decision) in the season opener? It had everything to do with special teams. Backup WR Ryan Flournoy was elevated from the practice squad to play Thursday night because Flournoy has become a key special teams contributor, including playing gunner in punt coverage. Blue got some reps in coverage during camp and preseason, but Flournoy can contribute more there than Blue at this point of the season. Flournoy\u2019s elevation also meant the Cowboys had five WRs available for the game. <\/p>\n

Special teams is also the reason rookie LB Shemar James was a healthy scratch. Veteran LB Buddy Johnson (Kimball High School) was elevated from the practice squad because Johnson, like Flournoy, could contribute more.<\/p>\n

Slipped through their fingers: See photos from Cowboys’ season-opening loss against Eagles<\/p>\n

\"DallasView Gallery<\/p>\n

Where was Mazi? In addition to Blue, some fans\/media may have been surprised to learn Mazi Smith was also inactive<\/a>, especially considering the defense was already down a defensive tackle with Perrion Winfrey unavailable due to injury (back tightness). <\/p>\n

It\u2019s not a good start to the season for Mazi, a first-round pick entering his third season, if he is not even on the field for a game in which the priority is stopping the Eagles\u2019 vaunted rushing attack. Kenny Clark, acquired from Green Bay in the trade for Micah Parsons, is the starter. That\u2019s understood. But instead of Mazi, the staff decided to go with rookie Jay Toia as the backup to Clark. Toia got a heavy dose of playing time in his NFL debut.<\/p>\n

You\u2019re kidding, right? Yes, there really is an official fan code of conduct at The Linc and it was shown on the video board during the third quarter. Part of the code included this message: \u2018foul language is a violation.\u2019 But I don\u2019t think the Philly faithful took to heart as their \u201cDALLAS SUCKS\u201d chants continued unabated.<\/p>\n

New season, new green got: New defensive coordinator Matt Eberflus is the coach making the play calls, of course. And the player with the \u201cgreen dot\u201d radio helmet who hears those play calls and relays the information to his teammates in the huddle is new MLB Kenneth Murray. Murray, a six-year veteran, was acquired in a trade with the Titans during the offseason.<\/p>\n

Communication, part two: Kudos to rookie RG Tyler Booker. The first-round pick certainly had a baptism by fire in his NFL regular season debut going against a talented Eagles defensive front. But imagine the higher degree of difficulty when trying to communicate in the very loud and hostile environment of The Linc. The fans were raucous, that\u2019s for sure. When Dak was in the shotgun, the offense used a silent count to combat the crowd noise, which means that Booker, prior to the snap, was looking backward at Dak rather than looking forward at the defensive line. Once Booker sees Dak raise his leg to non-verbally signal that he\u2019s ready for the snap, Booker turns to look forward and raises his left arm to alert center Cooper Beebe that it\u2019s time to snap the ball. Hey, silent counts are a way of life when you\u2019re the road team, but it was one extra responsibility that Booker had to handle in his debut.<\/p>\n

Most creative celebration: Arguably the biggest play affecting the momentum of the game was Miles Sanders\u2019 fumble in the third quarter when the Cowboys had the ball in the red zone. Eagles CB Quinyon Mitchell recovered the fumble and returned it to the Eagles\u2019 16-yard line. How did he celebrate? He ran toward the goal line, stopping just before the end zone and placing the ball at the 1-yard line. His teammates on defense then joined him. Several pretended to line up as offensive linemen with Mitchell at QB and a couple more teammates at RB. They pretended to run the tush push into the end zone. The Philly fans loved it. <\/p>\n

If not for Dak making a touchdown-saving tackle, Mitchell would have run unabated to the opposite end zone for a defensive score.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

The Philadelphia Eagles defense celebrates a forced fumble with a \u201cTush Push\u201d during the second half of an NFL game against the Dallas Cowboys, Thursday, Sept. 4, 2025, in Philadelphia.<\/p>\n

El\u00edas Valverde II \/ Staff Photographer<\/p>\n

Before and after the storm: The first half and early portion of the third quarter featured offensive fireworks for both teams. The only series that did not result in a score was the one in which Sanders fumbled the ball in the red zone. After the fumble (and celebration), the weather delay took effect. <\/p>\n

Before the delay, there were zero punts by either team. After the long delay, the series went: punt, punt, punt, punt, punt, Dallas turns ball over on downs following CeeDee Lamb dropped passes, and end of game (Philly kneel downs). Before the delay: 44 combined points, 0 punts. After the delay: 0 points, 5 punts.<\/p>\n

This leads to a very obvious conclusion: Uncrustables are really bad for NFL offenses, but an excellent food source for NFL defenses.<\/p>\n

Roster turnover: To put into context how much roster turnover takes place season-to-season in the NFL, on Thursday night 15 of the 46 active players were making their Cowboys debuts: WR George Pickens, RB Javonte Williams, RB Miles Sanders, RG Tyler Booker, OT Nate Thomas, DT Kenny Clark, DT Solomon Thomas, DT Jay Toia, DE Donovan Ezeiruaku, DE James Houston, CB Kair Elam, CB Trikweze Bridges, CB Reddy Steward, LB Kenneth Murray and LB Jack Sanborn. <\/p>\n

Only four of those 15 are rookies (Booker, Toia, Ezeiruaku and Bridges). <\/p>\n

Of those 15 players, four were not on the roster at the opening of training camp: Clark (trade w\/Green Bay), Houston (free agent signing during camp), Steward and Bridges (claimed on waivers after roster cutdown).<\/p>\n

Boyz II Men: Are you a big fan of Boyz II Men? If you are, you would have enjoyed their stirring rendition of the national anthem. However, would your opinion change if I told you they are Eagles fans? Well, they are Eagles fans, but they get a pass because they\u2019re from Philly. <\/p>\n

Final kudos: During the long lightning delay, Cowboys staffers and broadcasters (OK, basically all of us who ride to and from the games on the team\u2019s charter flight) were fretting over the fact that our scheduled 3:55 a.m. central arrival at DFW Airport following the overnight flight home from Philly would \u2014 presumably \u2014 be pushed back because of the delay to something closer to a 5 a.m. arrival time. <\/p>\n

Instead of departing at our scheduled time of 1:30 a.m. eastern in Philly, we departed just after 2:15 a.m. Thanks to the American Airlines grounds crew in Philly which got all the equipment\/gear loaded onto the plane quickly, and thanks to the in-flight crew for also helping make up for lost time; we arrived only 12 minutes past our originally scheduled arrival. We touched down at 4:07 a.m. central. <\/p>\n

Unfortunately for the Cowboys offense, it was the only touchdown after the lightning delay. But all of us on the charter are grateful to the hard-working and professional staff at American Airlines for making it the best possible \u2013 and most expeditious \u2013 flight after a very long night in the City of Brotherly Shove \u2026 I meant \u201cLove\u201d not \u201cShove.\u201d OK, it\u2019s really \u201cShove.\u201d All the same, thank you to the crews.<\/p>\n

Kristi Scales is the sideline reporter for the Dallas Cowboys Radio Network. She writes this column for The Dallas Morning News after each Cowboys game.<\/p>\n

\"Cowboys<\/a>Watch: Cowboys insiders reveal what went wrong in season-opening loss vs. Eagles<\/a><\/p>\n

Dallas went toe-to-toe with the defending champs, but there\u2019s still plenty to fix going forward.<\/p>\n

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The Dallas defense struggled to pressure and contain Eagles QB Jalen Hurts during opening loss in Philadelphia. <\/p>\n

\"Dallas<\/a>Full coverage: Cowboys open 2025 season with loss to Eagles in Philadelphia<\/a><\/p>\n

While the Cowboys provided some exciting moments, they couldn\u2019t find an answer against Jalen Hurts and the Eagles\u2019 offense.<\/p>\n

Find more Cowboys coverage from The Dallas Morning News here.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"What do you feed 100-plus hungry football players during an hour-long lightning delay in the third quarter of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":343996,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2066],"tags":[230,1370,229,257,2461,7,1184,6],"class_list":{"0":"post-343995","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-dallas-cowboys","8":"tag-cowboys","9":"tag-dak-prescott","10":"tag-dallas","11":"tag-dallas-cowboys","12":"tag-dallascowboys","13":"tag-football","14":"tag-listicle","15":"tag-nfl"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/115152448781930457","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/343995","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=343995"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/343995\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/343996"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=343995"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=343995"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=343995"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}