The morale of the story from Sunday's 24-21 loss to the Dallas Cowboys is that in the NFL, a game is never over until the clock reads all zeroes. An early 21-point lead evaporated for the Eagles for a variety of reasons as the team's winning streak ended at four games and the season record dropped to 8-3 with a Black Friday game looming against the Chicago Bears.

There are lessons to be learned in this one, as Head Coach Nick Sirianni and a veteran team will no doubt absorb. Brandon Aubrey's 42-yard field goal ended it at AT&T Stadium and the Eagles were left to wonder what could have been after an absolutely perfect start to the game gave them a 21-0 advantage.

"We've got to do a better job of putting teams away," running back Saquon Barkley said. "I know how this team will respond. We've got a short week and we have to bounce back. We have Chicago and we have to get ready for them."

But then things turned and the Eagles could just not get back the momentum. Let's explore what happened from the defeat …

1. Bottle this start and save it

The Eagles opened up and dominated, getting a turnover on downs and driving 49 yards on seven plays and scoring on a Jalen Hurts-to-A.J. Brown 16-yard touchdown pass to take a 7-0 lead. The defense then forced a three-and-out series from Dallas and the Eagles' offense, helped by a roughing the kicker penalty to keep the drive alive, drove 12 plays and 61 yards and scoring on a Hurts designed draw for a touchdown and a double-digit lead. Dallas fumbled the football away on its third possession, recovered by linebacker Zack Baun. An awe-inspiring 41-yard completion down the right sideline to DeVonta Smith, followed by a catch and run over the middle from Smith, put the ball inside the 1-yard line, and then Hurts scored on a Tush Push and the Eagles led 21-0. A perfect start.

2. And then ...

The offense gained just one first down on the next five possessions, and while the defense came up with some terrific moments – a Reed Blankenship interception in the end zone and a four-down stop on a Dallas possession that started at the Philadelphia 8-yard line following a Xavier Gipson fumble on a punt return – Dallas chipped away. First, a Dak Prescott touchdown pass to George Pickens at the end of the first half gave Dallas life at 21-7 and then Prescott and Dallas drove 89 yards on seven plays and added another touchdown pass to Brevyn Spann-Ford late in the third quarter closed the gap to 21-14. A three-play, 54-yard drive that Prescott ended with an 8-yard run into the end zone tied the game, 21-21, in the fourth quarter.

3. The Dallas passing game was too much on this Sunday

The No. 1 passing offense in the NFL showed its strength after those early struggles and hit the Eagles down the field. Pickens had nine catches for 184 yards on nine targets. CeeDee Lamb had four catches for 75 yards and had three drops. Tight end Jake Ferguson gained 60 yards on five catches. Dallas had three pass plays of 40-plus yards and four more plays of 20-plus yards. It didn't help that safety Reed Blankenship – who made a diving end zone interception to end a Dallas threat inside the 10-yard line – left the game with a thigh injury. And Adoree' Jackson left with a head injury, forcing Cooper DeJean to play outside and Michael Carter to play the nickel and the Cowboys took advantage of favorable matchups.

4. 14 penalties, 96 yards

This is so uncharacteristic of the Eagles. On Sunday, the Eagles committed a season-high number of penalties and they hurt – an illegal formation penalty in the third quarter erased a big completion to tight Dallas Goedert and having too many men on the field cost the defense a Nakobe Dean interception. A Fred Johnson hands-to-the-face penalty wiped out a completion to DeVonta Smith that would have given the Eagles a first down at the Dallas 12-yard line in the fourth quarter with the game tied, 21-21. Things like that added up and, eventually, cost the Eagles the football game.

5. A team that doesn't turn the ball over turned the ball over

Philadelphia had just four giveaways in the first 10 games of the season, winning eight of those games. Sunday, the Eagles gave it away twice. Barkley was down on himself after the game following the first fumble of his season – he caught a Hurts pass and had the football punched out from behind inside Dallas territory.

"They made a good play," Barkley said. "I've gotta be better. I let the team down in the moment. Those things sting."

Gipson caught a punt at the 1-yard line and tried to return it, but lost control of the football and Dallas had control at the 8-yard line. The Eagles did a tremendous job keeping Dallas out of the end zone, but the offense had the football backed up at its 2-yard line with 3 minutes, 38 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter with the game tied, 21-21.

6. On that final offensive possession, the Eagles couldn't finish a drive

The Eagles moved the ball out of danger on that last drive, with Hurts throwing to Brown (8 catches, 110 yards) for 11 yards. Then Hurts went to Smith for 16 yards to the 29-yard line. But the drive stalled after that. A completion to Barkley was stopped for no gain. On second down, Barkley caught a Hurts pass and slipped on the turf after gaining 8 yards. On third down, Hurts was sacked for a loss and Braden Mann – who had a great game, averaging 56 gross yards and 49.7 yards in net – punted.

7. It was a three-phase loss

You win as a team and you lose as a team. And on this day, the special teams struggled as well. Gipson had the error on the punt return and Jake Elliott, great all season, pushed a 56-yard field goal attempt wide. There were too many penalties in the return game.

8. Bright spots? There were some ...

This one hurts, no doubt. But it WAS just ONE loss and the Eagles will learn from it and be better from it. The offense got the passing game going and Brown was really a weapon. Smith had 6 receptions and 89 yards. Hurts completed 27 of 39 passes for 289 yards and a touchdown and ran for a pair of scores. But what was troublesome was the lack of consistency after the red-hot start. It is something the Eagles will continue to work on.

9. The biggest takeaway is this: The Eagles are 8-3 with plenty of season left

The immediate reactions, of course, are very tough to take after a loss like that one. But the Eagles have been here before and they know how to respond. Chicago is an 8-3 team with a defense that takes the football away, so Friday afternoon is going to be a terrific battle at Lincoln Financial Field. That's the bottom line: See how the Eagles bounce back here. It will tell a lot about what this team is all about.

"We have men here who want to get better and we're going to learn from this," Brown said. "We know how to come back from this kind of loss. I'm not too worried about this team."