Eagles get robbed of an obvious fumble recovery on first play of Cowboys game

It didn’t take long for things to go from fun to stupid between the Eagles and Cowboys on Sunday. The Eagles came out on fire and forced a fumble on the kick off return to start the game and Kamu Grugier-Hill recovered the ball. But, the refs didn’t call it this way, and instead — despite a Doug Pederson challenge flag — the Cowboys got the ball back to continue the first drive of the game.

Malcolm Jenkins had a big hit on Dallas’ return man Jourdan Lewis to stop his 19 yard run, picking him up to put him on his back. During the tackle, the ball came loose and was quickly surrounded by Eagles.

However, the refs cited no clear recovery upon review:

It would have been a huge momentum builder for the Eagles to get the ball back so early in the game, but the defense did keep force Dallas to punt just three plays later for a short 3-and-out on the opening drive.