Jalen Hurts was hobbling around on the field in the final seconds of the first half. Already nursing a bruised knee, the Philadelphia Eagles quarterback had just taken a hit on his sore spot from Dallas Cowboys defensive end DeMarcus Lawrence’s helmet.

But what looked like a major storyline in Sunday’s NFC East showdown was a footnote by the time Philadelphia posted a 28-23 victory by stopping the Cowboys’ final completion at the Eagles 4-yard line on the last play of the game.

Back in the second quarter, the Eagles took a timeout as Hurts limped around for a minute. But when play resumed, the former Alabama signal-caller was back under center for Philadelphia, and on the third play of the second half, Hurts scrambled for a first down.

The Eagles trailed 17-14 at halftime, but Hurts threw two touchdown passes in the third quarter to put Philadelphia in front 28-17 with 1:13 to go in the period.

Hurts launched a 29-yard pass to former Alabama All-American DeVonta Smith in the end zone with 11:23 left in the third quarter, then capped an 11-play, 87-yard drive with a 4-yard TD toss to wide receiver A.J. Brown.

“He’s tough as heck,” Philadelphia coach Nick Sirianni said. “He’s never been on the injury report, though, because his play status has never been in doubt. Great leader. Great player. Rises to the occasion in big-time moments. Shoot, that’s who he is, and so whether his body’s feeling 100 percent or whether his body’s feeling not feeling 100 percent, which nobody’s body is at this particular time, he’s a warrior. He’s going to play through bumps and bruises, and he’s going to play at a high-level because he’s a big-time player.”

Hurts said he’d rather not have to be “tough as heck,” but that was where he was at this point in the season.

“I don’t like it being that way,” Hurts said. “I’d love to be all-good. But as I said, I’ll do anything for this city and for my teammates. It takes what it takes, and that’s, simply put, whatever it takes.

“I’m just happy we were able to gut out this win.”

Philadelphia raised its record to an NFL-best 8-1 while dropping Dallas to 5-3.

“What an incredible win,” Hurts said. “What an incredible sense of perseverance and resilience by this team. Still have yet to play a complete game. We’re so hungry and eager to continue to grow and build upon the things we’ve been able to do. But just way to show up in the end.”

Hurts completed 17-of-23 passes for 207 yards with two touchdowns and no interceptions and ran for 36 yards and one touchdown on 10 carries.

“He played an unbelievable game,” Sirianni said. “Really accurate the entire game. Went to the right place with the ball all game.

“You saw how he played after that (hit on the knee), so he’s good.”

Hurts scored on a 1-yard quarterback sneak as the Eagles tied the score at 14-14 with 5:09 left in the first half. Hurts took sole possession of the franchise record for rushing touchdowns by a quarterback with his 33rd.

Hurts also used the Brotherly Shove to convert a fourth-and-1 at the Philadelphia 32 on the Eagles’ first touchdown series, during which he threw a 15-yard pass to tight end Dallas Goedert on fourth-and-3 at the Dallas 27.

After taking a 28-17 lead, Philadelphia had the football three times and didn’t register a first down. On the Eagles’ final possession, running back D’Andre Swift fumbled. But Tyler Steen, a rookie from Alabama who made his first NFL start at right guard on Sunday, recovered the football at the Philadelphia 31-yard line.

On Dallas’ first fourth-quarter possession, quarterback Dak Prescott connected with Luke Schoonmaker on a fourth-and-goal throw from the Philadelphia 1 for what was originally ruled a touchdown. But video review showed Eagles safety and former West Limestone High School star Reed Blankenship got the Dallas tight end down just short of the goal line.

The Cowboys did get in the end zone on their next possession, with Prescott ending a five-play, 52-yard drive with a 7-yard touchdown pass to former McGill-Toolen and South Alabama standout Jalen Tolbert.

Prescott also ran for the 2-point conversion to pull Dallas within three points with 6:23 to play. But video review showed Prescott stepped out of bounds before getting the football into the end zone, moving the Cowboys’ deficit back to five points.

Dallas regained possession at its 14-yard line with 46 seconds to play and nearly won the game. A 36-yard defensive pass interference penalty, a 10-yard completion with roughing the passer tacked on and a 14-yard completion had the Cowboys at the Philadelphia 11-yard line with 27 seconds to play.

In that remaining time, there was a sack, an incompletion and three penalties before Prescott connected with wide receiver CeeDee Lamb for a 23-yard gain. But that was 4 yards from the goal line as time ran out.

Prescott completed 29-of-44 passes for 374 yards with three touchdowns and no interceptions.

Philadelphia now enters their bye week. When the Eagles return to the field, they’ll be in a rematch of Super Bowl LVII, where they lost to the Kansas City Chiefs 38-35 in the final game of the 2022 season. The Eagles and Chiefs play at 7:15 p.m. CST Nov. 20 at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City, Missouri.

Asked about how he was feeling after the game, Hurts said: “I don’t really know what to say. It was a gritty win. It was a tough win.”

But Hurts added: “I don’t think the bye week could have come at a better time.”

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Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter at @AMarkG1.