A 37-20 destruction of the Commanders got the Cowboys back to the .500 level and at least removed the sour taste that had remained from Sunday night in the Meadowlands. The game was one yard shy of being 17-17 at halftime, and that’s important to remember as the club goes about the business of getting ready for Baltimore on the strange road to Brazil.
Dak Prescott completes 84 percent of his passes and breaks Tony Romo’s club touchdown record, CeeDee Lamb hauls in passes for 153 yards and a pair of scores, and the team can’t get an A? Not when the running game is stopped cold again as happened Sunday. Javonte Williams finished with 12 carries for 30 yards. He barely beat Dak’s scrambles (26 yards) in rushing. This line protects Dak fairly well but it is opening no holes up the middle for Williams.
The big touchdown that wasn’t record-setting (Jake Ferguson’s 12-yard catch on a 13-yard drive) came after the rare great play by linebackers, veteran Dee Winters recovering a fumble forced by rookie Jaishawn Barham. The Dallas front caused a reasonable amount of pressure even if Daniels and Marcus Mariota avoided actual sacks. Washington was limited in its big play pass ability. Even the vaunted Eagles defense gave up two more points to the Commanders last week than Dallas did.
The A stands largely for Aubrey as Brandon hit a 60-yard field goal that might have been on its way up as it cleared the bar. Maybe not that high but it was certainly going to be good from beyond 65. KaVontae Turpin’s kick returns averaged 30.5 yards on his four tries while Dallas held Jaylin Lane to a 20-yard average on six returns. Huge disparity that makes a difference in field position.
Brian Schottenheimer said the intention was to come out throwing. Give him credit for understanding Dallas would struggle to run against this Washington D but could find plenty of openings in the secondary. Obviously, it’s a different game if Daniels doesn’t go down or if replay allows a third quarter Washington TD that looked like it should have counted. But in a world where things rarely go smoothly for either team, Cowboys coaches had the club positioned for a nice win.
They get an A if they beat the Ravens with Lamar Jackson playing a full game. Too much of a drop off from Daniels to the 12-year vet Mariota to consider this any kind of great defensive performance. Cowboys allowed 182 Washington rushing yards, but the club gets credit for keeping the run game out of the end zone and pulling away in the third quarter.