3. Johnny Newton was a defensive standout.
Newton was another younger player on Washington’s roster who needed to step up in place of a veteran, as Daron Payne was ruled out earlier in the week. The Commanders drafted Newton with the belief that he could be an impact player for them in the future, and while he still has plenty of work to do in his career, he was certainly impactful on Thursday with three sacks, five quarterback hits and nine tackles.
“I think the disruption, the quickness, those are the skills that he has,” Newton said. “And so, to hear him put all the pieces together, anticipation of plays, how to go execute it to go, I felt that.”
Newton was the driving force for a Commanders pass rush that generated six sacks on Dak Prescott. It was the first time in his career that he has recorded a multi-sack game, making him the first player in franchise history to record at least 3.0 sacks in a single game since Preston Smith in Week 16 of 2015.
After the game, Newton said, “Whenever I catch fire, it’s hard to cool me off.”
“I just had a great feeling of the game today. Run or pass, I feel like with the film I watched, I feel like I had a great feeling of what they were doing the whole day, so I was just reacting to the play and making plays.”
The Commanders have waited for a performance from Newton like the one he had against the Cowboys. While it wasn’t enough to give them a win, it did provide some excitement for what Newton can accomplish in his third season.