The Washington Commanders fell to 4-12 with Thursday’s Christmas Day loss to the Dallas Cowboys. The season that seemingly will never end has only one week remaining.

Despite some statistical anomalies, Thursday’s game was much closer than it probably should have been. For instance, the Cowboys ran 87 offensive plays, compared to 41 for the Commanders. That’s almost unheard of in the NFL. Dallas went six of six on fourth downs. Meanwhile, Washington’s offense was just one of six on third downs.

Yet, in the fourth quarter, the Commanders had chances to tie the game. There were missed opportunities, such as backbreaking penalties on third and fourth down, or a potential pick-six dropped. Lastly, Washington was starting its No. 3 quarterback, veteran Josh Johnson, who hadn’t started an NFL game since 2021. It was only the 10th career start for the 18-year veteran.

Here’s how we graded the Commanders in the Week 17 report card.

Offense: B+

The Commanders ran only 41 plays, yet they averaged 8 yards per play, compared to 5.5 per play for the Dallas offense. Washington finished with 328 total yards, which is impressive given the number of plays and Johnson under center. Also, the Commanders rushed for 138 yards, averaging 8.6 yards per attempt. Johnson was only sacked twice. Offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury called a masterful game, when you consider everything he dealt with. Remember, Washington was without left tackle Laremy Tunsil and right guard Sam Cosmi, and lost center Tyler Biadasz during the game. The knocks here are the third-down efficiency (16.7%) and penalties.

Defense: F

What’s crazy here is that there were some standout performances—Johnny Newton’s career-high three sacks and five quarterback hits. Bobby Wagner was excellent again. Undrafted rookie DT Ricky Barber flashed in limited reps. However, when you consider that Washington allowed Dallas to run almost 90 plays in regulation, that’s astonishing. The Commanders could not get off the field on third and fourth down. At one time, facing a third-and-16, Washington allowed Dak Prescott to complete a checkdown to his fullback, who got 14 yards, carrying defenders to within two yards of the first-down marker. The Cowboys went for it on fourth down again and were successful. The run defense was horrific. The secondary gave up an 86-yard touchdown. The positives were that Washington sacked Prescott six times. However, it’s hard to give the defense anything but an F for remaining on the field so often.

Special teams: A

Tress Way punted three times. All three punts were downed inside the 20-yard line. Kicker Jake Moody was perfect, making all three field goals, including a 51-yarder and both his extra-point attempts. Washington did a good job on kick and punt coverage, as KaVontae Turpin did not return a punt and was held to an average of 23 yards per kickoff return. Without primary returners Luke McCaffrey and Jaylin Lane, the Commanders averaged 24.6 yards per kickoff return, with Chris Moore returning one 33 yards. Dallas only punted once, so River Cracraft only had one opportunity in Lane’s place. Overall, another winning performance from the special teams.

Coaching: C+

The reason it’s this high is because of Kingsbury. He did an excellent job of preparing Johnson and playing to his strengths. He designed the offense to get the ball out quickly and Johnson carried out the plan perfectly. The running game was clicking. Some will not recognize it, but this was one of Kingsbury’s best games as OC. Defensively, Dan Quinn couldn’t get the defense off the field. And penalties remain an issue. The Commanders were called for 10 penalties for 71 yards. We are in Week 17, that’s a coaching issue. Sure, some were ticky-tack, but you could say the same for the Cowboys. Bad calls were made on both sides. The penalty issues just don’t seem to go away.

Quarterback: A-

We aren’t sure what more you could’ve expected from Johnson. He completed 15 of 23 passes for 198 yards. He did not turn the ball over. He only took two sacks. This was all on a short week. It helps that Johnson is a veteran, but this was still a tough task. Johnson aced it. Jayden Daniels or Marcus Mariota probably couldn’t have won this game due to the defensive performance. The Commanders didn’t lose this game because of Johnson. He made some big-time throws.