The Washington Commanders came up short on Christmas Day, falling 30-23 to the Dallas Cowboys at Northwest Stadium. The Cowboys ran 87 plays to the Commanders‘ 41, and Dallas held the ball for almost 39 minutes compared to Washington’s 21.
Several young players stood out in Thursday’s game, none more so than rookie running back Jacory Croskey-Merritt. The seventh-round pick from Arizona carried the ball times for 105 yards and two touchdowns. Both of Croskey-Merritt’s touchdowns were impressive, but it was his second that had Washington fans at Northwest Stadium and at home, on their feet.
Down 14 points in the third quarter, Croskey-Merritt took Josh Johnson’s handoff and burst through all 11 Dallas defenders on his way to a 72-yard touchdown run. That touchdown run made it a ballgame, as the Cowboys only led by 7 points after it.
Croskey-Merritt, aka Bill, was a popular man in the postgame locker room. He was asked what he saw on the long touchdown run.
“I saw daylight, and I was like, ‘This is my chance to show when it’s open field, I can take it the distance,’” he said. “And I mean, it worked out, it worked out perfect.”
Washington has had numerous running backs over the years. Some good ones, too. How many could take it to the house from over 70 yards like Croskey-Merritt did?
With one game remaining, Croskey-Merritt has 776 rushing yards and eight touchdowns. He averages 4.8 yards per rushing attempt. Not bad numbers for a seventh-round rookie. What makes Bill’s season even more impressive is that he’s done it in a part-time role. The Commanders have had four running backs play this season. The Week 1 starter, Austin Ekeler, was lost in Week 2, with Croskey-Merritt, Chris Rodriguez Jr. and Jeremy McNichols all taking over at times for the remainder of the season. Croskey-Merritt has had eight games with fewer than 10 carries.
Hitting the 1,000-yard mark for his rookie season is a long shot, but with a big game against the Eagles next week to close out the season, Bill could hit the 900-yard mark, which would be a remarkable accomplishment.