For three consecutive defeats, mark the Washington Commanders down. The Dallas Cowboys recently defeated them 34-26 on their home turf, cutting their midseason losing streak to three games.
The squad had a great chance to win the game thanks to rookie quarterback Jayden Daniels and standout wide receiver Terry McLaurin. The two connected for an 86-yard touchdown with less than 30 seconds remaining, with the team behind seven points.
But the Cowboys won the game with a one-hop onside kick after Austin Seibert botched the PAT. Their losing record, which has now been extended to three games, would have ended if they had managed to pull off another miracle.
Following the Commanders’ defeat by their NFC East rival, Michael Bacha of NFL.com provided three key takeaways. The first was, “Highs and lows of special teams play settle wild affair.” This is a perfectly valid takeaway; Dan Quinn’s team must be sharp in all three phases. Seibert’s missed PAT wasn’t the only special teams event that affected the game; Cowboys’ Brandon Aubrey missed a couple of kicks, and Washington’s efforts to stop them were credited. The second takeaway is fairly straightforward and comes from offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury, who stated that the “Commanders’ offensive woes continue.”
“It was tough sledding for Washington’s offence before the late comeback (198 of 412 total yards gained within final 5:16 of play), and it all started at the point of attack, as the Commanders’ offensive line struggled to create running lanes and allowed the Cowboys’ pass rush to harass Jayden Daniels all afternoon,” Bacha said.
There’s just not enough being done by the Commanders on that side of the ball. Kingsbury has been forced to retaliate, which he hasn’t done successfully, as he is gradually being discovered. It was cruel for Brian Robinson Jr. to leave with an injury, and the team’s offensive problems were exacerbated by his absence from the field.
The final lesson may be the cruellest of all: “Cowboys D largely shines against Dan Quinn.”
“Playing their former defensive coordinator on Sunday gave the Cowboys defence a welcome break after a hard season. Quinn’s old students worked together on it, and Micah Parsons, one of his favourites, led the way with two sacks, three quarterback hits, and two tackles for loss,” Bacha reported.
Quinn came into the game with an opportunity to demonstrate as a head coach why the Cowboys shouldn’t have let him go. But the song that was sung wasn’t that one. In turn, Dallas’ defence was able to impede the Commanders’ offensive progress and put a great deal of pressure on Daniels.
