Game Recap: Cowboys crush Commanders to take over 2nd place in the NFC East

It’s been talked about on the broadcast of every Dallas game in recent weeks and mentioned in dozens of articles about the team; Dallas has the best offense in the NFL by many metrics and the worst defense in the league by those same metrics. Without getting fancy, let’s just compare the relative rankings of Washington and Dallas offensively and defensively on two basic metrics: yards per game and points per game.

When it comes to offense, the Dallas offense ranks 1st & 3rd in yards gained and points scored, respectively, while on defense, the Cowboys are ranked 32nd & 31st for yards and points given up to opponents.

Washington, on both offense and defense, is better at scoring points than gaining yards. With respect to points — the most important statistic of all - the commanders are ranked 7th on offense and 13th on defense. By contrast, they rank only 13th in yards gained on offense and a rather dismal-looking 25th in yards given up to opponents on defense. Offensively, this looks like good efficiency while defensively it sounds a little like ‘bend don’t break’, or just being good in the red zone (discussed below).

Dallas at home

When playing in their own stadium, which they’ve done twice in 2025 (Giants, Packers - both overtime games) the Dallas offense has produced more and the defense has given up more — which is not surprising with the two overtime periods, which both lasted the full 10 minutes.

Washington on the road

Washington has played 3 home games and 3 road games this season. Overall, Washington’s offense is earning fewer yards and scoring fewer points on the road than at home. The defense is giving up more yards and points on the road than at home. The Commanders are 2-1 at home and 1-2 on the road.

Looks like a shootout

The two games that Dallas has played at home this season — both ending in overtime — ended with scores of 40-40 and 40-37. It’s very much the nature of the Cowboys’ offensive and defensive performances, and Washington seems equipped to be able to score a lot of points and give up a lot of points. Fan Duel has the over/under on this game at 53.5. I’d probably take the over if the mark was 73.5.

A note on Red Zone scoring

Washington’s defense, which is ranked 25th in yards and 13th in points, must be doing something to impact those two inconsistent rankings.

They are.

The Commanders defense is ranked 10th in red zone scoring percentage (TDs only) at 55%. Only 4 defenses in the league are below 50%. The bad news is that the Washington defense has allowed 67% red zone scoring rate on the road, but these are pretty small sample sizes. Overall, the Commanders have allowed opposing offenses into the red zone 20 times; 12 times on the road and 8 times at home.

Significant roster changes this week

Cowboys

For Dallas, cornerback Trevon Diggs has been ruled out of this week’s game with a concussion. Diggs sustained an accident at home on Thursday night, and after he was evaluated by the team’s staff, the Cowboys declared Diggs unable to suit up on Sunday. On the other hand, CeeDee Lamb and Tyler Booker were full participants on Friday and are set to play Sunday after missing multiple weeks with their respective ankle injuries. KaVontae Turpin (foot) had been targeting this week for his return, and he was right. He was a full participant Friday and will play today. Tyler Smith (knee) was also upgraded to full participation and carries no injury designation heading into Sunday.

Commanders

For the Commanders, the wide receiver position has been hit hard by injury. After being inactive for 4 games, Noah Brown was moved to IR this week, meaning he’s out for at least another 4 weeks. Neither Terry McLaurin nor Deebo Samuel traveled to Dallas; both are ruled out this week. With none of Washington’s top 3 receivers healthy, recently signed receiver Robbie Chosen was elevated from the practice squad for today’s game. Chosen joins Chris Moore, Luke McCaffrey, and rookie Jaylin Lane as the only wide receivers on Washington’s active roster. Tay Martin, who had been elevated from the practice squad three times this season (the maximum allowed), was released earlier in the week, presumably to give him the opportunity to sign with a team that could give him the opportunity for more game appearances this season.

RG Sam Cosmi, who had knee surgery following a knee injury against the Lions in the playoffs, will be active for the first time this season. It’s unclear whether he will start or if he will play full time today; he could be on a pitch-count, a rotation with another player, or he could simply be on the bench as a backup.

CB Jonathan Jones returns from IR to add CB depth.

The defensive line will look a little different, with Eddie Goldman returning after missing the Bears game with an illness. He will be joined by Sheldon Day, who was elevated from the practice squad for the game. DE Jalyn Holmes, who played well vs the Bears on Monday night, was released on Saturday, presumably in the expectation that he will be re-signed to the practice squad on Monday.

NFC East Standings

Prior to the start of the game, the Eagles beat the Vikings to move to 5-2 and retain first place in the NFC East no matter the outcome of the Washington-Dallas game. The Giants also play in the late window on the road against the Broncos.

The point spread

Washington opened the week as 2.5-point road favorites, but the news on Terry McLaurin and Deebo Samuel (along with the health reports out of Dallas) has squeezed the line, per Fan Duel to -1.5 for the Commanders.

With Terry McLaurin, Deebo Samuel and Noah Brown all missing from today’s lineup, the Commanders will need to find ways to threaten the Dallas defense, which is pretty bad and missing its top cornerback.

First Quarter

Washington kicked off to the Cowboys to open the game. Dallas began their first drive at the 34-yard line after an explosive return by Turpin.

Two plays later, Dallas faced 3rd & 1 after a strong 2nd down run by Javontae Williams. On 3rd down, Dak hit CeeDee Lamb for a 13-yard gain into Washington territory.

On 2nd & 5, Dak threw into the end zone and Marshon Lattimore was called for interference while defending George Pickens, putting the ball at the 1-yard line.

Williams ran it in on the 1st down play to give the home team an immediate lead. Dallas covered 66 yards in 5 plays in just under 2 minutes with Dallas looking like the top offense in the NFL.

After the PAT, Dallas led 7-0.

After the kickoff, Washington’s offense took the field at the 39-yard line following a good return by McCaffrey.

An 8-yard run by Bill on 1st down was followed by a swing pass to the RB for no gain on 2nd down. On 3rd & 3, Jayden missed McCaffrey downfield, but Dan Quinn left his offense on the field at their own 46-yard line. A false start penalty on Sam Cosmi made it 4th & 8, and Tress Way came out to punt.

Percy Butler downed the punt inside the 1-yard line for, literally, the worst field position possible for the Cowboys’ offense.

On 1st down, Daron Payne tackled Javontae Williams a yard deep in the end zone for a safety! The score is now 7-2, and the Commanders offense will get the ball following the free kick by Dallas from their own 20-yard line.

Washington’s offense got the ball at the 35-yard line following the touchback.

The drive started the same way as the first drive did — with a Croskey-Merritt run — this one for 9 yards. Jayden kept the ball on 2nd down but came up a yard short, bringing up 3rd & 1; Bill went up the middle to earn the fresh set of downs.

On a play-action pass on 1st down, Jayden hit Chris Moore downfield for a huge 44-yard catch & run to the 9-yard line.

On 3rd & goal from the 5-yard line, Jayden had all day; he found Zach Ertz all alone at the goal line for the go-ahead touchdown.

With a 1-point lead, the Commanders attempted a 2-point conversion, but Jayden was tackled on the QB run. With 7:38 to play in the quarter, Washington leads 8-7. The scoring drive covered 65 yards in 7 plays, taking 3:45.

The Cowboys started their 3rd offensive drive at the 40-yard line when Matt Gay’s kickoff went out of bounds around the 3-yard line.

The drive started with a huge pass to George Pickens on the right sideline for a 24-yard gain.

Two plays later, it was 3rd & 3 at the WAS 29-yard line. Under very heavy pressure, Prescott couldn’t complete the pass to Lamb, with Mikey Sainristil in coverage. The Cowboys attempted the 47-yard field goal on 4th & 3; the attempt was good. Dallas re-took the lead 10-8 with just over 6 minutes left in the quarter. The scoring drive covered 31 yards in 5 plays. As so often happens, the Commanders 1st quarter defense allowed the opponents to move the ball before stiffening up in the red zone and forcing the field goal.

At this rate of scoring, the two teams are on track for well over 70 points.

Washington’s offense started at their own 13-yard line after a penalty was enforced against Colson Yankoff for tripping.

Once again, the drive started with an inside handoff to Bill; he earned 4 yards this time, which, I believe, is his least successful 1st down carry of the day.

Zach Ertz dropped the 2nd down pass to force 3rd & 6 at the 16-yard line; Jayden hit Robbie Chosen on a short pass, but the Cowboys defenders closed fast and tackled him short, forcing the 3 & out.

Turpin, the return man, was tackled for a short return at his 26-yard line with 4:38 left in the first quarter.

With no pass rush to threaten him, Dak wound up and threw downfield finding CeeDee Lamb for a 74-yard touchdown.

Following the PAT, Dallas led by 9 points. Dallas 17 - Washington 8.

Jaylin Lane dropped the 1st down pass about 20 yards downfield.

Jayden missed Chris Moore on 2nd down. On 3rd & 10, Robbie Chosen caught a 13-yard pass to the 41-yard line.

On 2nd & 9, Daniels sailed the ball over Zach Ertz and the Dallas safeties.

On 3rd & 9, he threw to Chosen short of the sticks. On 4th & 4, Tress Way came out for his 3rd punt of the day. This one bounced through the end zone, giving the Cowboys the ball at their own 20-yard line with about 2 minutes still remaining in the quarter. There’s been a ton of offense so far.

Two plays later, Dallas faced 3rd & 5. On 3rd down, the pass rush got home, but Jacob Martin took Dak’s helmet off on the sack. It shouldn’t have been a penalty, but the refs threw flags. 1st down Dallas.

After a penalty flag against the offense and a near-sack, the quarter ended with the Cowboys facing 2nd & 15.

Second Quarter

It became 2nd & 20 after a pre-snap penalty.

On 3rd & 9, at the DAL 40-yard line, Dak was hit as he threw incomplete with Darnelle Savage in coverage on Williams.

After the punt and fair catch by Lane, the Commanders had the ball 1st & 10 at their own 10-yard line, trailing by 9 points. So far, the Cowboys have 154 yards of offense on 5 drives; Washington has 100 yards of offense on 4 drives. Washington’s defense has given up explosive plays again. Washington has run the ball well. A touchdown drive here would go a long way towards restoring the competitive balance in the game.

Bill gets stuffed on 1st down; after a QB scramble on 2nd down, the Commanders faced 3rd & 5 at the 15-yard line. On 3rd down, Daniels, who had all day to scan the field, found Jaylin Lane down the right sideline for a 35-yard gain to the 49-yard line on a pass that traveled the full 35 yards in the air.

After a good scramble and a stuffed run by Bill, on 3rd & 5, Jayden missed Lane on the right sideline. Facing 4th & 5 at the DAL 46-yard line, DQ kept the offense on the field. The attempted pass was incomplete — Dallas forced a turnover on downs with a successful 4th down blitz, ending what had been looking like a promising offensive drive.

The Cowboys start their 6th offensive drive with great field position at their own 46-yard line. There’s now only a 10-yard difference in total yards with both teams having run 5 offensive drives. The scoreboard, however, isn’t as even. After a 25-point first quarter, neither team has added any points in the 2nd quarter.

On 3rd & 2 at the Washington 46-yard line, Prescott scrambled, but an offensive holding call forced 3rd & 12 at the Dallas 44-yard line. On the 3rd down play, TE Jake Ferguson caught a 13-yard pass to earn the 1st down.

After a muffed snap and a tipped pass (Daron Payne) on 1st & 2nd downs, on 3rd & 12, Payne tipped his THIRD pass of the game to force 4th & 12.

The Dallas kicker, Brandon Aubrey, came out to nail a 61-yard field goal that looked like it would have been good from 75 yards.

Cowboys now lead 20-8. The scoring drive covered 11 yards in 8 plays. Again, if Washington can score a touchdown on the upcoming drive, they can make it a one-score game.

After another penalty flag on another kick return, Washington starts its next drive at the 10-yard line.

After a short scramble, a penalty, and an incomplete pass, the Commanders faced 3rd & 13 at their own 7-yard line. A check down to RB Jeremy McNichols came up 2 yards short and Tress Way, who is having a busy day, came out to punt again. The zebras called a false start penalty on the long snapper, Tyler Ott, to move the ball back 5 yards before the punt.

Percy Butler made a great tackle on the punt coverage; Dallas will start its next drive at the 28-yard line.

Two plays later, it was 3rd & 3 at the 34-yard line. Dak made an easy pitch & catch completion to Lamb for the 1st down with Sainristil in coverage.

On 1st down, Luvu wrapped up RB Williams for a 3-yard loss followed by a 2 yard gain on a 2nd down screen pass.

On 3rd & 11, Sainristil broke up the pass at the line to gain.

On 4th & 11 on their own side of the field, the Cowboys punted.

After a 9-yard return by Jaylin Lane, Jayden Daniels and the offense took the field at the 32-yard line with 1:56 left in the half.

McNichols gained 12 yards on 1st down.

Jayden then ran for 14 yards to the DAL 42-yard line on the next play.

With a free play on a defensive offsides, Jayden threw for Robbie Chosen in the end zone. Chosen was hit hard for what should have been a DPI penalty in the end zone, but instead was just 5 yards on the offsides flag. Daniels scrambled for a first down on the subsequent play. Washington now had 1st & 10 at the Dallas 27-yard line with 1:22 on the clock.

Lane caught a pass in the middle of the field, and on the next play, McNichols broke multiple tackles to push the ball to the 2-yard line — 1st & goal!

Jayden kept the ball on a bobbled snap on 1st down and tip-toed into the end zone for a desperately-needed touchdown.

After the PAT, the score was 20-15 with 45 seconds on the clock.

Turpin was tackled at the 28-yard line on the kickoff return.

Dak took a 7-yard loss on a defensive sack by Von Miller and Jacob Martin with 28 second left on the clock.

George Pickens broke Commanders fans’ hearts with a fantastic 44-yard catch on the left sideline.

Then Javontae Williams broke loose for a 33-yard run to the Washington 2-yard line. That was 77 yards in two plays!

On the next play, TE Jake Ferguson caught a touchdown pass a yard deep in the end zone.

Following the PAT, the score was 27-15.

Following McCaffrey’s return to the 25-yuad line the Commanders just wanted to get to the locker room.

McCaffery was shaken up on the tackle. He walked off the field under his own power.

With 42 points scored in the first half, this game is on track for 80+ points. The Commanders will need to overcome a 12-point deficit in the remaining 30 minutes.

The Commanders will get the ball first to open the second half.

Halftime Stats

Statistics via ESPN

Third Quarter

CeeDee Lamb and George Pickens combined for 182 yards in the first half. Dak is on pace for 400+ passing yards. The Commanders not only need to open up the half with an offensive touchdown; the Washington defense needs to find a way to stop the Dallas passing attack — though, with 70 yards on the ground in the first half, defending the rushing attack doesn’t look like a great alternative. Penalties have been killing the Commanders.

Washington’s ninth drive of the game began at their 35-yard line following McCaffrey’s return (he’s okay, apparently).

Two plays later, on 3rd & 2, Jayden ran on a designed QB run and just made it to the line to gain with a reach as he went out of bounds.

After a short run and a batted pass, on 3rd & 10, Jayden scrambled to his left and found Chris Moore downfield for a 15-yard gain and another first down at the DAL 39-yard line.

Disaster hit on the next play as Daniels fumbled the ball as he was sacked. Dallas recovered the ball and Jayden came up limping.

The Dallas offense has the ball, 1st & 10 at the DAL 45-yard line, and JD5 is headed to the locker room.

On 2nd down, Javontae Williams looked like he was gonna be tackled for loss, but his jump cut left Luvu’s jock in the parking lot and Williams gained 17 yards.

Two plays later, on 3rd & 5 at the 25-yard line, Prescott got a pass away under pressure, hitting Pickens 10 yards downfield against Marshon Lattimore.

Another two plays later, on 3rd & 8 at the 12-yard line, Prescott scrambled for the needed 8 yards to earn 1st & goal at the 5 yard line.

Seconds later, running no-huddle, TE Ferguson caught his second TD pass of the game.

After the PAT, the score started to look like a blowout at 34-15 with under 8 minutes left in the 3rd quarter and Jayden Daniels in the locker room.

Following the out of bounds kickoff, Washington’s offense took the field with Marcus Mariota behind center at the 40-yard line.

Mariota started with an 18-yard completion to Lane on 1st down.

Chris Rodriguez came in and ran the ball on the 2nd snap of the series, gaining 2 yards. Another 7 yards by CRod brought up 3rd & 1 at the DAL 32-yard line. A false start against Josh Conerly (his 2nd penalty of the game, I think) made it 3rd & 6.

Mariota scrambled, broke out of a couple of potential sacks, and tried to find a receiver on the right sideline. The ball floated out slowly, and DaRon Bland jumped it, made the interception, and sprinted into the end zone. The rout is on! Dallas 41 - Washington 15

With 5 1/2 minutes left in the 3rd quarter, there’s plenty of time for Washington to mount a comeback, but nothing in the game so far makes it seem possible.

McCaffrey had another great return for 41 yards to the 47-yard line.

On 1st down, Mariota scrambled for 25 yards to the DAL 28-yard line.

Bill is back in the game. He ran for 2 yards to brig up 3rd & 3 in what feels like a 4-down situation.

The ref held the offense until there was just 2 seconds on the play clock; delay of game penalty resulted.

On 3rd & 8, Mariota scrambled right and then threw the pass out of the back of the end zone.

The offense stayed on the field for 4th & 8. On the play, Mariota threw over Robbie Chosen’s head, but a pass interference call against the defense gave Washington a fresh set of downs at the 12-yard line. Dallas fans would probably be justified if they complained about the flag.

Mariota scrambled for 9 yards to the 3-yard line, but his 2nd down pass was batted down on a fast rush by Clowney.

On 3rd & 1, Rodriguez came up inches short of the goal line — 1st & goal with 2:25 left in the 3rd quarter.

NO, WAIT!! Replay called it a touchdown!! After the PAT, the score is 41-22.

I notice that NFL replays have gotten fast & loose with the “clear and obvious” standard for replay this season.

The offense did its job by adding a touchdown. There’s more than a quarter left to play; the defense needs to step up with a quick stop now.

Dallas starts at the 33-yard line as the sun rises in Bangkok.

Two plays later, on 3rd & 5 in a largely silent stadium, Lattimore was called for defensive pass interference against CeeDee Lamb. 1st & 10 at the DAL 38-yard line.

Trey Amos missed a tackle on Turpin, who broke a short pass for a 17-yard gain deep into Washington territory. Javontae Williams broke 100 yards for the day on the next snap, running for 9 yards to the 18.

When the quarter ended, Dallas had the ball 1st & 10 at the 15-yard line. The Washington defense is not playing winning football.

Fourth Quarter

The Cowboys opened the final quarter with a run and a shovel pass to bring up 3rd & 9 at the 14-yard line. On 3rd down, FB Hunter Luepke was gang tackled at the 11-yard line.

Aubrey’s 29-yard field goal made the score 44-22 with just under 13 minutes to play. Washington needs 3 unanswered touchdowns, with at least one successful 2-point conversion to stay in this game. That seems…unlikely.

Washington’s 12th offensive drive of the day starts at the 28-yard line.

On 2nd down, Zach Ertz had a 27-yard catch & run to the Dallas 45-yard line.

After a sack and an incomplete pass, on 3rd & 15 (in a 4-down situation), Robbie Chosen made a great contested catch at the line to gain to bring up 4th & 1.

On the 4th down play, Luke McCaffrey was running wide open on a crossing route, but Mariota overthrew him by 4 or 5 yards on what could have been a huge play. Earning the win was already a long shot, but this failure likely snuffs out whatever practical hope remained with just over 10 minutes left in the game.

The only good news is that — in Denver — the Broncos, who trailed the entire game against the Giants, have taken a 4-point lead with just over a minute remaining.

The Cowboys offense ran conservative plays to keep the clock moving, and the drive ran out of steam at the 49-yard line. Lane made the fair catch at the 8-yard line.

The broadcast reports that Jayden Daniels has a hamstring injury, but also shows him running/jogging so it doesn’t appear debilitating.

Two plays later, after getting swarmed by the Dallas defense, on 3rd & 6 from the 2 yard line, McNichols earned two yards on a run. Tress Way came on to punt from the back of his own end zone with less than 5 minutes to play.

After the punt and a penalty flag against the Cowboys, they started what is likely their final drive of the game at their 25-yard line.

No one is calling timeout.

At the 2-minute warning, Dallas had the ball, 3rd & 7 at their own 38-yard line.

The bad news is that the Giants scored again to take the lead in Denver.

The worse news is that the Cowboys won this game easily by a score of 44-22.

Good news (sort of): the Broncos beat the Giants on a walk-off field goal.

Full Game Stats

Statistics via ESPN

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