These teams always battle each other and this one got a little crazy!
The Dallas Cowboys defeated the Washington Commanders 34-26 on Sunday, ending the Cowboys’ five-game losing streak and pushing Washington’s losing streak to three. It was low-scoring at first, but then things suddenly changed at the witching hour. It was a roller-coaster of emotions as the back and forth was a different game script than we have grown accustomed to this season. Here are 10 thoughts on this unexpected Cowboys victory.
1. TOTAL MADNESS
It’s hard to explain what we witnessed. In a game where points were initially hard to come by, the floodgates opened in the fourth quarter. The score was just 10-9 entering the fourth quarter. Little did we know what was in store for us. With just over five and a half minutes left in the game, the two teams then combined for 38 points, five touchdowns and a field goal.
Luke Schoomaker touchdown with 5:16 left Zach Ertz touchdown with 3:02 left KaVontae Turpin touchdown with 2:49 left Austin Seibert field goal with 1:40 left Terry McLaurin touchdown with 0:21 left Juanyeh Thomas touchdown with 0:14 left
It was total madness.
2. SO MANY BIG SPECIAL TEAMS PLAYS
Never have we witnessed such an assortment of big special teams plays. This game featured a blocked field goal, a blocked punt, missed extra points, and unconventional kickoffs returned for touchdowns. The Cowboys were on the wrong end of the plays early as both the blocks came against them, but their luck turned around with two late kickoff returns for a touchdown. First, KaVontae Turpin, who initially fumbled the kickoff, put on a nice Madden-like spin move and returned it 99 yards for the touchdown. Juanyeh Thomas added another touchdown when he jumped an onside kick and took it to the house, although he would have been better served to just go down. But hey, at that point, who cares anymore?
3. BRANDON AUBREY’S FEDEX JINX
We all remember how rookie kicker Brandon Aubrey entered the season finale a perfect 35/35 in field goals last year. All he needed to do was to make it through one more game to wrap a bow on a perfect rookie season. Alas, it was not to be. Oddly enough, Aubrey’s first career “miss” came when the Commanders snuck through the left side and blocked it. Just like that, he was perfect no more. The bad luck continued as his next kick doinked off the goalpost. Aubrey returned to the scene of the crime only to have the same sequence occur. A blocked kick followed by a doink of the goalpost. He even kicked a worm burner that didn’t make it to the landing zone, giving the Commanders the ball at the 40-yard line. There’s something about FedEx field that messes with Aubrey’s mojo.
4. BIG PLAY KAVONTAE
When Luke Schoonmaker caught a 22-yard touchdown to go up 20-9, it looked like that iced the game for the Cowboys. But as we know, that was just the beginning. Washington answered back on their next drive and cut the lead to three points with just over three minutes left to play. It was starting to look like a Cowboys collapse was on the way. Thankfully, Turpin answered with his big kickoff return. It was the second straight week that the Cowboys have had a touchdown of 60+ yards and both came from Turpin.
5. TOTAL BREAKDOWN
After the Turpin touchdown, the game was for all intents and purposes, over. But no. The Cowboys had to make things exciting. On the very next play from scrimmage, Jayden Daniels hit McLaurin for an 86-yard touchdown where Cowboys defenders took terrible angles and didn’t even touch him. It was even more pathetic than the end-of-half play from Tyreek Hill and the Kansas City Chiefs back in 2017. It was quite a gut punch to an otherwise strong performance by the Cowboys’ defense.
6. MAKE-SHIFT OFFENSIVE LINE
Speaking of strong performance, the Cowboys’ make-shift offensive line did a great job on Sunday. They were without their two All-Pro linemen, Zack Martin and Tyler Smith, and instead had to rely on two rookies (Tyler Guyton and Cooper Beebe) and three undrafted free agents (Terence Steele, T.J. Bass, and Brock Hoffman). Surprisingly, this group held up well. Cooper Rush had plenty of time to operate and completed 75% of his passes, the highest completion rate of any game he’s ever started. Rico Dowdle finished with 86 yards on 19 carries for 4.5 ypc. That’s not too shabby with a broken-down offensive line.
7. ENOUGH WITH THE HIGH SNAPPING
The rookies weren’t without their mistakes. Guyton had a couple of mental penalties resulting in being pulled a couple of times. Also, Beebe, who is having a great rookie season, has the occasional high snap. Honestly, considering he didn’t play center in college, we’re surprised this has happened more, but it is something that has shown up a little recently.
8. NICE SHOWING FOR JOSH BUTLER
Another depth guy who showed up in this game was cornerback Josh Butler. For the second straight game, the Cowboys have put their trust in Butler. Even with Trevon Diggs out with an injury, they made rookie Caelen Carson a healthy scratch, putting a lot of faith in Butler. He didn’t disappoint. He finished the game with 12 tackles, three pass breakups and a sack.
9. GOOD DEFENSE OR BAD OFFENSE?
For most of the game, the Cowboys defense played extremely well. Washington’s running backs couldn’t run the ball and Jayden Daniels was picked off twice. The Cowboys’ defense had three takeaways, their most all season. Is it possible that Mike Zimmer’s defense is turning a corner? Maybe. But as we mentioned in our 5 things to watch piece, Kliff Kingsbury offense has had a history of slowing down as the season progresses. Is it possible that the Commander’s offense is turning back into a pumpkin? Maybe there’s a little of both, but it was nice to see the Cowboys D come to play in this one.
10. BITTERSWEET
The Cowboys won a football game and played some good football doing it. It wasn’t perfect by any means, but there will be positives from this game that can be carried over and that’s huge. Of course, good things come with a price. In a season that isn’t likely to result in bonus football in January, this Cowboys win hurts their draft position. And when they’re picking in the top 10, that’s a big deal. Additionally, beating the Commanders helps the Philadelphia Eagles take a step closer to winning the division. Yeah, the win feels nice, but we’re going to need a shower afterward.