Cowboys defeat Commanders

By Elwyn Henderson

The 2-3-1 Dallas Cowboys hosted the 3-3 Washington Commanders at AT&T Stadium in Arlington Sunday with both teams desperately needing a win to remain in the NFC East race. The Philadelphia Eagles lead the division with a 5-2 record after their 28-22 win on the road in Minnesota against the Vikings Sunday afternoon the loser of the game would end up in a precarious spot nearing the halfway point of the 2025 season. Both teams suffered losses last week and needed to bounce back with a victory. Dallas entered the contest as a 1.5 point favorite but when the clock ran out the Cowboys emerged with an impressive 44-22 victory to stay in the NFC East hunt in front of a crowd of 93,051 fans.

Dallas got the ball to begin the game after winning the coin toss and electing to receive.

Matt Gay kicked away and Kavonte Turpin took the ball at the 4 and returned it up to the 34 where Dak Prescott and the Cowboys hit the field for the first time.

Thanks to a 37-yard pass interference penalty against the Commanders Marshon Lattimore, the ball was placed at the Washington 2 and on the first play afterward Javonte Williams ran into the end zone with 13:05 left in the opening frame. Brandon Aubrey added the PAT and Dallas had a quick 7-0 lead. The drive was 5 plays, 66 yards and took 1:55.

Aubrey’s kickoff after the score was taken by Luke McCaffrey at the 5 and he returned the ball up to the 40 where Jayden Daniels brought the visitors offense on the field for their first possession.

After a great return the Cowboys responded with a quick three-and-out. The Commanders left their offense on the field but they were flagged for a false start and Tress Way came in to punt the ball away. The kick was downed at the Dallas 1 and the Cowboys found themselves in a deep hole to begin their next possession.

The bad start turned into disaster on the first play as Williams was tackled in the end zone with 11:23 left in the quarter for a safety, making the score 7-2 with Dallas forced into a free kick from their 20. Luke McCaffrey fair caught the ball in the end zone and Washington set up at their 35.

Daniels moved the team down the field and hit Zach Ertz on a 5-yard TD pass with 7:30 left in the first quarter, putting the visitors up 8-7. They elected to go for a 2-point conversion but Daniels was dropped at the 2. The drive was 7 plays, 65 yards and took 3:45 off the first quarter clock.

Way’s ensuing kickoff went out of bounds, giving Dallas the ball at their 40. Prescott led the team down to the Washington 30 where Aubrey booted a 47-yard field goal with 6:14 left in the quarter, putting Dallas back in the lead 10-8. The drive was 5 plays, 31 yards and took 1:24 off the first quarter clock.

The kickoff following the field goal was returned to the 29 and the Commanders were called for tripping on the play, setting them up at their 13 to begin their next drive. Dallas forced a three-and-out and Way came in to punt the ball away. The kick was taken by KaVonte Turpin at his 22 and returned to the 26.

On the first play of the possession Prescott hit CeeDee Lamb on a 74-yard TD pass with 4:27 left in the quarter. Aubrey’s extra point kick was good and Dallas led 17-8. The possession took just 11 seconds off the first quarter clock.

The next kickoff was returned by McCaffrey to his 28 and Daniels brought his unit back on the field. After picking up one first down the defense forced another Way punt from his 47. The kick went into the end zone for a touchback and Dallas set upon their 20.

They moved up to the 40 where Bryan Anger came out on 4th down to punt. The kick was fair caught at the Commanders 10 and Daniels and company hit the field again with 14:10 left in the first half.

Daniels led his offense down to the Dallas 46 and facing a 4th and 5 they went for the first down and a pass was incomplete and the Cowboys took over on downs in great field position to add to their lead.

Thanks to a stout Washington defense Aubrey came out ad nailed a 61-yard field goal with 7:22 left in the half putting Dallas up 20-8. The drive was 8 plays, 61 yards and took 3:34.

The visitors began at their 20 on their next possession and the defense forced a three-and-out and a Way punt was returned to the Dallas 27 and Prescott and the offense came back on the field.

Anger had to punt the ball back to the Commanders and we hit the two minute warning. Daniels managed the 2-minute offense to perfection, running into the end zone from 2 yards out with 45 seconds left in the half. Gay added the extra point and the Commanders trailed 20-15 and were set to receive the ball to begin the second half. The drive was 7 plays, 68 yards and took 1:11.

Dallas went back on offense at their 28 after the score. After a loss on the first play Prescott hit George Perkins streaking down the sidelines at the Washington 35 and Williams followed that up with a 33-yard run down to the 2. Dallas took their final timeout of the half with 15 seconds left, hoping to get into the end zone before the break. They did just that as Jake Ferguson caught a 2-yard TD pass from Prescott with 10 seconds left in the half. Aubrey hit the point after touchdown and Dallas jumped out to a 27-15 lead. The 72-yard drive took just 4 plays and 35 seconds.

The kickoff was returned to the 26 with 6 seconds left in the half. Daniels took a knee and the half came to an end.

Washington moved from their 35 to the Dallas 45 to begin the third quarter and Daniels was hit and fumbled the ball away to Jadaveon Clowney and Prescott led the offense back on the field for their first possession of the half.

Prescott moved the team 55 yards into the end zone for another TD. He hit Jake Ferguson from 5 yards out with 7:44 left in the third frame. Aubrey’s point after was good and Dallas took a commanding 34-15 lead. The drive was 9 plays and took 4:03 off the clock.

Washington began their next drive without starting quarterback Daniels who left the game due to a hamstring injury. Marcus Mariotta came in to quarterback the team and moved them toward the end zone before DeRon Bland got a 68-yard pick-6 with 5:31 left in the quarter. Aubrey was true on the extra point kick once again and Dallas turned the game into a blowout, leading 41-15.

The Commanders answered back swiftly on their next possession and found the end zone on a 1-yard run by Chris Rodriguez, Jr. with 2:35 left in the third stanza. Gay’s extra point was good and the Cowboys lead was cut to 41-22. The drive was 7 plays, 44 yards and consumed 2:46 of clock time.

Dallas set up on their 33 after the kickoff and return. Prescott led the offense down to the Washington 11 and on 4th and 6 Aubrey kicked a 29-yard field goal with 12:45 left in the game putting Dallas up 44-22. The 56-yard drive took 4:50 and 9 plays.

Washington turned the ball over on downs at the Dallas 36 on their next possession and Prescott led the offense back on the field with 10:26 left in the contest.

There was no further scoring in the game and Dallas moved to 3-3-1 with the win while the loss dropped Washington to 3-4.

The Mirror asked Coach Brian Shottenheimer when he addressed the media after the big win if this game was the best job of playing complimentary football the team had done so far this season.

“Without watching the film, I would say yes. I think that’s just because we fed off the energy of the defense getting some early starts. I mean, the two minute drive at the end of the first half was huge for us. Again, there goes Javonte (Williams) with another long run right at the end of a two minute. And so, I would say yes, but there’s things to clean up. I mean don’t fool yourselves, I’m not standing up here going, man, we’re the greatest team in the world. There’s things to clean up, and we’ll get right to work on that in the morning.”

 

The Mirror also asked the coach his thoughts on former first round pick of the Houston Texans several years ago, Jadeveon Clowney, was doing since joining the team this season.

“Yeah, incredible. He’s so happy to be here. He’s having fun playing football again. I think for me that’s important because of the culture that we’re trying to build here. You know it was good to see him get a sack and a cover fumble. And, you know, I think that’s why you saw us go out and get him. I probably downplayed it a little bit, just his ability to impact games. But I wanted to wait for a moment like this to give him the acknowledgement of what a fine, fine football player he is.”

 

It doesn’t get any easier for the ‘Boys as they travel to the Mile High City Denver next Sunday to take on the AFC West leading Broncos who hit a last-second field goal Sunday to score 33 points in the fourth quarter and defeat the New York Giants 33-32.

 

Then on Monday night, November 3rd the Cowboys return to AT&T Stadium to host the Arizona Cardinals.