Commanders edge Cowboys

By Elwyn Henderson

    The Dallas Cowboys 2024 season mercifully came to a close Sunday at AT&T Stadium in Arlington when the Cowboys entertained the Washington Commanders.  Dallas had nothing to play for but pride since they were eliminated from the playoffs 3 weeks ago while the Commanders needed to win to improve their seeding for this coming weekend’s Wild Card round of the playoffs.

     The game was tight from start to finish with Dallas never having more than a 6-point lead in front of the 91,349 fans in attendance.  When the season officially came to a close for the Cowboys they ended the year with a 23-19 loss on last-second heroics by the Commanders.

     Dallas won the coin toss and elected to defer to the second half and kick off to begin the game.

     Brandon Aubrey’s kickoff went into the end zone for a touchback and Jayden Daniels brought the Washington offense out to their 30 to begin their first possession.

     Dallas forced a three-and-out and after a Tress Way punt Trey Lance came out at quarterback to begin the first offensive possession for the Cowboys.

     Lance moved the team down to the Washington 16 where the drive stalled and on 4th down Aubrey booted a 34-yard field goal with 8:20 left in the opening frame, giving the home team an early 3-0 lead.  The drive was 8 plays, 76 yards and took 4:28.

     Aubrey’s kick after the field goal resulted in another touchback and Daniels brought his troops out at their 30 for their second possession.

     The visitors managed one first down on the possession before Way had to punt the ball for a second time in as many possessions.  The kick went from his 37 down to the Dallas
10 where Lance and company set up shop for their second possession.

     Due to a couple of mistakes Dallas could not manage a first down and Brian Anger nailed a 55-yard punt down to the Commanders 28 where Daniels and his charges began their next drive.

     The defense forced another three-and-out and after a 48-yard Way punt Dallas went back on the offensive at their 19 with 2:33 left in the first quarter.

    Dallas forced another three-and-out and Aubrey’s punt was fumbled and CJ Goodwin recovered for the Cowboys at the Commanders 22 and the offense had an opportunity to add to their slim lead.

     Thanks to a sack of Lance, Dallas was forced to bring Aubrey back in for a 31-yard field goal.  The kick was good with 12:41 left in the first half, putting Dallas up 6-0.  The drive was 4 plays, -1 yard and took 2:04.

     Daniels and his unit managed one first down and then Way was forced to punt on the next series.  The kick was fair caught by KaVonte Turpin at his 25.

     Thanks to a couple more penalties the ‘Boys were unable to garner a first down and Anger punted the ball back to Washington.  The kick was returned up to the 27 with 7:39 remaining in the first half of play.

     Daniels finally got his team rolling.  They moved down to the Dallas 29 where Zane Gonzalez kicked a 47-yard field goal with 4:40 remaining in the half and cutting the Cowboys lead to 6-3.  The drive was 9 plays, 34 yards and took 2:59 off the second quarter clock.

     Dallas moved all the way down to the Commanders 2 with under 25 seconds left in the half, but a 4th and goal underthrown pass by Lance with 17 seconds left fell incomplete and the visitors took over and Daniels took a knee and the half came to a close with Dallas still up 6-3 and set to get the football to begin the second half.

     Following a touchback of Way’s kickoff to begin the final 2 quarters Lance brought the offense on the field for their first possession of the half.

     Dallas moved the ball down the field but choked in the red zone as Lance was sacked back at the 18, forcing Aubrey to come in for a 36-yard field goal attempt.  The kick was good, extending the Cowboys lead to 9-3 with 8:52 left in the third quarter.  The drive was 12 plays, 52 yards and consumed 6:08.

     After another touchback of Aubrey’s kickoff,  Marcus Mariota came in at quarterback in relief of Daniels at the Commanders 30.

     Mariota brought life to the struggling Washington offense, moving the team the 70 yards into the end zone in 8 plays over 3:45.  The drive ended with Mariota hitting former Philadelphia Eagle Zach Ertz on a 4-yard TD pass with 5:07 left in the quarter.  Gonzalez added the PAT and the Commanders took their first lead of the day, 10-9.

     After a touchback the Pokes began their next drive at their 30.  Lance led the offense on another lengthy drive.  The possession ended when Aubrey blasted a 22-yard field goal with 13:53 left in the game after the Dallas drive stalled at the Washington 4.  The kick put the home team back in front 12-10. The drive was 15 plays, 66 yards and took 6:14.

     Aubrey’s ensuing kickoff resulted in a touchback and Mariota brought his teammates back on the field hoping to get another score and take the lead back.

     They did just that when Mariota ran into the end zone from the Dallas 5 with 11:18 left in the game. They went for 2 on the conversion.  A pass into the end zone was incomplete, but the visitors took a 16-12 lead.  The drive was 8 plays, 76 yards, and took 2:30.

     Lance and the offense began at their 30 after yet another touchback.  The offense moved down the field and pass interference in the end zone set up the Cowboys with a 1st and goal at the 1.  One the third play after the penalty Rico Dowdle ran into the end zone from the 2 with 7:02 left in the game.  Aubrey added the extra point and Dallas recaptured the lead 19-16.  The drive was 8 plays, 70 yards and took 4:16.

     The next possession for Washington began after another touchback.  The Cowboys forced a three-and-out and Way’s punt from his 14 resulted in Turpin fair catching the ball at the Dallas 44.

     The offense struggled and Anger punted the ball back to the visitors with 3:18 left in the game.  The ball was fair caught in the 9 and Mariota brought his unit back out in hopes of either tying the game and forcing overtime or winning the game in regulation.

     Mariota led a rush down the field and his team had a 1st and 10 from the Dallas 15 with 25 seconds left in regulation.  They ended up with a 1st and 5 with 6 seconds left and elected to run another play.  It paid off, as Mariota hit Terry McLaurin with 3 seconds left in the game.  The extra point by Gonzalez was good and the Commanders led 23-19.

     Turpin returned the ensuing kickoff out to just across the 20 and the game ended, giving Washington a 23-19 win and moving them to 11-6 on the year while the loss left Dallas at 7-10 on the dismal season. 

     It was a somber Coach Mike McCarthy who faced the media after the loss.  He was asked numerous questions about his thoughts on remaining with Dallas next season and indicated he would like to continue to be the Cowboys coach but said he had not had any conversations with team owner Jerry Jones as to where things were but he knew they would talk in the next few days about things.

     The Mirror asked the coach his thoughts on the play of Trey Lance in the game and he indicated he was very pleased with Lance’s performance.

     “Yeah, I thought Trey played well today. You know, I think just like anything, you try to give them some opportunities. They did a good job right away, I think Clarence leaked it that he was playing, because they really came after our edges. So, we stayed away from some things that we were hoping to get, but then got to in the second half. But I liked his patience. But I think anytime you go from one quarterback to another, you saw it when Cooper Rush played his first game against Philadelphia here, the cadence, we had some false starts you know some pre snap penalties that we just weren’t clean. And it’s a shame because we put together a lot of long drives. As we know, we kicked field goals and they scored touchdowns and when you’re down there that’s really what it came down to. I thought Trey did a lot of really good things. I think he clearly showed the progress he’s made since the last preseason game. I was very proud of Trey today.”

    We also asked him even though the 7-10 record was not what he had in mind when the season began if he looked back and thought about what could have been without the numerous major injuries the team suffered during the season.

 

     “I’m still stuck on 7-10. It just knocked me over. This doesn’t sound right. No, what happens, regardless of the record, you know, the evaluation process starts tomorrow. We’ll go back through everything, and we’ll create the potential plan moving forward. But, yeah, it’s not where we expected to be. Clearly, this is not the press conference I expected to have today.”

 

     It will be a long off season for the team, but we will know in just a few days what the future will hold for McCarthy.  Reportedly, the New Orleans Saints have their eyes on him for their open head coach position and the word is that there will be other teams interested in him as well.

 

     When Jones was asked his thoughts about other teams wanting to talk to McCarthy he said he welcomed that and that he wanted people in Dallas who wanted to be in Dallas, so who knows what message he was trying send.  It will all definitely work itself out in the next week or less, so stay tuned to see what the future holds.  As for the Cowboys, it is just like every previous year for over 25 years, it is another wait till next year, sadly.