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By Jon Machota
Jan 8, 2023
LANDOVER, Md. — The Cowboys will enter the playoffs coming off their worst game of the season. In a stunningly poor performance, Dallas’ offense went three-and-out 11 times.
The Cowboys were dominated Sunday 26-6 in a game where quarterback Dak Prescott played three and a half quarters and the Washington Commanders (8-8-1) started Sam Howell, a rookie QB making his NFL debut.
“We get to suck on that all week,” Cowboys owner Jerry Jones said while standing in the visiting locker room Sunday night at FedEx Field. “If that doesn’t make you want to get ready to go in about 6-7 days, nothing else will. That was as thorough of a butt-kicking as we’ve had this year. We’re going to find out if that will get you ready or not.”
Finishing 12-5 for the second consecutive season, Dallas is the No. 5 seed in the NFC playoffs and will travel to Tampa Bay to face Tom Brady and the fourth-seed Buccaneers on Monday, Jan. 16 at 8:15 p.m. ET.
“I’m so disappointed for our fans, but not half as disappointed as I would be if I were sitting here this time next week,” Jones said. “We’ve got something to go for and we’ll empty this bucket this week.
“There’s no doubt in my mind that as a team that we can come back and take this nightmare, or whatever you want to call it, and turn it into a plus.”
The nightmare began with punter Bryan Anger fumbling a punt at Dallas’ 19-yard line on the game’s opening series. Two plays later, Howell found WR Terry McLaurin for a 16-yard touchdown. Dallas punted on its next two possessions, but Washington was giving the visitors every opportunity to get back into the game, missing a field goal and then throwing an interception.
The Cowboys responded with Prescott throwing his league-leading 15th interception of the season, extending his streak to seven consecutive games with at least one pick. Washington CB Kendall Fuller also returned it for a touchdown, making it three pick-sixes in the past four games for the Cowboys QB.
Prescott finished with his worst game of the season, completing only 14 of 37 passes for 128 yards, one touchdown and one interception with a 45.8 passer rating, the third-worst of his career.
“I mean, it stinks,” Prescott said of throwing 15 interceptions in 12 games. “It’s a fine line, and I’ve got to get better at it. Simple as that. This won’t continue.”
Prescott’s play was far from the only issue Sunday. The Cowboys continued to struggle running the ball. Tony Pollard and Malik Davis tied for the team lead in rushing yards with only 19 each. Ezekiel Elliott ran eight times for 10 yards.
“We were struggling with movement,” Elliott said. “Just line movement. Something we kind of struggled with all year, but it has been worse for the past couple of weeks.”
They now face a Buccaneers team that held them to only 71 rushing yards in a 19-3 season-opening loss at AT&T Stadium.
The special teams unit was also poor. Along with the fumbled Anger punt, Brett Maher missed an extra point and KaVontae Turpin muffed a punt that was recovered by the Commanders.
“It’s disappointing,” Cowboys coach Mike McCarthy said. “No question, I get it. The timing of it is definitely not what you’re looking for. I clearly recognize that. But I take it like a lot of things in life, when you get kicked in the ass or punched in the mouth, you have a chance to respond. I have great confidence in our football team that we will respond.”
Defensively, there are still significant questions about their No. 2 cornerback spot. Trayvon Mullen was given his first opportunity Sunday. Nahshon Wright and DaRon Bland are still the most likely options. However, Bland exited the game with a chest injury and did not return. The Cowboys also signed veteran CB Xavier Rhodes on Saturday.
Going against Brady, the seven-time Super Bowl champion and widely regarded as the NFL’s greatest player, it’s not an ideal time to have questions at cornerback.
Dallas sacked Howell three times, hitting him four times. Once each by Dorance Armstrong, Micah Parsons, Osa Odighizuwa and Sam Williams. The Cowboys will have no chance against Brady without a productive pass rush.
“I don’t think they’re a great team on the road on grass,” former Cowboys coach Jason Garrett said on NBC’s Football Night in America pregame show. “I feel like their defense, their front, that is so dominant at home on that turf, fast surface. I feel like they slow down (away from home). It will be interesting to see how they play next week at Tampa. I still think they’re a better team. It will be a good challenge.”
The Cowboys entered Sunday with hopes of earning the No. 1 overall spot in the NFC playoffs. They needed to win and have losses by the Philadelphia Eagles and San Francisco 49ers. All three teams played at the same time. The Eagles won by six and the 49ers by 25. But Dallas’ poor showing meant there was no need for scoreboard-watching.
The positives the Cowboys take into their playoff preparation are that they have not lost consecutive games all season and are expected to get back injured players LB Leighton Vander Esch, C Tyler Biadasz and DT Johnathan Hankins.
The negatives are pretty obvious coming out of Sunday’s loss. They have an offensive issue with turnovers, they are struggling to run the ball and they allowed an opponent to rush for more than 150 yards for the sixth time this season.
“Everybody should look at themselves in the mirror,” Parsons said. “And say, ‘What do we really want? What are we really doing this for?’ If people are doing this for stats or Pro Bowls, whatever that is, might as well just hang it up now. I’m playing this for the long run. I’m not going to be young forever. I already realized that with what my body is going through. I want to win while I got this chance, this opportunity. … These types of performances just can’t happen.”
