Week 18 Game Recap – Washington Commanders at Dallas Cowboys

Another Comeback Victory, Commanders Defeat Cowboys 23-19

January 6, 2025

By Noonefromtampa

First Quarter

Dallas won the coin toss and deferred to the second half. After the touchback, Micah Parsons sacked Jayden Daniels on the first play for a four-yard loss. Daniels then connected to Zach Ertz for an 11 yard reception. Dallas blitzed on third down and Parsons sacked Daniels again for a loss of 9 yards. Tress Way boomed a 56 yard punt and Dallas was called for an illegal block on the return putting them at the own eight.

Rico Dowdle picked up 9 yards on two rushes to put the Cowboys in third and short. A false start back them up 4 yards but Trey Lance hit Jalen Tolbert for 31 yards and then hit KaVontae Turpin for 33 yards. That put the ball on the Washington 23 yard line. Dallas then picked up another 5 yard penalty. Luke Schoonmaker caught a 6 yard pass and Dowdle ran for 6 yards, to put Dallas in a manageable third and three. Daron Payne tipped the pass attempt, and Frankie Luvu could not catch the ball which feel incomplete. Dallas settled for a 34 yard field goal from Brandon Aubrey to take a 3-0 lead.

After a touchback on the kickoff, Brian Robinson ran for 3 yards on first down and on second down Dyami Brown took a bubble screen for 7 yards. Daniels ran for 7 yards up the middle for the first down. John Bates was called for holding on the next play, putting Washington in first and twenty. The drive was over at that point, as the Commanders gained one net yard on the next three plays.

After Tress Way’s punt backed Dallas up on their own 10, Dallas then committed another false start. Dowdle picked up 5 yards and after an incompletion Turpin caught a 7 yard pass short of the first down marker. Bryan Anger punted it 55 yards and Jamison Crowder was tackled for no gain on the return at the Washington 28.

After Terry McLaurin dropped a pass, Daniels ran for 5 yards on a busted play where Austin Ekeler went the wrong direction. Daniels just missed McLaurin on third down forcing another Way punt.

Starting at their own 19, Lance ran for two yards and hit Tolbert for 7 yards. Hunter Luepke then ran for 10 yards on third and short. Dorance Armstrong tackled Brandon Cooks for a 5 yard loss on an end around. Turpin ran for 5 yards to end the quarter.

Second Quarter

On third and ten, Lance threw the ball too high and Cooks could not make the catch inbounds. On the punt, Luke McCaffrey got pushed into Crowder, who muffed the punt as a result.  C.J. Goodwin recovered for Dalals at the Washington 22.  Dowdle ran for 3 yards on first down but on the next play Jeremy Chinn sacked Lance for a loss of 8 yards. Dowdle ran for 3 yards, and Dallas was willing to settle for the field goal. The 41 yard field goal was good, but Payne was called for a personal foul which was assessed on the kickoff.

Aubrey kicked the ball out of bounds which put the ball on Washington’s 25. Brown gained 11 yards on the first play, but Washington gained nothing after that and punted it away again. Turpin fair caught the ball at the Dallas 25.

On the Cowboys’ next possession, Cooks had an 8 yard reception and Dowdle ran for 3 yards and the first down. Dallas picked up another false start putting them in first and fifteen. Mike McCarthy called a timeout before Dallas picked up a delay of game penalty on the next play. Dowdle was tackled for a three yard loss by Bobby Wagner. Lance overthrew Turpin and then threw it out of bounds deep while scrambling out of the pocket. Crowder returned the punt 23 yards to the Washington 37 yard line.

Ertz caught a 6 yard pass and Ekeler ran for 5 yards and the first down. After two incompletions, Daniels ran for 16 yards and a first down. Washington ran a trick play with Brown throwing deep to Olamide Zaccheaus, who was wide open but couldn’t catch the ball after he stumbled. Brown gained 8 yards on an end around but was tackled for a loss on a screen play. Zane Gonzalez converted a 47 yard field goal to cut the lead to 6-3.

After a touchback on the subsequent kickoff, Cooks caught a 3 yard screen pass. Dowdle ran for 7 yards and the first down. Lance then hit Jonathan Mingo for 14 yards and Ryan Flournoy for 4 yards to take the clock down to the two-minute warning. Mike Sainristil broke up a deep pass to Tolbert and Lance ran for 5 yards put Dallas in fourth and short. Luepke ran for 5 yards and the first down. Dowdle caught a swing pass and ran for 12 yards down to the Washington 20-yard line. Luvu tackled Dowdle for no gain on short pass. Lance ran a quarterback draw for 9 yards up the middle.  Dowdle ran for 2 yards and the first down. Lance threw an incomplete pass to the corner of the end zone for Cooks. Dowdle ran for 7 yards down to the Washington 2 yard line.  Sainristil knocked the ball out of Cooks hands in the end zone. Lance short hopped a ball to a wide open Dowdle in the endzone on a scramble to force a turnover on downs.

Washington took a knee to end the half.

Third Quarter

After a touchback on the kickoff to open the second half, Lance completed a 10 yard pass to Mingo. Dowdle ran for 7 yards on two plays and Lance hit Cooks for 4 yards and the first down. Lance then hit a wide-open Tolbert who picked up 28 yards. Deuce Vaughn ran for 3 yards and after an incompletion, Lance ran 8 yards for the first down. Dowdle was tackled for a 3 yard loss by Luvu but ran for 4 yards on the next play. Jonathan Allen, back in second game since returning from injured reserve, sacked Lance for a 9 yard loss forcing another Dallas field goal. Aubrey nailed the 36 yarder giving Dallas a 9-3 lead.

Marcus Mariota replaced Daniels at quarterback to start the second half. Ekeler caught the first pass and gained 6 yards. Robinson ran for 1 yard on second down. Ekeler caught a quick hitter and ran for 14 yards. Mariota ran for 10 yards on the next play around left end. Robinson lost a yard on a run up the middle but picked up 6 yards on a swing pass. Mariota threw a dime to Zaccheaus who made the tough catch for a 30 yard gain down to the Dallas 4 yard line. Ertz caught a short pass for the touchdown on the next play and Gonzalez converted the extra point to give Washington a 10-9 lead in the game.

After the touchback, Schoonmaker caught a 10 yard pass to start the drive. Dallas was called for holding on a Lance run which backed then up 10 yards. Sainristil put a big hit on Tolbert to force an incompletion on the next play. Schoonmaker caught a 19 yard pass for the first down. Vaughn ran for 9 yards off the right side and picked up another 8 yards on the next play. Vaughn ran for 4 yards and Chinn tackled Jake Ferguson for a 7 yard loss. Turpin picked up 13 yards on a screen and the first down. Dowdle ran for 5 yards to end the quarter.

Fourth Quarter

Vaughn ran for 12 yards down to the Washington 5 yard line and Luvu was injured on the play. Vaughn ran for 1 yard. Lance hit Ferguson at the back of the end zone but was ruled out of bounds. Dallas challenged the ruling on the field and after review, the call was was upheld. Cooks caught a pass but was also out of bounds and Dallas kicked a field goal to take a 12-10 lead.

After a touchback on the kickoff, Mariota hit Zaccheaus for a 22 yard gain but Brandon Coleman was hurt on the play. Malik Hooker broke up a pass deep to Bates. Mariota scrambled for 7 yards and hit McLaurin for 8 yards and a first down. Ekeler ran for 7 yards and McLaurin threw for 10 yards to McLaurin and another first down. At the Dallas 16, Mariota found an open Ertz for 11 yards and Mariota ran it in on the next play. The two-point conversion failed, giving the Commanders a 16-12 lead.

Dallas started with an incompletion after the touchback on the kickoff.  Dowdle ran for 5 yards on second down. On third down, Benjamin St-Juste was called for defensive holding giving Dallas a first down. Lance had all day to throw and found Tolbert for 32 yards. Flournoy picked up 10 yards on a short pass. Dallas then was called for another false start. Dowdle ran for 2 yards up the middle. St-Juste was called for a questionable pass interference call in the end zone to put the ball at the 1 yard line. Washington’s defense stopped Dallas twice before Dowdle scored. Before the point after attempt, Dallas was called for another false start. Aubrey converted the extra point, making it a 19-16 game.

Washington with three and out with two sacks that lost 25 yards. Way punted it to the Dallas 44 yard line with no return.

Wagner stopped Dowdle for a 1 yard loss but ran for 10 yards on the next play. Luvu stopped Lance for no gain to force a punt.

Washington started at their own nine and picked up 6 yards by a Robinson run on first down. Dallas was called for a facemask on a sack on second down. After an incompletion on a deep throw to McLaurin, McLaurin caught a six yard pass. The two-minute warning came before Washington got off another play. McLaurin caught another pass for 6 yards and the first down. After a false start, Ekeler ran for no gain. McLaurin caught a 13 yard pass and Mariota scrambled for 1 yard just short of the first down. Mariota kept the ball and ran for 33 yards on a run option play down to Dallas’ 16 yard line. Mariota hit Ertz for 11 yards down to the Dallas 5 and then spiked the ball to kill the clock at six seconds. McLaurin caught the touchdown over the defensive back and the extra point was good, giving Washington a 23-19 lead.

Dallas ran the kick out of the end zone and out of bounds to end the game.

Thoughts

Jayden Daniels looked out of sync today and had probably his worst performance of the year.

This game had the most incomplete deep passes for Washington all season, the majority of them being drops by the receivers. Not every ball was a great throw, but many were catchable balls.

Marcus Mariota was fantastic in relief of Daniels completing the game winning comeback.

The Washington defense will need a talent overhaul this offseason. They need better pass rushing and better cornerbacks.

The best thing the defense did today was to force Dallas into four field goals. This would have been a rout otherwise.