Week 12 Recap – Dallas Cowboys at Washington Commanders
Yes Dallas Whups Washington Yet Again
November 25, 2024
By Noonefromtampa
First Quarter
Washington won the coin toss and elected to defer to the second half. Dallas opened with a quick toss by Cooper Rush to CeeDee Lamb for 8 yards. Lamb then took a handoff and ran for 11 yards. Tight end Luke Schoonmaker caught a swing pass and ran for 24 yards before being forced out of bounds by Noah Igbinoghene. Jer’Zhan Newton was called for encroachment, which gave Dallas a free 5 yards. Rico Dowdle then ran for 4 yards up the middle. Dallas ran Lamb on the jet sweep, but Dorance Armstrong tackled him for a 4 yard loss. Jalen Tolbert dropped a pass on third down forcing a field goal attempt. Quan Martin beat his man and blocked the attempt, and Mike Davis picked up and returned it 34 yards to the Dallas 40 yard line.
On Washinton’s opening possession, Brian Robinson was tackled for a 2 yard loss on the first Commanders offensive play, and he was also injured when his leg was bent awkwardly backwards. Dallas blitzed on the next play, forcing Jayden Daniels to throw it away. Daniels then ran for 16 yards on an option for the first down. Austin Ekeler ran twice for a total of 3 yards. On third down, Daniels overthrew Zack Ertz. Austin Seibert kicked a 41 yard field goal attempt through the middle of the upright to give Washington a 3-0 lead.
After the kickoff return, Dowdle ran for 3 yards over the left side. He then picked up 4 yards through the middle and ran for 9 yards on third down. Lamb caught a short pass for 7 yards. Dowdle ran for 3 yards and the first down. Lamb caught a deep out for 13 yards. Frankie Luvu knocked down the pass on first down. Jonathan Mingo caught a pass for 8 yards but Dowdle was tackled for a 3-yard loss on third down. Brandon Aubrey‘s 42 yard field goal attempt was wide right.
On Washington’s next drive, Daniels ran for 7 yards around right end and Robinson, who returned from injury, then ran for 7 yards and the first down. Dyami Brown ran for 14 yards on the end around. Robinson ran twice for 8 yards bringing a third and 2. Noah Brown dropped a first down pass and Siebert missed a 51 yard field goal short and to the right.
Bobby Wagner took the ball away from Dowdle on a 6 yard run to give Washington the ball back. Daniels just missed a deep throw to Terry McLaurin. Ertz caught a short 3 yard pass on second down.
Second Quarter
Micah Parson chased Daniels out of the pocket on third down to force an incompletion. Tress Way punted the ball down to the Dallas 6 yard line where it was fair caught by KaVontae Turpin.
Brevyn Spann-Ford had a 6 yard reception on first down. Dowdle ran for 3 yards but was stopped for a loss on third down. However, Washington was called for too many men on the field which gave Dallas a first down. Ezekiel Elliott ran for 5 yards and Turpin caught a pass for 8 yards, plus the first down. On the next three plays, Luvu tipped two pass attempts, both of which fell incomplete, and Dallas lthen ost 12 yard on botched snap to Rush.
Washington was able to pick up a first down on the next series via a 13 yard completion to Noah Brown. The offensive did not do much otherwise and Way punted it away, going out of bounds at Dallas’ 7 yard line.
Rush ran for 3 yards and Dowdle ran for 6 yards. Elliot was stuffed on third down forcing a punt. The punt was partially blocked and only went 23 yards.
After being tackled for no gain, Robinson caught an 11 yard reception. But on the next play, the pass went through Robinson’s hands and was intercepted by Chauncey Golston who returned it 18 yards.
Dallas’ next possession started at midfield. Luvu tackled Dowdle for 3 yard loss on a screen play. Lamb caught two short passes for a total of 5 yards, forcing a punt, which was fair caught by Olamide Zaccheaus at Washington’s 16 yard line.
Ekeler ran for 3 yards and Noah Brown caught an 11 yard reception for a first down. McLaurin had a 6 yard catch with Zaccheaus following up with an 8 yard reception. Washington only picked up 2 more yards after that. Tress Way’s punt was downed at Dallas’ 14 yard line.
Schoonmaker caught a 9 yard pass to start the drive. On a mistake-filled play, Igbinoghene intercepted a pass and fumbled it back to Dallas, but it was all nullified by a defensive pass interference call on Igbinoghene on the play. Rush then hit Jalen Brooks for 41 yards over Benjamin St-Juste, who was called for illegal contact on the play. After declining the penalty, Aubrey hit a 46 yard field goal to tie the game at 3-3.
Ekeler returned the kickoff for 33 yards to end the half.
Third Quarter
Washington started at their own 40 yard line after the second half kickoff landed short. Ekeler ran for 3 yards and McLaurin caught a slant for 6 yards. Ekeler ran for the first down on the next play. Ben Sinnott was called for holding, which put the Commanders in a first and twenty. Ekeler ran for 3 yards and Noah Brown caught a 14 yard pass for a third and three. Daniels ran for 5 yards and the first down. Jeremy McNichols ran for 13 yards and then for three yards. Daniels ran for 4 yards down the Dallas 17 yard line. On third down, Daniels kept the ball on an option play and ran untouched for 17 yards and the touchdown. However, Seibert missed the extra point, hooking it left, and Washington took a 9-3 lead.
On Dallas’ subsequent possession, Dowdle ran twice for 11 yards, then Rush hit Tolbert on a crosser for 16 yards and Spann-Ford for 18 yards. Dowdle ran twice for 8 yards down to the Washington 30 yard line. Igbinoghene was called for pass interference for 24 yards, putting the ball on the three-yard line. Armstrong tackled Rush for a 3 yard loss, but Rush hit Tolbert for the touchdown on the next play. The extra point was good, to give Dallas a 10-9 lead.
Washington went three and out thanks to a 3 yard run and two incompletions by Daniels, including a batted pass attempt. Way punted it 51 yards and Turpin lost two yards on the return, to put Dallas on its own 14 yard line to start their drive.
Dowdle then ran for 7 yards and 1 yard. Lamb caught a pass for a first down, but Tyler Guyton was called for holding to nullify the first down. Rush hit Brooks but Jeremy Chinn arrived like a missile to knock the ball out. After a challenge and review, the ruling of incomplete was upheld. Zaccheaus fair caught the punt at the Washington 45-yard line.
McLaurin caught a short pass for 3 yards to start the drive and Ekeler ran for no gain on second down. A pass to Brown was broken up by Josh Butler.
After a punt by Tress Way, Lamb caught a 10 yard pass to end the quarter.
Fourth Quarter
Elliot fumbled his next carry but recovered it for no gain. Lamb had another 7 yard reception, but Wagner was called for roughing the passer for low contact adding 15 yards to the play. Elliot ran for 1 yard and Rush threw an incomplete pass to make it third and nine. Mike Sainristil broke up the third down throw to force a punt which was downed at the Washington 5 yard line.
On the next drive, Ekeler ran twice for 6 yards and dropped a third down pass on a forced throw by Daniels. Washington’s punt put Dallas at midfield. Dowdle ran for 4 yards and caught a check down pass for 10 yards. Lamb ran for 1 yard and Rush threw a ball into the dirt at the feet of the receiver. Lamb caught a 16 yard pass, but it was negated by a Guyton illegal formation penalty. After a short completion, Aubrey hit a 48 yard field goal to give Dallas a 13-9 lead.
After the touchback, Daniels hit John Bates over the middle for 3 yards, but he fumbled when tackled and Dallas recovered.
Dowdle ran for 9 yards, Lamb caught a ball for 9 yards and Dowdle for another 7 yards. Two plays after a false start on Dallas, Rush hit a wide-open Schoonmaker for a 22 yard touchdown on a blown coverage. The extra point conversion made it 20-9 Dallas lead.
Washington then came out passing with 5:08 left in the game. Daniels hit Noah Brown for completions of 11 yards, 19 yards and 20 yards. Luke McCaffrey caught an 8 yard reception followed by an Ertz catch for 7 yards. McNichols ran for 6 yards down to the Dallas 4 yard line and Ertz caught the 4 yard touchdown. Daniels ran it in for a 2-point conversion to cut Dallas’ lead to 20-17.
Disaster then struck when Turpin mishandled the kickoff but made a strange-looking highlight spin move to free himself from a sure tackle and ran it untouched for a touchdown to increase Dallas’ lead to 27-17.
After the touchback, Ekeler caught and fumbled a pass, which McLaurin recovered for a 1 yard gain. Daniels scrambled 23 yards out over midfield on the next play. Ertz caught a 5 yard pass. Bradon Coleman was called for illegal formation to negate a 24 yard completion to Dyami Brown on the next play. This was the last play before the two-minute warning. After a 13 yard catch by Ertz, Dan Quinn elected to kick a 51 yard field goal, which was good.
Dallas recovered the onside kick and ran over a minute off the clock before punting it away. Zaccheaus fair caught the ball at the 14 yard line. It took one play for McLaurin to catch the ball and run away from the defense to score an 86 yard touchdown. However, Siebert missed the tying point, which kept the score at 27-26.
Washington tried another onside kick, but Juanyeh Thomas returned a one-hopper for a 43 yard touchdown. The extra point was good, to give Dallas a 34-26 lead.
Washington got the ball back with 9 seconds left. Ertz caught a six-yard pass on a short out route to set up a Hail Mary attempt. There was no miracle this time, however, as Dallas intercepted the ball to win the game.
Thoughts
The team seemed emotionally flat most of the game. They continually made mistakes which they avoided during their winning streak. They made mistakes in every phase of the game: offense, defense and special teams.
Kliff Kingsbury called another horrible game, not running enough or attacking the middle of the field throwing the ball. Brian Robinson‘s injury affected the run game, but so did the play calling.
Special teams were equally good and bad. They blocked two kicks, a punt and field goal. They also missed two extra points and a field goal, plus allowed two returns for touchdowns. The bad ending up outweighing the good.
The defense looked a lot like they did earlier in the year, with poor tackling, not getting a push from the defensive line and blown coverages in the secondary.
Jayden Daniels‘ best drive throwing the ball was when they went into the hurry-up offense. He actually seems to throw better when he doesn’t have as much time to think about it.
If the team does not improve their performance down the stretch, they will have blown an excellent shot at making the playoffs in the first year of this rebuild.