DALLAS — The Dallas Cowboys had something to play for in Week 18, but you would never have known it from their abysmal performance in the 26-6 loss to the downtrodden Washington Commanders. Mike McCarthy’s team embarrassed themselves by playing their worst game of the year with a possible shot at the NFC’s No. 1 seed in the regular season finale.
That reward was a longshot for the Cowboys to accomplish with the Philadelphia Eagles and San Francisco 49ers both ahead of them in the pecking order for the top seed, but there was more on the line than just postseason jockeying. There’s pride in beating your rivals to send them into a miserable offseason, but more importantly, the Cowboys could’ve headed into the playoffs on a high note.
Instead, the seed of doubt crept in after such a poor showing on Sunday. The Cowboys cannot feel good about heading into next week’s playoff matchup after being handed such a humiliating loss in Washington D.C. What could have been a tuneup turned into a sputtering engine once everyone got a look under the hood.
The fact is, no matter what the Cowboys were convincing themselves that they were playing for or not, the Commanders hadn’t won a game since November, were losers of three straight, and were turning to a rookie for his first career start with injuries forcing backups at other key positions throughout the lineup.
The Cowboys were 12-4, looking to feast on the Washington inexperience, and win their 13th game in an improbable year that began by losing their quarterback for five weeks. Instead of the cakewalk it appeared to be on paper, Dallas was sleepwalking through the finale.
In the Week 18 matchup, it was hard to tell who the playoff team was; the Cowboys made too many mistakes to come close to contesting Washington, while the Commanders played inspired football. Despite playing their starters for almost the entire game, it was difficult to figure out what the Cowboys were trying to accomplish.
The warning signs of a struggle came early and often. In the first two possessions for the Cowboys, they showed that they weren’t ready to play for the top spot in the NFC. Punter Bryan Anger dropped a perfectly good snap, and then couldn’t recover to get the punt off or run for the first down giving the Commanders possession deep in Dallas territory. That mistake cost the Cowboys seven points.
Rookie Pro Bowl punt returner KaVontae Turpin made the next error when he fumbled a punt, which gave the Commanders excellent field position again. Luckily Washington couldn’t cash in, but it felt like it wasn’t the Cowboys’ day.
Just two series later, quarterback Dak Prescott made a horrific throw that defined his putrid performance when he was intercepted by Commanders cornerback Kendall Fuller, who had an open lane for a touchdown. Prescott had his worst game of the year, and one of the worst of his career, throwing for a season-low 128 yards with a completion percentage of just 37.8%.
The Cowboys did make things interesting near the end of the first half with their only scoring drive, but managed to miss the extra point, completing the special teams nightmare trifecta.
The Cowboys wouldn’t score again and allowed first time NFL starter Sam Howell to easily beat them. Despite having something to play for, the Cowboys had a confusing outlook for the game.
On offense, the game plan seemed to call for a conservative approach with too many runs on first and second down, despite the run not being effective. The Cowboys had been one of the league’s best third down teams once Prescott came back, but they only converted on four of their 18 third down attempts. Early down runs that were unsuccessful led to long third down conversion attempts that Prescott couldn’t bail the team out of.
There wasn’t any play action in the game plan, pre-snap motion was scarce and third down tries were often left to Prescott throwing a deep ball up for grabs.
For a team that needed to fight for the NFC East title and a better postseason seed, the Cowboys looked disinterested despite opting to play their starters. Even when it was evident that the Cowboys weren’t going to win the game or improve their playoff position, McCarthy continued to leave his starters in the game to add more mileage ahead of a grueling road playoff slate.
What purpose did it serve?
Ultimately it was a dysfunctional, head-scratching loss by the Cowboys. If they wanted to win to improve their seed – and playing the starters for the full game indicates that they did – or to feel good about their level of performance heading into the postseason, why not play aggressive?
If Dallas wasn’t going to put their best foot forward, especially on offense, why risk the health of many of their best players? Prescott, running backs Tony Pollard and Ezekiel Elliott, as well as wide receiver CeeDee Lamb played most of the game on offense. The Cowboys also had their best defenders on the field in the fourth quarter.
Even with their starters in, the Cowboys were struggling and losing to the Commanders well before the outcome was decided. The game looked like a tale of two different teams, one who had something to play for, yet decided not to play it with their foot on the gas, and another who had nothing to play for, but competed with energy.
The Cowboys now head to Tampa Bay to take on Tom Brady and the Buccaneers as the NFC’s 5th seed and as a team left with a bad taste in their mouth after an embarrassing performance in Week 18. They’ll need to put it behind them quickly as their playoff journey begins next Monday night.
Do you think the Cowboys will bounce back from the season finale showing in time for Brady and the Bucs in the Wild Card round? Share your thoughts with Ben on Twitter @BenGrimaldi.
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