DALLAS — The Dallas Cowboys outlasted Washington 27-20 in Week 14 at FedEx Field. Two weeks later, they are set for a rematch.
Of course, in the week between matchups, COVID-19 forced Washington to play the Philadelphia Eagles at Lincoln Financial Field on a Tuesday night after the original Sunday date was postponed. Now, five days later, Washington will have to play the Cowboys on Sunday Night Football at AT&T Stadium.
Feel sorry for a Washington roster that has been so inundated with absences to where they were starting Garrett Gilbert at quarterback in a consequential NFC East matchup to keep their playoff hopes alive, and fell 27-17 to Philly to nearly hand Dallas the division. But don't feel sorry that the franchise is coming off short rest to play the Cowboys.
After all, Dallas has been here themselves.
In 2020, the Cowboys were scheduled to play the Baltimore Ravens in Week 13 on Thursday Night Football, as part of the quaint Thursday-Thursday part of the schedule that Dallas gets from playing on Thanksgiving Day.
A COVID outbreak with the Ravens postponed their Thanksgiving night tilt with the Pittsburgh Steelers until Wednesday, Dec. 2. Then, the NFL rescheduled Baltimore's "Thursday night" game with the Cowboys to Tuesday, Dec. 8.
After getting blasted 34-17 by the Ravens to fall to 3-9, the Cowboys got back from Baltimore in the wee hours of the morning on Wednesday, Dec. 9. The Cowboys' next game was a 1:00 p.m. Eastern Time kickoff on the road against the Cincinnati Bengals on Sunday, Dec. 13.
In other words, they had the exact same turnaround as Washington, except Dallas had a few less hours shaved off.
On Dec. 11 of that year, the Friday before the game, Dallas coach Mike McCarthy acknowledged how unprecedented the situation was, but compared it to a Thanksgiving game.
"No one has experience coming off a Tuesday night into Sunday," said McCarthy at the time. "It’s a little like going into the Thanksgiving game if you look at the days. You have one extra day, but you’re coming off a night game when we get back at 3:00, 3:30. So, I would say it’s similar to the preparation going into the Thanksgiving Day game."
What McCarthy noted about the short week was it was actually harmful to younger players as it cheats them out of their reps. The veteran players are ready to go.
Said McCarthy: "Really, the veteran players you don’t concern yourself with a whole lot because at some point in their past experience they have something they can draw from and can really focus on the mental and the emotional."
The Cowboys pulled off a win in Cincinnati 30-7 on little rest — not bad for a team that had to wade through questions the entire short week about whether or not they had packed it in for the COVID-plagued season.
Dallas may empathize with their division rivals this year, but their own experience with bouncing back from a similar situation a year ago means they won’t be cutting Washington any slack.
Are you expecting a dominant performance from the Cowboys on Sunday night? Share your thoughts with Mark on Twitter @therealmarklane.
