The Cowboys won the toss and went a bit bold by choosing to receive. I suppose when your offense is the best in the NFL and your defense is, um, not the best in the NFL… that decision makes sense.
Dak Prescott
and his friends picked up where they have left off just about every game this season. CeeDee Lamb was the recipient of his first pass and it was great to see him back in action.
A handful of plays in Dak went deep to George Pickens and while the pass fell incomplete there was pass interference called against Washington. The Commanders called a timeout to try and get situated, but it did no good at all as Javonte Williams punched it in for the touchdown on the first play after the penalty!
SCORE: COWBOYS 7, COMMANDERS 0 (Javonte Williams rushing touchdown)
You will never believe what happened next. The Cowboys defense forced an immediate stop.
Washington failed to move the sticks on their first three downs and were set to go for it on fourth and short. Amazingly, still a matter of disbelief, the AT&T Stadium crowd forced them to jump and they punted it away. They did get a great bounce and downed Dallas basically in the endzone, but still. It was impressive.
It turned out that downing of the punt was significant. Dallas could not get out of the endzone on their first play, a handoff to Javonte Williams, and he was tackled for a loss that was a safety.
SCORE: COWBOYS 7, COMMANDERS 2 (Washington safety)
Washington went to work quickly after getting the ball back and in the blink of an eye found themselves in the redzone.
One blink later and they had scored. Jayden Daniels found a wide open Zach Ertz despite the fact that the Cowboys only rushed three.
SCORE: COWBOYS 7, COMMANDERS 8 (Jayden Daniels to Zach Ertz touchdown)
The Commanders went for two to make it a 10-7 game, but DaRon Bland stopped Daniels in the open field which was impressive to see.
Once back on offense Dak Prescott hit George Pickens for a huge gain to get things started and soon enough Dallas was facing a fourth and short inside of Washington’s 30. Prescott went to the line of scrimmage and tried to draw Washington offsides, but the Cowboys called a timeout and sent Brandon Aubrey out for a field goal. His 47-yard attempt was good.
SCORE: COWBOYS 10, COMMANDERS 8 (Brandon Aubrey 47-yard field goal)
The next possession was a quick one as it lasted only three plays. Recent events may lead you to believe the Commanders scored that quickly, but it was the Cowboys defense pitching yet another three-and-out. Two in three defensive possessions is pretty impressive.
Things happened even more quickly on the next possession. It was one play and traveled 74 yards. Dak Prescott and CeeDee Lamb did what they do.
SCORE: COWBOYS 17, COMMANDERS 8 (Dak Prescott to CeeDee Lamb touchdown)
As noted… the first quarter was pretty wild! This touchdown served as a great example of that.
Washington was clearly in a point of stress and showed it through their play. They were unable to find anything on offense and punted for the third time in the quarter. Yes, this all happened in the first quarter.
Dallas took over on offense once more and the period finally came to an end.
