The Dallas Cowboys return to sunny AT&T Stadium on Sunday to play their divisional rival, the Washington Commanders. Both the Cowboys and Commanders are coming off their third loss of the season after
losing to a game-winning field goal last week as time expired. This game is big for both teams as they look to stay in the playoff race and within striking distance of the NFC East-leading Philadelphia Eagles. Here are five things to keep an eye on in this key divisional matchup between the Cowboys and Commanders.
1. Grounding the Commanders?
Stopping the run will be the focus of most games going forward, and it certainly won’t change against the offense that averages 5.5 yards per rushing attempt, the highest in the league. After giving up 216 yards to the Carolina Panthers last week, the attention will again turn to keeping Washington from running all over the defense.
Rookie Jacory Croskey-Merritt is now the Commanders’ lead back after injuries to Austin Ekeler (Achilles) and Chris Rodriguez (calf) have taken them out of the mix. He is averaging 5.7 yards per carry, which is the third-highest efficiency for running backs who have at least 25 carries. Only Bijan Robinson and the recently resurgent Rico Dowdle have a higher average. Croskey-Merritt is a north-and-south runner who doesn’t waste movement dancing around. If the Cowboys’ defense isn’t able to clog the lanes, it could turn into a grindfest with the result being a big day for the rookie back.
2. CeeDee’s return
The Cowboys’ offense will get a nice boost this week with the return of their star wide receiver, CeeDee Lamb. The team’s biggest offensive weapon started the year well with two straight 100-yard performances before he injured his ankle in Week 3. In his absence, George Pickens has picked up the slack, averaging over 100 yards receiving over the last four games, and has scored five touchdowns in the process.
The Cowboys will get their dynamic duo back for the first time in a month, and the last time these two played a complete game together, the offense put up 478 yards of offense, their highest output of the season. It will be a nice feeling to have Lamb back in the mix and give Dak Prescott more weapons to work with, especially with how vulnerable the defense has been this season. Every little bit helps.
3. Get Javonte back on track
It was a beatdown in the trenches last week as Carolina asserted their dominance on both sides of the ball. Not only did the defense roll out the red carpet for the Panthers’ running game, but the offense couldn’t do anything with their own rushing attack. Dallas only had 31 yards on the ground. Running back Javonte Williams was an absolute non-factor.
Before last week, Williams was averaging 98 yards over the previous four games. Getting the running attack back on track will be important for the offense. The good news is that the offensive line is gradually getting healthier. After being without four starters just a couple of weeks ago, the team saw the return of Tyler Smith and Tyler Guyton last week, and they could get a third Tyler back this week with the rookie Booker returning to practice. With stronger reinforcements, the team will have a better chance against a Washington interior defensive line that features DaRon Payne and Javon Kinlaw. The Commanders are middle of the road against the run this year, allowing an average of 4.2 yards per carry.
4. 19 could be the difference maker
With the return of Lamb and KaVontae Turpin adding to the threat of Pickens, the Cowboys’ passing game should pose a danger to the Commanders’ secondary. But the fun doesn’t stop there. Over the last few games, second-year receiver Ryan Flournoy has shown he can be a viable target as well. He even put together an impressive 100-yard game against the Jets a couple of weeks ago. With all the attention on the bigger names, don’t completely forget about Flournoy. He could still be a thing.
On the other side of the ball, the Commanders don’t have a lot of receiving weapons with veteran Terry McLaurin missing time with a quadriceps injury. This will put all the attention on Deebo Samuel Jr., who can be a dangerous player in space. While the Cowboys’ defense should be attentive to Samuels whereabouts (if he plays because of injury), they have some under-the-radar guys who could sneak into the space of the Cowboys’ porous pass defense. Youngsters like Luke McCaffrey and Jaylin Lane are receivers capable of being forgotten about, but pay close attention to veteran Chris Moore, who came up with a touchdown last week against the Bears. Whether it’s Flournoy or Moore, don’t be surprised if one of these no. 19’s come up with a difference-making play on Sunday.
5. A big play on special teams
Whenever these two teams square off, weird things happen on special teams. From kick returns taken to the house, to mishaps on field goals/PATs. In fact, both of those things happened in Week 12 of last year when Turpin did his infamous video game spin move and scurried 99 yards for a touchdown. Then, on the ensuing drive, it looked like the Commanders were going to tie the game when a coverage breakdown resulted in an 86-yard touchdown reception from Terry McLaurin, but a shanked extra point prevented that from happening.
The Commanders blocked a field goal last week, and you might remember them blocking a field goal a couple of years ago that ended Brandon Aubrey’s perfect season. Don’t be surprised if we see some special teams hijinks on Sunday, and it’s worth noting that the Cowboys should also get back their return specialist, Turpin, back after missing the last two games with a foot injury.
