The Washington Commanders will enter Week 2 preparation as an underdog again.
Who is next up for the Commanders in Week 2?
The Commanders travel to Texas to play the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday at 4:25 p.m. ET. The Commanders are again the underdog against an NFC East rival. This time they are a 4.5-point underdog.
The Commanders started their 2026 season on the road in Philadelphia, losing 24-22 to the two-time defending NFC East Division winner, the Eagles. The Commanders trailed 24-16 late, but drove 63 yards in 12 plays when Jayden Daniels connected with Antonio Williams with 1:01 remaining to cut the deficit to 24-22. But their two-point conversion attempt failed when tight end John Bates was tackled short of the goal line.
The Cowboys were favored
for their Week 1 road game against NFC Eastern rival New York Giants. However, the Giants’ new head coach John Harbaugh won his first game as a New York head coach. In the Sunday Night contest in New Jersey, the Giants led 21-7 and 28-14 before defeating the Cowboys 28-20.
"We were pretty poor."
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) September 14, 2026
Coach Brian Schottenheimer on the Cowboys' loss 😳 pic.twitter.com/XTkToHHAZv
The Cowboys surrendered 165 rushing yards to the Giants while managing only 69 yards on the ground themselves. Quarterback Dak Prescott passed for 175 yards, including two touchdown passes. Prescott completed 22 of 34 passes. Though Prescott threw for 175 yards, the Giants kept the Cowboys from completing a pass for more than 17 yards.
This speaks well for the Giants' secondary, which controlled and limited CeeDee Lamb to 44 receiving yards and George Pickens to only 28. The Commanders would no doubt take that total for the dynamic receiving duo in the Week 2 contest
The Cowboys were penalized eight times for 85 yards on Sunday against the Giants. Cowboys head coach Brian Schottenheimer was not pleased with this team’s performance. “Overall as a football team, we were pretty poor,” Schottenheimer said. “That’s certainly not our standard. We certainly didn’t come out of the gate fast enough on either side of the ball. This is a humbling business, and we got humbled.”
It’s a huge game for both teams as they look to avoid a 0-2 start, with both losses coming in-division.
This article originally appeared on Commanders Wire: What's ahead for the Commanders in Week 2?
