This is not exactly what the NFL and Netflix had in mind when they thought they would be getting big-name quarterbacks Jayden Daniels vs. Dak Prescott and a high-stakes matchup of NFC East rivals Washington Commanders and Dallas Cowboys in the Christmas Day spotlight.
As things stand now, it is hard to imagine many folks eagerly anticipating a meeting Thursday between bad teams that will miss the playoffs — and with Daniels, who has been shut down
for the season after a series of injuries limited him to just seven appearances, doing no more than appearing on the sideline in street clothes.
“When you do circle those matchups, that’s exactly what you’re thinking: This is going to be cool. How it’s all laid out — division games right here at the end between two games of Philadelphia with a Dallas game in between,” said Washington coach Dan Quinn, whose team dropped to 4-11 by losing to the Eagles last Saturday and will close against that same club in Week 18.
“Playing these division games, they still mean a lot. They mean a lot to the players, the coaches and the fans,” Quinn said, perhaps trying to persuade himself and his locker room as much as anyone. “And so that part is still good, but not to the level that you wanted it to be.”
Or anyone would, really.
As Quinn put it: “You never want a season like this.”
The Cowboys haven't been as terrible as the Commanders, who have dropped nine of their past 10 games and were eliminated weeks ago. But a 6-8-1 record under first-year coach Brian Schottenheimer after trading elite pass rusher Micah Parsons to Green Bay means Dallas is out of the postseason for the second year in a row.
Owner Jerry Jones called that outcome “disappointing.”
“We all underachieved, really,” Jones said.
The Cowboys have a 4,000-yard passer, a 1,000-yard rusher and two 1,000-yard receivers in the same season for the second time in franchise history. The other was in 2019, when Dallas also missed the playoffs.
Prescott just secured his fourth 4,000-yard season, which ties Tony Romo’s club record. Javonte Williams has the first 1,000-yard season of his five-year career in his Dallas debut after an injury-plagued stint in Denver. CeeDee Lamb and George Pickens have been a dynamic pairing all season. Pickens has a shot at 1,500 yards receiving in his first 1,000-yard season following the trade that brought him from Pittsburgh. Lamb will fall short of his All-Pro total of 1,749 yards two years ago, but has been mostly productive despite a sprained ankle that essentially cost him four games.
Six years ago, Dallas finished 8-8 despite great stats for Prescott (career-high 4,902 yards passing), Ezekiel Elliott (1,357 yards rushing) and Amari Cooper and Michael Gallup (each over 1,100 yards receiving).
The Cowboys moved left guard Tyler Smith to left tackle last week with backup Nate Thomas struggling as the fill-in for the injured Tyler Guyton. Schottenheimer said Smith would protect Prescott’s blind side the rest of the season.
Smith played left tackle as a rookie in 2022, when perennial Pro Bowler Tyron Smith was injured in training camp and missed most of the season. The Cowboys thought Tyler Smith could be more impactful at guard, but his talent might force a permanent move to the most important spot on the line.
“I’m gonna do what’s best for the team,” Tyler Smith said. “I’m a smart player. I understand who I am, where I am and, ultimately, what I’m getting paid to do.”
Both of these teams have been among the worst at stopping opponents all season, and the men who started 2025 as defensive coordinators — Matt Eberflus for Dallas, and Joe Whitt Jr. for Washington — could be looking for new jobs soon. Eberflus moved from the sideline up to the coaches' box last weekend, with no signs of that making a difference. Whitt shifted the opposite way, from the box to the sideline, in Week 10, then was stripped of play-calling duties by Quinn, who took over that responsibility in Week 11.
___
AP Pro Football Writer Schuyler Dixon in Frisco, Texas, contributed to this report.
___
AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/NFL
