The Commanders had what looked like a choice match-up at home against Cooper Rush and the three-win Cowboys on Sunday—a gift of the schedule that could have been a get-right game after two straight tough losses to very good opponents. But rather than reassert themselves as the upstart team that impressed so much in the early part of the season, Washington spent a long time doing nothing much at all. As the Dallas pressure injured running back Brian Robinson and contained QB Jayden Daniels, inhibiting his ability to either look downfield or scramble, the score was a meager 3-3 at halftime, and with 11 minutes to go in the fourth, fans had just witnessed five straight punts while the Cowboys held a 10-9 lead. That's when the game suddenly turned into chaos.
With a Dallas field goal off some good field position, a Washington fumble, and a Rush pass to a completely uncovered Luke Schoonmaker in the end zone, the 'boys seemingly took control. Under pressure to score, the 'mmanders found their tempo and took bite after bite out of the field until they were rewarded with eight points. On the ensuing kickoff, KaVontae Turpin muffed the catch, picked the ball up, and used a vicious spin move to open a lane that stretched the remaining length of the field. Washington hurried a field goal to cut it to it 27-20 with under two minutes to play, the Cowboys took the clock down to 40 seconds with a three-and-out, and so the Commanders had about half a minute and 86 yards to go for a miracle.
This was where Dallas finally looked like the losers they've been. On the very first play of Washington's desperation drive, Daniels stood in the pocket on a three-man rush and found an opening in the zone where he could fit a delivery to Terry McLaurin. The Commanders receiver was surrounded by a quadrangle of Cowboys, but McLaurin accelerated beyond three of them while Noah Brown blocked the fourth. McLaurin ran all the way for six as the crowd exploded, Joe Davis shouted on the mic, and head coach Dan Quinn held up one finger to indicate that the team would try an extra point for the tie.
An extra point was even more critical because Austin Seibert had knocked a PAT wide left earlier in the half. Seibert had been otherwise flawless this year on 47 overall attempts within 50 yards. But this wasn't his day. In a moment that recalled the River City Relay 21 years ago, when the Saints squandered their chance at a playoff berth by missing an extra point after an absurd multi-lateral TD, Seibert saw his holder recover from a low snap and then fired a kick that sailed, again, wide and to the left. To put a bow on it all, the Cowboys would return the onside kick attempt for a touchdown and win 34-26.
The mood in the Washington locker room afterward sounded pretty devastated, with more than just Seibert shouldering the blame for the loss. Not only did tight end John Bates have to answer for the fumble that set up the Schoonmaker score, but special teamer Jeremy Reaves also took himself to task for getting burned by Turpin on the kick-six.
"I’ve made that play 100 times, and I didn’t make it today and it cost us the game," he said.
The good news for the Commanders is that they still have a playoff slot in hand, even if they now feel pretty distant from the Eagles in the division. Basically, they have to outplay the second-place team from the NFC West (currently the Cardinals). With their upcoming schedule featuring the Titans, a bye, and then the Saints, they'll have a chance to get comfortable again.
This Dallas loss was the first time all year the Commanders failed to get the job done in a game they were supposed to win. All told, that's a pretty nice step forward for a team that won just four games last year. The healthiest thing to do, in theory, is put this miserable indignity aside and move the heck on to Tennessee. But in reality: Good luck forgetting it. With expectations come regrets.
