Cowboys win, bring it home
Open in Dallas as NFC East champs
LANDOV ER, Md. —Dak Prescott and the Cowboys did what they set out to do Sunday against the rival Commanders — unlike a year ago — by earning the NFC East title and the No. 2 seed in the conference with a 3810 victory to close the regular season.
Prescott threw two of his four touchdown passes to CeeDee Lamb and finished 31 for 36 for 279 yards as Dallas (12-5) assured itself of playing at home to open the postseason. That’s a big deal for a club that went 8-0 at home this season and has won 16 games in a row there.
It’s a third consecutive 12-5 record and postseason trip for Dallas under coach Mike McCarthy.
Last-place Washington (4-13 overall, 0-6 in the NFC East) and expected-to-be-gone Ron Rivera are at the other end of the spectrum after tying a franchise mark for most losses in a season.
With thousands of Cowboys fans in the stands chanting “Defense! De-fense!” when Washington had the ball, and “Let’s go, Cowboys!” when Dallas did, the Commanders’ losing streak reached eight games. That includes going 0-6 since Rivera fired defensive coordinator Jack Del Rio and made himself the play-caller on that side of the ball.
The good news for the Commanders and new owner Josh Harris? Sunday’s result assured Washington of owning the No. 2 overall pick in April’s draft, when they might seek a replacement for quarterback Sam Howell, who was intercepted twice and led the NFL with 21 picks this season. He was sacked four times Sunday to raise his leagueworst total to 65.
In Week 18 a year ago, also in Landover, the Cowboys came in needing a win for a shot at the division title but lost, 26-6, to Washington and Howell, who made his NFL debut that day.
In that loss at Washington, Prescott went just 14 of 37 for 128 yards with a pick-6.
Rivera boasted back then: “We feel like we’re headed in the right direction.” That assessment was way off the mark.
Rivera, who turned 62 on Sunday, is 102-103-2 as an NFL head coach, and 26-40-1 in Washington. He has zero winning seasons in four years with the Commanders.
With nothing to lose — indeed, with something to gain in draft positioning via a loss — Washington offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy twice tried trick plays in the first quarter. On one, tight end Logan Thomas lined up at QB before pitching to Howell, who nearly threw an interception but the ball fell incomplete. On the other, wideout Dyami Brown connected on a 4yard pass caught by Howell.
Dallas was not at its best early. In the second quarter, Commanders defensive lineman Jalen Harris deflected a Prescott pass, allowing rookie defensive back Quan Martin to grab the ball. The Commanders turned that into a field goal by Joey Slye to go up, 10-7, midway through the second quarter.
But soon enough, Prescott and the rest of the Cowboys were back on track, scoring 31 unanswered points.