FRISCO, Texas 鈥 After a 30-27 loss to the Carolina Panthers on the road last Sunday, the 草莓视频下载入口 are facing one of the most important three-week stretches of the season. It begins with a divisional matchup against the Washington Commanders on Sunday at AT&T Stadium, the first time the Cowboys have played at home since late September.
It's a divisional game that features a lot of familiarity, with both head coaches Brian Schottenheimer and Dan Quinn having coached together in Dallas, as well as some players on opposite sides being former teammates for the Cowboys. Last year's two matchups between these teams provided closes finishes, can it happen again?
If this once again is a game between the Cowboys and Commanders that comes down to the final possession or so, here are three things Dallas needs to do to move to 2-1 in the NFC East:
Cowboys need to be the more physical team at the line of scrimmage
In Carolina last week, anybody on the Cowboys team or coaching staff would admit that they weren't' the more physical team. Brian Schottenheimer has already said it a couple times this week, and the numbers reflect it.
Dallas' run game, which had otherwise been strong the first five games of the season, went for just 31 yards on 19 carries (1.6 yards per carry) and the longest rush of the night went for six yards. On the other side, the Cowboys' defense gave up 216 yards on the ground to Carolina, 183 of those to former Dallas RB Rico Dowdle, and an average of 5.7 yards per carry.
That will never get the job done and get you in the win column if you play that poorly at the point of attack. The Cowboys averaged their fewest yards before contact per rush this year (-0.5) last week, and even though Javonte Williams is 4th in the NFL in rushing yards after contact with 390, getting hit that early doesn't allow him to capitalize on that, as he was tackled for no gain or a loss on four carries last week.
Things won't get much easier this week on either side of the ball. There's veterans aplenty for Washington on the offensive line with players like Laremy Tunsil and the potential re-insertion of Sam Cosmi to the lineup, and defensively Daron Payne, Javon Kinlaw and Von Miller present a challenge up front. Not to mention the veteran Bobby Wagner at the second level to help against the run.
Still, the Cowboys have an opportunity to get back to being the more physical team in this game. They'll likely get rookie first-round pick Tyler Booker back at right guard, who was a massive component to success in the run game through the first three weeks of the season. Washington is allowing 121.7 rushing yards per game this season, and 235.2 through the air.
Dallas' defensive will have their hands full too, as Washington brings a rushing offense that's tied for the second-most yards per game on the ground this year with 151 per game on the ground. That's thanks to rookie sensation Bill Croskey-Merritt, as well as dynamic second year quarterback Jayden Daniels. Should the Cowboys be able to hold up in the trenches, they could have a shot in this game.
Don't let Jayden Daniels get loose out of the pocket
Where that final point can get tricky for the Cowboys' defense is when the pocket collapses on Jayden Daniels. Usually, if your defense is able to make that happen on an opposing quarterback, it's a great thing! Not against Daniels, because he has an innate ability to find a way out of trouble, turn up field and pick up big yards with his legs.
Despite missing two games this season, Daniels is fifth in the NFL in rushing yards amongst quarterbacks with 176 yards on 36 carries but has not gotten into the end zone yet this season.
Against the Cowboys last year, Daniels ran 11 times for 101 yards and a touchdown. This year, with a pass rush that has struggled to get home on quarterbacks, Dallas will at the very least need to be wise with how they handle their pass rushing lanes to give themselves the best chance to keep Daniels contained and now allow him to break the game by getting into the open field.
Against two more mobile quarterbacks this year in Jalen Hurts and Justin Fields, the Cowboys defense has had a mixed back of results. In Week 1, Hurts' 62 yards and two touchdowns on 14 carries proved to be gut punches to the defense and ultimately a big reason why Philadelphia came away with a victory.
In Fields' case, Dallas' defense played their best game of the season overall, and had a lot of success against Fields. He was held to seven carries for 26 yards, and was sacked five times.
If the Cowboys defense can find just about anything close to a middle ground between those two performances, it'll likely bode well for them in this game. Right now, they haven't played well enough to inspire any confidence that they can completely take Daniels' legs out of the game. So if they can at least limit the damage, it could be the help they need.
Time to find your best nickel beaters, Brian Schottenheimer
One thing is for certain this coming Sunday: The Commanders are going to play a lot of nickel coverage (extra defensive back) against the Cowboys.
On first and second down, Dan Quinn and Joe Whitt's unit roll nickel coverage out 84.9% of the time, the second-highest usage rate in the league. Overall, Washington is in nickel 78.4% of the time, the fourth-highest usage rate in the NFL. And why not? They have one of the better young nickel corners in the league in Mike Sainristil, who was excellent for Washington in his rookie season last year and has both of the Commanders' two interceptions this season.
So, Brian Schottenheimer is going to have to probably add a few more plays to the "nickel beaters" section of his giant play call sheet Sunday. The good news is the Cowboys see a good bit of nickel coverage in practice against their own defense as well.
In 2025 against nickel, Dak Prescott has the fourth-most passing yards in the NFL with 985 on 100/142 passing to go with seven touchdowns and three interceptions. One of those touchdowns came last week against the Panthers, as Prescott hit George Pickens on a crossing route after a Carolina linebacker crashed down on Jake Ferguson's route, leaving a window open for Pickens who caught the pass and ran away from everybody for his sixth touchdown of the year.
Recent history has shown that the Cowboys offense needs to score a lot of points if they want to have a chance to win these games, and they'll need to do so again this week, especially against nickel coverage. The good news is that also could be an opportunity to get the run game going, as an extra defensive back may open up a bit of space in the box for Javonte Williams to have to face one less defender.
