ARLINGTON, Texas — It's an NFL rivalry that feels as old as Father Time himself. The battles between the Washington Commanders and the ²ÝÝ®ÊÓƵÏÂÔØÈë¿Ú include several classic clashes, including just recently when the two traded haymakers in the nation's capital in 2024, the heavyweight bout ending, more or less, when KaVontae Turpin turned into a human video game.
And with Turpin returning for the first matchup of the season against the Commanders, alongside rookie first-round pick Tyler Booker and fellow All-Pro CeeDee Lamb, the offensive side of the equation was stacked for the Cowboys.
The biggest challenge would be in trying to shut down Jayden Daniels, even without Terry McLaurin on the field, with Trevon Diggs unexpectedly ruled out with a concussion only two days prior. In the end, that challenge was met, and then some, by a defensive unit that had a lot to prove, and Dak Prescott did the rest with an offensive onslaught that keeps him firmly in the MVP conversation.
A statement win was needed. A statement win was delivered.
And below are those who couldn't and wouldn't be denied against the Commanders to move the Cowboys to second in the NFC East as they try to track down the Eagles.
[Note: This list is unranked.]
Matt Eberflus, DC
Your eyes do not deceive you. This is the first time a coach has made my list, and this isn't because there were none deserving. I could've easily named Klayton Adams here, or Conor Riley, several times but, contextually speaking, the defensive turnaround witnessed in Week 7 over games past was nothing short of jaw-dropping and deserves the highest of praise — the praise deserving to be as loud as the justifiable criticism was.
Now, it's about doing it next week, and the week after, so forth and so on. But against the Commanders, Eberflus coordinated a thing of beauty that included PLENTY of man and press man coverage, to great success, pivoting from his comfort zone in a big way.
Defense, Everybody
Half of the equation for defensive success was the change in scheme, and the other was the execution by players following the change. Was it a perfect outing? Nope. Was it arguably the best, up there with what the Cowboys did to the Jets in New York? Yep. There was DaRon Bland with multiple critical tackles to not only stop at two-point conversion early in the game, but also to halt third-down conversion attempts in open space, later grabbing the sixth pick-six of his career to push Dallas to another 40 burger.
There was the pressure by Osa Odighizuwa and Kenny Clark to force Marcus Mariota into throwing the eventual pick-six in the first place. There was the play on a previous sequence that saw rookie linebacker Shemar James blitz Jayden Daniels and force a fumble that was recovered by Jadeveon Clowney. There were timely run stops and pressures by Donovan Ezeiruaku and others, and the list goes on from there. Standing ovation, in my opinion.
Dak Prescott, QB
How do you spell Dak? Simple: M-V-P.
Prescott was on fire from the moment the Cowboys took the ball and marched downfield for a touchdown on the first offensive drive of the game. There were some sequences the Cowboys' offense would like a mulligan for, like the safety allowed on the one-yard line, but they were so razor sharp that without mistakes like that, they might've dropped sixty points on the Commanders — George Pickens and CeeDee Lamb alone combining for 182 receiving yards and a touchdown before halftime. Thanks to Prescott's ability to dissect defenses and drop dots all over the field, the Cowboys' offense could only be stopped by their own hand.
CeeDee Lamb + George Pickens, WR
The Terror Twinsâ„¢ were back at it again in Week 7. Lamb returned from a three-game hiatus due to a high ankle sprain and any talk of potential rust looked laughable in hindsight. All the All-Pro receiver did was join with Pickens in torturing the Commanders' secondary, be it the 76-yard touchdown to make it a 17-8 affair or his several chain-moving plays. Pickens didn't take a backseat and continued his career-best heater, delivered big play after big play and openly scoffed at the glowing ball in the sky that tried, and failed, to join the Commanders in trying to stop him.
Javonte Williams, RB
Williams was running like the rent was due on Sunday, and there's no other way to describe the brutality of his runs, but also the quickness of his feet to deliver juke moves that probably changed the degree of the Earth's axis a bit. It was one hell of a bounceback game for the young bell cow who gained only 29 total yards one week prior against the Panthers, looking more on Sunday like the Williams who racked up 135 rushing yards two weeks ago. Averaging nearly seven yards per carry as the game neared its conclusion, yeah, it's safe to say Williams simply had a bad day at the office in Week 6, and nothing more.
Brandon Aubrey, K
When you casually boot a 61-yard field goal that would've been good from somewhere in feudal Japan, and I mean that both as a measurement of distance and in how it had enough power behind it to travel in time, you're going to make my list — not in the Chris Jericho way, though. Add in the fact said kick also set the NFL record for Aubrey, well, it only gets more deserving with that. With that boot, Aubrey now has the most made field goals from 60 yards or further (6) and, by the way, he's only in his third NFL season, in case you might've forgotten.
KaVontae Turpin, WR
Much like Lamb, it was not a quiet return for Turpin. The Tasmanian Devil of a returner began the game with a 30-yard kick return that set the stage for Dak Prescott and the offense to march down the field the rest of the way for a touchdown. Turpin also impacted the game on offense, a critical catch or two making sure the Commanders remembered what he's capable of, not that they could ever forget the events of 2024 at FedEx Field.
Jake Ferguson, TE
It's often the little things that lend to the big things, so when Ferguson saved a drive from being killed by penalties with a 15-yard conversion on third down, please note that it led to Aubrey's historic 61-yard kick. The Pro Bowl tight end was not done there, though. He also racked up another two touchdowns to surpass his 2023 season, when he produced five touchdowns, the most for him at the time. Ferguson sits at six touchdowns through the first seven games of 2025, ending his TD drought with a bang.
