It had the feel of a big game – a sunny fall Sunday afternoon with a good crowd at Northwest Stadium for Commanders and Cowboys, a legendary, if somewhat frayed, rivalry.
After all, one of these teams — America’s Team — appeared to be a punching bag, while the Commanders, even in the midst of a two-game skid, were seen as an up-and-coming contender.
But the punching bag punched back. Dallas — a 10.5 point underdog going into the game — defeated a wobbly Commanders squad 34-26, handing Washington its third straight loss.
The stars came out for this one. Shawn Corey Carter — otherwise known as Jay-Z, was there. Remember when his name was linked with Amazon boss and Washington Post owner Jeff Bezos as prospective buyers for this franchise?
He might have been thinking, “We would have paid $6 billion for this?
Three-time Super Bowl-winning coach Joe Gibbs was there, one day before his 84th birthday. He might have been thinking, “I’ve had better birthdays.”
Former Washington quarterback Robert Griffin III was there — the team’s “Legend of the Game” — because he may be running out of people to look at him. He may have also wondered, “Where’s my sailing buddy Dan Snyder?”
Cooper Rush was there -– Dak Prescott’s stand-in at quarterback. The Cowboys backup carved up the Commanders defense, completing 24 0f 32 passes for 247 yards and two touchdowns.
Jayden Daniels was there — the hot Commanders rookie quarterback who had set the NFL on fire in his first nine starts. He cooled off in his last two outings in losses to Pittsburgh and Philadelphia, but, hey, those were two of the best defenses in the league, and maybe he was hurt, depending on which Washington coach you believe, with sore ribs. Plus, he said he was cold.
On Sunday against Dallas, the temperature was above 50 degrees, so I doubt he was wearing any undergarment to keep him warm, as he claimed last week. And Daniels ran the ball seven times for 74 yards, so how sore could his ribs have been?
So perhaps his backwards slide — 25 for 38 for 274 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions (almost double the amount he had thrown for the season) — is because he is a rookie quarterback adapting to life on an NFL field?
You know, that’s what everyone signed up for this year. It wasn’t the greatest rookie quarterback the league had ever seen. The expectation was that he would be a young quarterback with promise and growing pains, not an MVP candidate.
That’s what you got Sunday.
Damned if he didn’t almost pull off another miracle like his Hail Mary finish against the Chicago Bears four weeks ago, hitting Terry McLaurin for an 86-yard scoring pass with just 33 seconds left in the game, leaving the Commanders down 27-26 with a chance to tie the game.
But Austin Seibert missed the extra point, and then, the final piece of the bizarre ending when Juanyeh Thomas returned the Washington onside kick 43 yards for a touchdown with 21 seconds left.
There were 19 combined points scored in the first three quarters – then 41 points in the fourth quarter.
But at no time were the Commanders’ expectations and standards on display, during the snooze fest or the fireworks. They were a team with 10 days rest playing a 3-7 Cowboys team missing several of its top defensive players and coming off a 34-10 beating by the Houston Texans Monday night.
Dallas came into this game depressed and decimated.
It was a get-right game for Washington, yet it went all wrong. Washington had zero punts earlier this season in a 38-33 win over the Cincinnati Bengals. Tress Way punted six times Sunday.
But again, this is what everyone signed up for – not 7-2 and an NFC championship contender. This was a low-cost team patched together by general manager Adam Peters in the first year of a rebuild, with a coaching staff brought together for the first time. It was supposed to be a season of learning, small steps in the right direction.
“I reminded them it’s not enough to learn the lessons, but we have to apply them,” Commanders coach Dan Quinn said.
Washington is 7-5 and the postseason is still in play. The 3-8 Tennessee Titans come to Northwest Stadium next week, but they will be coming off a 32-27 upset Sunday of the Texans.
Anything remains possible – even striking the extra out of ordinary for Jayden Daniels for a spell.
• You can hear Thom Loverro on The Kevin Sheehan Show podcast.
• Thom Loverro can be reached at tloverro@washingtontimes.com.
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