Commanders routed by Cowboys on Thanksgiving and changes could be coming

ARLINGTON, Texas — Dak Prescott ate a turkey leg on the sideline early Thursday evening as the Washington Commanders stood in silence with six minutes left of a blowout loss to their archrival.

Happy Thanksgiving, Washington.

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In a game that the Commanders sorely needed to at least keep competitive, they were instead embarrassed, 45-10, to the Dallas Cowboys at AT&T Stadium to put everyone’s job at stake over the next 24 hours.

The defense was a bumbling mess, giving up 431 yards and five touchdowns.

The offense had its moments but failed to execute in the clutch, going 0-for-3 on fourth downs and allowing four sacks of quarterback Sam Howell.

The result was a third consecutive loss that left Coach Ron Rivera’s team at 4-8. It also removed the question of wholesale changes will be made, replacing it with how soon?

The defensive troubles started early for Washington and continued throughout, save for a brief spell in the third quarter.

The Cowboys committed back-to-back penalties on their second drive, setting them back to second and 25. But they still converted. Prescott followed with an 18-yard completion to receiver Jalen Tolbert, then Tony Pollard broke a 14-yard run.

Dallas capped its 90-yard drive with a 15-yard touchdown from Rico Dowdle, who took a short pass and was given a wide open lane to the end zone after Zack Martin laid a heavy block on linebacker Khaleke Hudson.

Dallas Coach Mike McCarthy’s game plan clearly intended to pick on Washington’s young defensive backs, who have shown to be game-changers — often for worse. They have length and speed, but have allowed numerous explosive plays in coverage and have had costly penalties. Cornerback Benjamin St-Juste, who was targeted early and often Thursday, picked up his sixth penalty for illegal contact in the first quarter.

That was enough for McCarthy to keep sending the ball his way.

Midway through the second quarter, with St-Juste in press coverage against Brandin Cooks, Prescott went deep and found Cooks wide open. The receiver ran a double-move on St-Juste in coverage, sprinting hard inside, then quickly cutting outside to gain separation before heading back inside. Both St-Juste and safety Percy Butler, who appeared to be St-Juste’s help over the top, trailed as Cooks waltzed into the end zone.

Howell, who was coming off a three-interception outing against the Giants last week, orchestrated an efficient response to lead the Commanders 75 yards to a score. Washington collected seven first downs along the way (two courtesy of Cowboys penalties), with passes to tight end Logan Thomas and receivers Terry McLaurin, Jahan Dotson and Curtis Samuel, who landed a yard shy of the end zone.

No problem. Howell marched it in to narrow Dallas’s lead to 14-10.

But Washington’s defense let it slip away.

Prescott, who entered the game with the fourth-highest passer rating in the league, answered with chunk plays for Brooks (24 yards) and Tolbert (31 yards) before handing it off to Pollard for a seven-yard touchdown.

The Commanders’ offense held its own in the first half, converting four of seven third-down attempts, scoring in its lone trip to the red zone and totaling 205 net yards on 38 plays.

But their defense allowed an average of 10.5 yards per play to the Cowboys in the opening two quarters and allowed the hosts to convert two of their three third-down attempts.

Although Washington’s defense settled down for a bit in the third quarter, the offense lost its way. The Commanders made it to Dallas’s 39-yard line, where Howell took a deep shot to McLaurin on a third and one. Cornerback Stephon Gilmore deftly punched it away, setting up a fourth down that went awry.

Washington had to go for it — and did — but the execution was disastrous. Running back Brian Robinson Jr. took the handoff, then collided with Dotson, who motioned across the line after the snap, in the backfield. On the left side, defensive tackle Osa Odighizuwa turned Commanders tackle Charles Leno into a turnstile, spinning him around to get to Robinson and for a loss of two yards.

Offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy lit up with rage, tossing his tablet and call sheet in frustration on the sideline.

Such emotion was shared by defensive coordinator Jack Del Rio soon after, when the defense let off the gas again late in the third quarter to allow another explosive play to the Cowboys, which led to more points. On a third and 11, Prescott went deep again for Cooks, finding him for a 25-yard completion. Butler was lined up as the Commanders’ deep safety, but he stumbled as he dropped down in coverage toward Cook, making him late as the ball landed in Cooks’s arms.

Cowboys kicker Brandon Aubrey capped the drive with a 52-yard field goal to expand their lead to 23-10 early in the fourth quarter.

It was still a game at that point. But the bottom fell out immediately after.

Howell was sacked twice on the Commanders’ next drive, and CeeDee Lamb scored three plays later and tacked on a two-point conversion. Four minutes after that, Prescott found KaVontae Turpin for a 34-yard touchdown pass to make it 38-10.

'The icing: Cornerback DaRon Bland picked off Howell with about five minutes remaining and ran it back 63 yards for a touchdown to put Washington on the wrong side of history. It was Bland’s fifth pick-six of the season, the most ever in a single season.

Commanders owner Josh Harris has said his first year would be mostly for observing and analyzing. His $6.05 billion purchase of the team was completed just before the start of training camp, and he said he wanted to give the current coaching staff a full season to make his own evaluations. The season has five games remaining, but this result could not have helped Rivera’s case to stay.

Afterward, Rivera repeated what he said last week, that he’s not concerned about the future and his job security in Washington. Asked if he planned to make any staff changes, he declined to say much.

“I’m not going to get into that stuff,” he said.

Washington’s locker room afterward was silent. Players absorbed their reality and the possibility of what could come.

“It was tough,” Rivera said of his conversation with the team postgame. “Solemn.”