As if things weren’t bad enough for the Washington Commanders after a 25-24 loss at home to the Chicago Bears, it’s Dallas week.
Washington (3-3) heads to the Lone Star State with both teams desperate for a win.
Dallas (2-3-1) is coming off an equally bad loss to Carolina. Losing to the Panthers was bad enough, but giving up 183 yards rushing to former Cowboys running back Rico Dowdle was enough to drive Jerry Jones crazy.
Keys to Victory:
Protect the Ball
Washington had three turnovers against the Bears, and it ranks up there with why they lost. A bad decision by Jayden Daniels led to an interception, robbing the Commanders of points.
When Daniels and the Commanders had a chance to salt the game away, Daniels mishandled a snap, which led to a fumble. The fumble that allowed the Bears to drive for the winning score.
Daniels has only shown flashes of what he showed last season, so turning the ball over isn’t an option.
Ground Game:
The ground game is important on both ends. The Dallas defense allowed Dowdle to have a career day, and the Commanders decided to let Bears’ running back DeAndre Swift have a season-high 108 yards rushing.
The Commanders need to keep finding ways for the running backs to handle the bulk of the rushing burden. The Bears did a great job on the Commanders’ RPO actions when Daniels went to keep the ball. It’s something that Dallas will duplicate.
On the other side of the ball, Washington’s rush defense was awful against the Bears. Swift averaged over seven yards per carry.
The Panthers held Cowboys’ running back Javonte Williams to 29 yards last week, but the week before against the New York Jets, he went for 135 yards.
Contain Dak
Unlike Daniels, Dak Prescott is having a Pro Bowl-type season. Prescott hasn’t thrown an interception in the last three games while throwing for 10 touchdown passes in that span. He’s had multiple touchdown passes in four out of the previous five games.
Prescott seems to be thriving with George Pickens being the primary receiver. CeeDee Lamb’s injury took out the pressure of trying to please both Pickens and Lamb.
