4 Takeaways From the Cowboys’ Win Over the Commanders

Don’t look now, but the Cowboys might be contenders in the NFC.

Dallas’ offense, led by quarterback Dak Prescott, was fantastic in Sunday’s 44-22 win over the Commanders. Wide receiver CeeDee Lamb returned from injury and had a 74-yard touchdown, while Prescott threw two more TDs to tight end Jake Ferguson.

Here are my takeaways:

1. The Cowboys look like a dangerous team

Going into Sunday’s game against Washington, you knew that Dallas had the No. 1 offense in the NFL by total yards, but you also knew they had the league’s worst yardage defense. So, which extreme would take the spotlight?

Washington was certainly shorthanded on offense, but there’s no denying the firepower the Cowboys showed with Prescott ble to throw to both Lamb and Ferguson. It looked like Prescott could be this year’s Joe Burrow, a prolific passer who would have a case for MVP if it wasn’t for his terrible defense.

What if Dallas’ defense can improve and look like the unit that stifled Washington on Sunday, though? What if DaRon Bland starts getting a pick-six every few weeks like he did in 2023 – five of them! – instead of the zero picks he’d gotten in 2024 and 2025 until Sunday? What if all the big names in Dallas’ defensive front can play like they did in their prime? 

Honestly, as an aside, you wonder how good the Cowboys would be if they just had Micah Parsons as part of this defense.

Dallas hasn’t beaten any amazing teams with its other two wins this season, coming against the Giants and Jets. The Cowboys will get a huge chance to validate themselves next month when they host both of last season’s Super Bowl teams in a five-day span: Eagles on a Saturday, Chiefs on Thanksgiving. That will go a long way to making it clear if Dallas is a potential playoff team – or if they can make a run in January.

2. Prescott should be in the MVP conversation

Dallas has to win consistently for him to stay as a top contender, but Prescott is on an incredible heater. He has four straight games with at least three touchdown passes and zero interceptions in those four games. He’s never done that at any point in his NFL career.

Dak Prescott was 21-of-30 for 264 yards and three touchdowns against the Commanders, and he didn’t turn the ball over. (Cooper Neill/Getty Images)

Through seven games, he has 16 touchdowns, which matches his best at this point in any season, and he’s on course to throw for 39, which would reset his career high of 37 from back in 2021. Pickens and Jake Ferguson have six touchdown catches each – no Cowboys player had more than seven in all of last season.

3. Could the Commanders miss the playoffs?

Washington is 3-4 after Sunday’s loss and goes to Kansas City this week, which you can pencil in as a loss, regardless of whether Daniels is healthy. 

So, presumably at 3-5, their next two are at home against the Seahawks and Lions. However those shake out, Washington’s final three games of the season are Eagles-Cowboys-Eagles. 

Injuries have been a factor in the Commanders’ lackluster start, but those are going to continue. Also, the Giants are definitely better than expected. 

What kind of odds could you have gotten in August picking Washington to finish last in the NFC East? If things don’t improve in a hurry for Dan Quinn’s team, it’s very possible.

Daron Bland picks off pass and returns it for a TD, extending Cowboys’ lead over Commanders | NFL Highlights

Daron Bland picked off the pass and returned it for a TD, extending the Dallas Cowboys’ lead over the Washington Commanders.

The press box at AT&T Stadium sits in one end zone, and Aubrey’s 61-yard field goal in the first half – again, that’s kicking from the opposite side of the field, on the far side of the star at midfield – might as well have been from 70 yards. 

It’s his fifth career field goal of 60+ yards – that’s the most of any kicker in NFL history, passing fellow Cowboy Brett Maher. It only took 41 career games – not even three seasons – for Aubrey to do that. 

Take the new touchback rules and his leg, and the Cowboys can start many drives within 15 yards of field-goal range. It’s an absolute weapon – kickers have never been better from long distances, but nobody more so than Aubrey.

4 1/2. What’s next?

Seeing the Cowboys as a more viable playoff team, seeing the Commanders as a more questionable one, then seeing the Giants lose but look very competitive on the road against a playoff team in Denver, the NFC East is more up for grabs than most probably expected.

It’s still very much the Eagles’ division to lose as the defending Super Bowl champs, but the rest of the division is not only trying to get into the playoffs. Chipping into the Eagles’ win totals as they fight for seeding in the NFC. 

All those backloaded division games in the final three weeks of the season will have a lot on the line for everyone involved.

Greg Auman is an NFL Reporter for FOX Sports. He previously spent a decade covering the Buccaneers for the Tampa Bay Times and The Athletic. You can follow him on Twitter at @gregauman.

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