The Takeaways, Week 7: Washington at Dallas
October 22, 2025
by Steve Thomas
Well, that didn’t go well, did it? All the signs of a big loss were there – the entire starting receiver group was out due to injury, they were playing one of the best offenses in the game, and quarterback Jayden Daniels simply hasn’t been himself this season. Still, though, I can’t say I was ready for the near-total domination that we got from the Dallas Cowboys. This loss was different – Washington looked totally outclassed in nearly every phase of the game. It doesn’t bode well for the rest of the season unless the team manages to (1) get some receivers back from injury, and more importantly, (2) start playing like the NFC Championship team that they became in 2024. Frankly, right now, that sort of turnaround seems unlikely. The Takeaways for week 7 are below.
Something’s wrong with Jayden Daniels
I think it’s time to admit that Daniels simply isn’t the same guy as he was in his 2024 rookie year. In my view, this game against the Cowboys was probably his worst game of his career, at least without me digging through the stats (this is The Takeaways, after all). Time and time again, Daniels badly missed throws he should’ve made and was late in others. Throw in the fact that he didn’t have much of an impact on the ground, either, and it was a recipe for a terrible game, at least by his standards. His stats weren’t awful – when he went out in the third quarter with his injury, he was 12 for 22 for 156 yards, 1 touchdown, and 2 sacks, for a quarterback rating of 92.2. In normal circumstances that would be a slightly above-average quarterback rating, this is a guy who won the Offensive Rookie of the Year award and is expected to be the team’s next big star. That simply isn’t good enough. I don’t think the issue is just the fact that the team is down to having to start a bunch of practice squad receivers, either, although that obviously doesn’t help. Daniels was a playmaker who rarely missed passes last year. That isn’t who he is this year.
The running game stinks after all
Washington’s overall rushing totals don’t look that bad – as a team, they had 28 carries for 136 yards, which is 4.9 yards per carry. Breaking that down, though, the team’s three running backs, Jacory Corskey-Merritt, Jeremy McNichols, and Chris Rodriguez collectively had 18 carries for 67 yards, which is just 3.7 yards per carry, and that number was boosted by McNichols’ big 19 yard carry. Croskey-Merritt has now had two subpar games since his big breakout game against the Chargers in week 5. The simple fact is that with the team missing all three of its starting receivers in this game, they needed to be able to capitalize on its league-leading rushing game, and they totally failed in that regard in every possible way. If the running game doesn’t get back on track, we’re all in for a few rough games.
Failures on the defensive front 7
With a few exceptions, the defensive front 7 lost the battle against Dallas’ offensive line. They failed to pressure Dak Prescott and allowed Javonte Williams to rush for 116 yards. Daron Payne had a couple of positive moments, but other than that, in my view, the defensive line totally failed in this game. Everyone knew going into this contest that Dallas had one of the most prolific offensives in the league, and given that, the defensive front 4 needed to have a huge game. Washington needed them to control the line of scrimmage, seal off the rushing lanes, and pressure the quarterback. Very little of any of those thing happened in this game. Boo.
Penalties are killing this team
Washington once again had a double-digit number of penalties in a game. I grant you that some of them were a bit ticky-tacky, perhaps, but still: this is an undisciplined football team, and you’re never going win on a consistent basis like that. Going into this game, Washington was roughly in the middle of the pack in terms of total number of penalties called, but this game will likely move them up in the rankings (watch for Noone’s Hold On column later this week). These sorts of penalties, particularly the pass interference in the secondary, show a lack of discipline and skill by the starters.
Marshon Lattimore stinks
Exactly how many penalties and missed coverages does this guy intend to get? The Marshon Lattimore experiment is a bust, period. He had two more penalties in this game, and was already leading the team in that regard. More importantly, it appeared as though Dallas – like other teams – specifically targeted him at times. I don’t necessarily blame him for every reception against him in this game, because Dak Prescott made some outstanding throws, but the fact of that matter is that Lattimore costs $18M but is Washington’s third best corner this year. He’s going to have to play the rest of the season, but the team needs to move on from him in the offseason.
BONUS: Luke McCaffrey is a quality return man
I wanted to finish on a positive note, in order to not be completely negative. McCaffery had 8 kickoff returns for 209 yards, for an average of 26.1 yards per return. The guy has had similar performances for several games this year. Don’t look now, but I this Washington may have finally found it’s permanent return man for years to come.
That’s it for The Takeaways for this week. I’ll be back after Washington loses to the Chiefs faces off against the Chiefs on Monday Night Football next week.