Game Recap Week 17 – Dallas Cowboys at Washington Commanders

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December 26, 2025

By Noonefromtampa

Commanders Fall Short on Christmas Day

First Half

Washington won coin toss and deferred until the second half. On the first Dallas drive, the Washington defense allowed the drive to continue through defensive pass interference, a fourth down conversion plus big plays of 21 yards rushing by Malik Davis, and 19 yard catch by George Pickens. The 13 play, 78 yard scoring drive was capped by a 6 yard touchdown catch by Jake Ferguson who tipped the ball to himself. The extra point was good, giving Dallas a 7-0 lead.

After a two yard run by Jacory Croskey-Merritt, Josh Johnson hit three straight completions. The first was 11 yards to Treylon Burks, then 16 yards to Terry McLaurin and finally a 41 yard screen to Deebo Samuel to the Dallas six. Unfortunately, after two short runs by Croskey-Merritt, Johnson was then sacked for an 8 yard loss by Jadeveon Clowney. Jake Moody converted a 29 yard field goal to cut the lead to 7-3.

Even when the defense gets a good play like the sack of Dak Prescott by Johnny Newton, they either commit a penalty or give a big run or pass play. On second and 18, Davis ran for 16 yards. After stopping them on third down, they gave a 19 yard completion to Pickens. Javontae Williams scored after another penalty in the end zone by Jeremy Reaves, making the lead 14-3.

Washington had a 33 yard drive behind a 27 vyard pass to Samuel but ended in a punt downed at the Dallas three yard line. That didn’t bother Dallas, who scored 5 plays later  on an 86 yard bomb to KaVontae Turpin over Quan Martin and Mike Sainristil. The lead went to 21-3.

A mistake on the kickoff started Washington on their own forty and Samuel ran for 29 yards on an end around play. After two penalties against Dallas, Croskey-Merritt scored on a tough inside run of 10 yards. The lead was cut to 21-10. Tyler Biadasz was injured during the drive when his leg was rolled up on.

Dallas was able to drive 55 yards to allow Brandon Aubrey to kick a 42 yard field goal before halftime.

In a fitting end to the half, Washington committed a penalty, forcing a 10 second runoff to run out clock.

Second Half

Washington started the second half with a four and out, with Terry McLaurin picking up 12 yards on the first catch of the half.

Aided by an offensive pass interference penalty and another sack by Newton, Washington’s defense was able to finally stop the Dallas offense. The Dallas punt and subsequent block in the back penalty put Washington at their own 28 yard line.

It took one play to change the complexion of the game. Croskey-Merritt took a hand over through a hole between guard and tackle, then was off to the races, going 72 yards for a touchdown. This cut the lead to 24-17.

Dallas was able to add a 52 yard field goal after their next drive was stopped by a Von Miller sack because of a personal foul on Frankie Luvu, who hit Prescott after he was already down. This pushed the Dallas lead to 27-17.

Washington responded with a drive that also led to a field goal after being unable to score a touchdown in the red zone. Key plays included a 16 yard catch by McLaurin and a 15 yard catch by Chris Moore which had a facemask penalty tacked on and a 13 yard run by Croskey-Merritt. The lead was cut to 27-20.

Brevyn Spann-Ford had a 31 yard catch on the next Dallas drive to put the ball in Washington territory. Dallas was unable to move forward from there. Aubrey missed a 58 yard field goal badly wide right.

Washington was unable to convert on the good field position and had to punt the ball away after Brandon Coleman committed a false start on fourth and short.

Dallas was able to move from their own 15 into Washington territory and take over 7 and a half minutes off the clock. The drive featured a lot of runs with passes mixed in. Rookie Ricky Barber, elevated from the practice squad, had his first NFL sack. However, Aubrey hit a 51 yard field goal to extend the lead to 30-20.

With less than four minutes left on the, Washington went into their hurry up offense. Ben Sinnott had catches on 12 and 9 yards on the drive. Dan Quinn elected to end the drive early and take a 51 yard field goal attempt to make it a one score game. Moody converted it and cut the lead to 30-23.

Washington’s defense was unable to rise to the occasion and stop the Dallas offense. The Cowboys ran out the clock.

Thoughts

The run defense was even worse with the injury to Daron Payne. Newton did pick up 3 sacks but was not a great run stopper.

There were still too many coverage issues in the secondary. Quan Martin failed to stay deep on the Turpin bomb.

You can’t give up 400+ yards on defense and hope to win a game. It should not have even been this close.

Josh Johnson played much better than I thought he would (65% completion rate and 92.3 rating), but he did miss open receivers including a wide-open McLaurin in the end zone.

Croskey-Merritt had a great game with a breakaway touchdown run, going 11 for 105 yards with a 9.5 average.

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