Cowboys Thump Rival Commanders
The Dallas Cowboys (8-3) saw cornerback DaRon Bland set an NFL record on defense, and quarterback Dak Prescott put up another 300-plus yard and multi-touchdown performance in a 45-10 Thanksgiving Day win over the Washington Commanders (4-8) at AT&T Stadium in Arlington.
BLAND MAKES NFL HISTORY
Cowboys defensive back DaRon Bland set an NFL record on Thursday afternoon, earning his fifth pick-six of the 2023 season.
His record setting moment came late in the fourth quarter, when he stepped in front of Washington wide receiver Jahan Dotson running a 7-yard out at the Cowboys 45-yard line. He snatched the pass in perfect stride and started to make his way down the field skirting the sideline, before cutting back around the Commanders 20 to continue his run into history.
Bland has returned interceptions for touchdowns this season against the Giants in the season opener, as well as Week 4 against the Patriots, Week 8 against the Rams and Week 10 against Carolina.
With his fifth pick-six, Bland breaks the tie at four with Eric Allen (1993), Jim Kearney (1972) and Ken Houston (1971).
Bland now has 12 interceptions his first two seasons in the NFL, which is behind only Everson Walls (18) and Trevon Diggs (14).
PRESCOTT SHINES EARLY
Quarterback Prescott continues to play lights out football for the Cowboys.
He finished his afternoon against Washington with 331 yards passing and four touchdowns. It is the fourth time in the last five games that he has thrown for more than 300 yards and three touchdowns.
Prescott completed 22 of 32 passes, with no interceptions, and ended his Thanksgiving Day with a 142.1 quarterback rating – his best QBR this season.
Another impressive outing at AT&T Stadium this season, where he put up 255 yards in the season opening blowout of the Jets followed by 261 against the Patriots, 304 against the Rams and 404 against the Giants.
He led the Cowboys to touchdowns on two of their three drives to start the game, and 20 points in the opening 30 minutes.
Prescott completed 13 of 18 passes for 221 yards in the opening half, compiling a 150.5 quarterback rating.
He was accurate from the start, hitting tight ends Jake Ferguson and Luke Schoonmaker on seem routes passes that never got higher than eye level while hitting both players in stride. Ferguson’s came on a 35-yard dart on first and 15 from the Dallas 5 to set the Cowboys up at their own 40. The drive ended with the first touchdown of the game either team.
Schoonmaker’s catch came on a 12-yard arrow on first and 10 at the Dallas 39. It set the Cowboys offense up at the Washington 49, and the Dallas paid it off with its second TD of the game.
HOWELL SHOWS HE’S FOR REAL
Quarterback Sam Howell was in complete command of the Washington offense on Thursday.
Howell finished with 300 yards passing., while earning a 74.1 quarterback rating.
The Cowboys were able to sack him four times for negative 32 yards, but it didn’t deter Howell from picking apart the Dallas secondary with simple wide receiver routes and screens.
Howell completed passes to eight different receivers, while completing a long of 30-yards to Curtis Samuel, who caught nine of 12 targets for 100 yards.
Howell led the Commanders to 23 first downs (two more than Dallas), while Washington finished with over a 46-percent success rate on third downs.
But the second-year quarterback was lethal in the first half, completing 16 of his 23 attempts to seven different receivers, for 170 yards. He added a one-yard touchdown run for the only Commanders score in the first half.
In the end, he wasn’t good enough to overcome the Cowboys defense.
RUN DEFENSE GETS MIXED REVIEWS
The Cowboys run defense continues to be a real problem, but they were able to stop the Commanders when they needed to on Thursday. And once the Cowboys built a sizeable lead in the third quarter, the Commander abandoned the run.
But it was not before they put up some good runs early in the game, where they were regularly picking up seven, eight and nine yards on first down.
Washington averaged 4.0 yards per carry against the Cowboys on Thursday afternoon, with Brian Robinson leading the way. He finished with 53 of the Commanders 108 rushing yards.
Robinson carried the ball 15 times and averaged 3.5d yards each time he touched the football.
Quarterback Sam Howell added another 13 yards on two carries and scored Washington’s only rushing touchdown of the game – a 1 yard run late in the second quarter.
Antonio Gibson and Chris Rodriguez each added 21 yards.
POLLARD MAKING STRIDES
The Cowboys continue to try and get running back Tony Pollard uncorked in the running game.
He started to come to life for the Cowboys on Thursday, averaging 6.1 yards per carry in the win over the Commanders. Pollard finished with 79 yards rushing on 13 carries, as well as another 24 yards on six catches in the passing game.
Pollard broke off his longest run of the season, a 27-yard rip through the Washington defense midway through the fourth quarter and scored the Cowboys only rushing touchdown on a 7-yard run with just 26 seconds left in the first half. It came less than 90 seconds after Washington scored to cut the Cowboys lead to 14-10.
In the first half, Pollard had just eight touches – six carries and two catches. He gained 44 total yards and scored the Cowboys only rushing touchdown of the first half.
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BIG HUGE GIANT MONSTER Play of the Game
The Cowboys fourth down defense came up big on Thursday afternoon, stopping the Commanders twice in the game. The biggest of the game coming with just under 12 minutes to play in the game. After the Commanders picked up 16 yards on third down, they decided to go for it. Out of a shotgun formation, the Cowboys rushed just four and were able to put pressure on Howell immediately. As he tried to escape the pocket, Howell was funneled into the waiting arms of Cowboys defensive tackle Jonathan Hankins for a 10-yard loss. The Cowboys offense took over at the Washington 24. Two plays later Dak Prescott hit CeeDee Lamb for a 15-yard touchdown and pushed the Cowboys lead to 31-10 after a successful 2-point conversion.
UNSUNG Play of the Game
With the Cowboys up just four points late in the first half, Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott connected with Jalen Brooks on a 24-yard completion. But it wasn’t that simple. Prescott fired a dart on second and 10 from the Dallas 38 aimed for Jalen Tolbert that was deflected up in the air that Brooks was able to cradle into his arms as he went to the ground. It gave the Cowboys a first down on the Washington 38. Tony Pollard scored on a 7-yard run just two plays later and give the Cowboys a 20-10 lead with just second left in the first half.