Tag: 2024 Week 18

Role Reversal: Cowboys fall to late Commanders TD, 23-19, end 2024 on sour note

Dallas falls in last-second fashion, putting an end to a disappointing 2024 campaign.

The Dallas Cowboys’ 2024 season is now over. Just like in most of the games down the back end of the season, the club played hard and fought with valiant effort, but they weren’t good enough to seal the deal.

Leading 19-16 late, Dallas had Washington in fourth-and-one outside of field-goal range. With the Commanders scoreboard watching in their quest to lock up the No. 6 seed in the NFC playoffs, backup QB Marcus Mariota kept the ball on a read option, moving past rookie LB Marist Liufau for the easy first down. Safety Malik Hooker was fooled on the play, watching the running back get stuffed, and allowed Mariota to run deep into Dallas territory. Two plays later, with just six seconds on the clock, Mariota found Terry McLaurin in the end zone for the game-winning touchdown.

Mariota came in relief of starting Jayden Daniels. The rookie wasn’t injured, but was sacked four times in the first half and Washington’s offense wasn’t doing much with him under center.

The 23-19 win was Washington’s 12th win on the season, Dallas’ win total each of the last three seasons. The loss dropped Mike McCarthy’s Cowboys to 7-10 on the year. Now the offeason begins for Dallas with the biggest question being whether or not McCarthy will return for a six year at the helm.

Owner Jerry Jones has been supportive of McCarthy despite the disappointing season, but has made no indication towards extending an offer after the coaches contracts all expire in the next week or so. McCarthy could even eschew a contract and sign elsewhere, as he is under no obligation to return if offered.

Once the coaching staff is settled, the team will then move on to in-house free agents, external free agents and the 2025 NFL draft.

Is Trey Lance playing today? Update for Cowboys backup QB

Here’s the latest narrative surrounding Lance’s shot to play in Week 18 against the Washington Commanders. | From @KDDrummondNFL

The Dallas Cowboys 2024 season is will be over and done with by 4pm central time on Sunday. With the playoffs not a possibility, there isn’t much left to their season other than playing out the string. Yet somehow, even in a lost campaign, the franchise has found a way to muddy the waters.

The coaching staff, led by Mike McCarthy, deserves kudos for keeping the team engaged despite this fate being pretty much inevitable since early November. Dallas started out with a 3-7 record, but they fought for four wins in their last five games with the only defeat being a fluke, bone-headed late game screwup on a special teams play. One would think that their elimination before Week 16 would’ve led to an opportunity for fans to get a regular-season glimpse of backup QB Trey Lance.

Yet that didn’t happen against Tampa Bay in Week 16, and it barely happened in a blowout loss to the Philadelphia Eagles in Week 17, with only two minutes remaining in the contest. Lance threw one pass; one.

So there’s still a question of whether or not he will get an actual chance to prove himself.

The rumor is, Lance will finally see “significant snaps” in this game after being an afterthought even though the club has been out of the playoff picture for a while.

Dallas sent a fourth-round pick to San Francisco in exchange for Lance, who was the No. 3 overall pick in 2021 for the 49ers. He was unable to unseat Cooper Rush for the role of Dak Prescott’s backup and now is just a few hours away from the end of his contract.

To make matters worse, Dallas has added practice squad QB Will Grier to the 53-man roster, indicating he will likely see some snaps in the game as well, limiting Lance’s opportunity even if he’s the main QB for this game.

The Cowboys have never tried to utilize his skillset as a running threat, not even in the vein of how the New Orleans Saints have deployed Taysom Hill over the years.

The offseason was a maddening experience for the fanbase, as the club failed to not only avoid signing any impact free agents from the outside, but also failed to bring back many of their own. With contract extensions looming over their biggest stars in Dak Prescott, CeeDee Lamb and Micah Parsons, the coaching staff were all on lame duck status.

All in all, it forced several fans to be lose interest in the brand. One thing that united fans, though, especially under the looming 2025 of Prescott (at the time) was whether or not Lance had what it took to be the next franchise quarterback. Acquired towards the end of the 2023 offseason, Lance didn’t play that year, so no one really knew what to expect from him.

As head coach Mike McCarthy avoids playing his stars in the preseason, Lance got plenty of snaps in the exhibitions and acquitted himself relatively well until the final performance when he bombed. He really hasn’t been seen since, which in a lost season where Prescott has been out with injury has frustrated fans even more.

Nothing crystalized this animosity more than in Week 11, when in a blowout loss to the Houston Texans where Cooper Rush struggled mightily, McCarthy refused to let Lance get snaps.

Now eliminated, the subject will finally be laid to rest.

Is Jayden Daniels playing today? Update for Commanders quarterback in Week 18

Here’s the latest status for the Commanders’ Jayden Daniels in Week 18 against the Dallas Cowboys.

The Dallas Cowboys season is mercifully coming to an end. Sunday of Week 18 will allow a miserable campaign to come to an end. While many fans are focused on exactly where the Cowboys will land in draft order, there’s still a age-old rivalry to add a chapter to.

This week, the Cowboys take on the Washington Commanders who are locked into the playoffs already, but unsure where they will slot in the bracket. Currently the No. 6 seed, Washington wants to avoid having to travel to Philadelphia (No. 2) and would rather square off with the Los Angeles Rams or NFC South winner if possible.

To do so, they’ll need to avenge Dallas’ Week 12 victory where the two combined for a 40-point fourth quarter that was one of the season’s best games despite the Cowboys’ lackluster season. And to do that, the Commanders will not be able to use Week 18 as a chance to rest before the wild-card round.

Washington will need all hands on deck, including presumptive offensive rookie of the year, QB Jayden Daniels. Daniels must play in this contest and he will take the field to put the finishing touches on his stellar rookie campaign.

With the myriad of injuries to their secondary, it’s going to be a difficult task to corral the Washington passing game, meaning Daniels will have a chance to add to his 3,530 passing yards and 25 touchdowns. For those in fantasy football playoffs that extend to Week 18, this is a crucial sure thing, especially when considering Daniels’ prowess as a runner.

It would take the biggest rushing game of his career, but Daniels just ran for 127 yards in last week’s win over Atlanta. 136 yards would give him 1,000 on the ground this season.