Tag: Washington Football Team vs. Dallas Cowboys

Washington embarrassed by Cowboys on Sunday Night Football

It was an embarrassing performance from Washington — from start to finish.

The Dallas Cowboys got off to another fast start, like they did two weeks ago against Washington.

However, tonight they did not lose their intensity and permit Washington back in the game, as the Cowboys routed Washington 56-14 on NBC Sunday Night Football at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.

Dak Prescott found his receivers open all night, completing 28 of his 39 attempts for 330 yards and four touchdowns with no interceptions.

After having to punt on their first possession, Dallas then scored on five consecutive offensive possessions and threw in a DeMarcus Lawrence 40-yard interception return of Taylor Heinicke as well.

Dallas also scored on a tackle eligible pass that was wide open, and on a Tress Way punt being blocked.

Things were so bad for Washington during the first half that on the Washington bench, Daron Payne was seen poking Jonathan Allen on the left side of his face, to which then Allen rose to his feet and punched Payne. The two defensive tackles were then separated by teammates.

Washington appeared a step slow all night, not being able to cover Dallas receivers, nor slow down a terrorizing Cowboys’ pass rush that sacked Washington quarterbacks five times, added five additional QB hits and recorded a suffocating ten tackles for a loss.

When it was 35-7 in the second quarter, veteran play-by-plan announcer Al Michaels then interjected, “If this were a fight, it would be a TKO right now.”

Well, it wasn’t a boxing fight, and Dallas proceeded to score 21 more consecutive points before Washington finally scored on a John Bates’ reception and fumble recovery with just under three minutes to remaining.

Another thing that was disturbing was Heinicke taking a crown-of-the-helmet blow to his chest, kneeling on the turf and none of his linemen attempting to stand up for him or help him up to his feet.

Clearly, Dallas is the superior team, and Washington after winning four straight has now lost three consecutive games, to divisional rivals Dallas and Philadelphia.

 

Dallas coach Mike McCarthy said Cowboys ‘will win’ Sunday

Cowboys coach Mike McCarthy said his team “will win” Sunday. Has “Dallas Week” returned?

Dallas Week may have returned to Washington, at least for this year anyway.

If you were not around following the Washington – Dallas rivalry of George Allen years, you just don’t know what “Dallas Week” meant.  During the Joe Gibbs years, certainly Washington had huge games with Dallas, yes, but the buildup of George Allen (1971-77) remains unmatched. In fact, it was Allen who coined the term, “Dallas Week”.

Today, Dallas coach Mike McCarthy said, “We are going to win this game. I am confident in that. The prep that is going into it; more importantly we want to improve too along the way… They are working hard, we are working hard. But we are clearly planning on going to Washington to win the game. There is no doubt about that.”

Personally, I don’t think he sounded that confident when he felt he needed to explain it.

Yet, it was a sound bite that would attract responses.

WFT coach Ron Rivera responded.

I certainly agree with Rivera “that is interesting, but it is not important.”You don’t focus on those things; you focus on preparing yourself to play on Sunday”. On the other hand, why then feel the need to explain your response further? Sometimes less is more.

In my personal opinion, Jonathan Allen had the best perspective when he replied, “The only guarantee in this world is death and taxes” (Benjamin Franklin).

Bobby McCain added, “We will let him (McCarthy) focus on being confident. We will focus on winning…”

As J P Finlay reminded Thursday amidst all the “talk”, Dallas’ three best pass rushers Randy Gregory, DeMarcus Lawrence and Micah Parsons could all be together again for the first time since Week 1.

So I am hoping for the WFT to keep their mouths shut, and simply come out and run the ball straight at the speed of the Dallas pass rushers.

Today, words also came to mind my dad told me more than a few times growing up in Berryville, VA, “Boy, there is a good reason why God gave you two ears and one mouth”.

In other words, the wise man is quick to listen and learn and much slower to speak.