Sunday will be quite the weird Cowboys game.
There is but one game left until the Dallas Cowboys can officially declare the 2024 season complete. While they were eliminated from the playoffs two weeks ago, games still remained on their schedule. Since then, they’ve beaten the Buccaneers and gotten blown out by the Eagles.
All that is left now is one final home stand against the Commanders. Washington, led by former Cowboys defensive coordinator Dan Quinn, is enjoying a great season. They come into this game at 11-5, their first winning season since 2016, and last week’s win clinched a playoff berth for the first time since 2020.
That said, this game is not for nothing for Quinn. On some level, he surely wants to get revenge after the Cowboys beat his squad in Washington just before Thanksgiving. More than that, though, the Commanders can move up to the sixth seed with a win over the Cowboys, which would help them avoid traveling to Philadelphia in the Wild Card round.
Meanwhile, the Cowboys don’t have much to play for. Their scrappy win over the Buccaneers suggested the team was still playing for pride, but their spirits were crushed early by the Eagles last week, especially with CeeDee Lamb out. There have been some hints that Dallas might start several reserve players in this one, such as Trey Lance, as a glorified preseason game. However, no clarity has been provided either way on that front.
The biggest storyline for this game, though, has to do with Mike McCarthy. As everyone is well aware by now, McCarthy’s contract expires after this game. So, too, do the contracts of Mike Zimmer and others on the coaching staff. Both Jerry and Stephen Jones have talked McCarthy up all year long but have consistently stopped short of saying they’ll bring him back.
Roughly two months ago, it seemed like a foregone conclusion that McCarthy was gone. Dak Prescott had just been sidelined for the year, and the Cowboys dropped their next two games to hit a five-game losing streak. Then, a switch flipped and the Cowboys won four of their next five games.
Suddenly, the tide shifted and it started to seem as if McCarthy’s return was guaranteed. Then the Eagles game happened, and things have become more muddied than ever regarding the coach’s status.
It will be fascinating to see how those politics impact this game, especially if McCarthy does opt to play a bunch of backups. With last week’s loss, the Cowboys have been locked into a losing season, the second of such in McCarthy’s tenure in Dallas. The first one was his first year on the job, and it also featured a season-ending injury for Prescott.
The intriguing part about this game is that the Cowboys have already proven themselves capable of beating the Commanders. They just did it not too long ago, and that was on the road. Washington’s star rookie quarterback, a newly-minted Pro Bowler, Jayden Daniels had the second-worst game of his young career in that one, with a -0.26 EPA/dropback.
Can they do it again? Do they even want to? On one hand, the players would surely relish the chance to go 2-0 against several of their former coaches and players while also ending the year with a win. But it’s also hard to come out and play 100% knowing that there is nothing to be gained.
We’ve seen both ends of the spectrum already, happily playing spoiler against Tampa Bay and then falling apart after a decent start against Philadelphia. Which version we get against the Commanders on Sunday, and who even suits up for it, remains to be seen.
