Dallas Cowboys fall to Redskins, what happens next?

The Dallas Cowboys lost to the Washington Redskins on Sunday in a heated NFC East grudge match. What does the future hold for Dallas heading into the bye?

The Dallas Cowboys fell to the Washington Redskins in spectacular fashion on Sunday. In the final moments of regulation, Dak Prescott led the offense down the field however poor clock management led to a forced 50 plus yard Brett Maher field goal attempt. Maher missed the kick and the Cowboys fall to 3-4. Let’s examine this bitter rivalry contest and take a look at what is ahead for Dallas in the coming weeks.

13 points
The Dallas Cowboys defense dominated the Redskins offense for most of the contest. The final score is not really reflective of how this game went. Despite starting the drive on the 20-yard line the Cowboys found some breathing room when Dak hit Cole Beasley for a 16-yard completion to move the chains with around 10 minutes left on the clock.

The only problem was, rookie guard Connor Williams was flagged for holding that moved them back 10 yards. Following the penalty, Prescott got sacked by Ryan Kerrigan which caused him to fumble the football in the end zone resulting in a Redskins touchdown.

Other than that score, Washington only recorded one touchdown in this game and that was during their first drive as Alex Smith found Kapri Bibbs inside the 20. The Dallas defense even forced a three and out late in the game that gave the offense an opportunity to win the game. If not for that fumble recovery in the end zone, the Cowboys would have had this game won with ease as their defense did a fantastic job shutting down Smith in the red zone.

Dak’s resurgence
Dak Prescott started out slow and almost got knocked out of the game for good. It is never a good sign to see a back quarterback warming up and that is what Cowboy fans experienced on Sunday as Prescott took a blow to the helmet by cornerback Greg Stroman. He was instantly speculated to have a concussion and would undergo evaluation.

While all of this was going on the Dallas defense kept the Redskins offense in check. By the time the offense got the football, Prescott was cleared and ready to play. That hit seemed to loosen him up as he hit a big pass play right out of the gate. In just six plays Prescott found rookie receiver, Michael Gallup for a long touchdown.

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It was the explosive play that the Cowboys needed to really get their confidence back. Prescott would finish the game with 273 passing yards, 33 rushing yards, a 62.9 percent completion percentage, and two touchdowns, one passing and one rushing.

He also lost two fumbles and was sacked four times which goes to show you that there are still things the Cowboys have to clean up. Overall it was Dak’s best day on the field as he finally got close to 300 yards passing and had two scores and no interceptions. Dak did everything he could to keep the team in the ballgame, making a ton of ridiculous plays, but at the end of the day, Dallas could not get it done.

Elliott shut down
Ezekiel Elliott had a rough game, to say the least. The Washington Redskins defense focused in on the Dallas Cowboys star running back taking him away for most of the contest. On 15 rushing attempts, he had 33 yards and averaged 2.2 yards per carry. He tacked on nine yards in the air, however, was shut out for most of the game.

It was very odd to see as Elliott has often owned the Redskins in recent memory. It was clear that a key piece of Washington’s game plan was to take away Elliott early and force Dak to throw the ball.

The middle of the Redskins defensive line has improved tremendously and gave Elliott little to no space to operate. A week of rest should do the running back good as he will be fresh for a tilt with the Tennessee Titans.

What’s next?
The Dallas Cowboys will be on a bye next week and sitting at 3-4 puts them tied for second place in the NFC East with the Philadelphia Eagles. I would expect some major transactions to occur between now and the time the Dallas Cowboys step on to the field in Week Nine. Adding an offensive lineman/linemen, wide receivers, and some depth in the secondary could go a long way.

Correcting the offenses issues should be the main focus during the bye week for the Dallas Cowboys front office.

• Published on 10/22/2018 at 11:00 AM
• Last updated at 10/22/2018 at 09:22 AM