Washington Commanders WR Deebo Samuel, DL Jer'Zhan Newton and RB Jacory Croskey-Merritt proved to be the highlights in Thursday's 30-23 loss against the Dallas Cowboy
The Washington Commanders have now lost nine of their last ten games and enter week 18 4-12 overall after dropping the home finale against the Dallas Cowboys, 30-20, on Christmas Day.
Dallas scored touchdowns on each of their first three possessions before notching a field goal on the fourth drive, cementing a deficit from start to finish for the Commanders in the home finale.
Dallas also converted all six of their fourth down attempts, including a 4th-and-1 that set up their second touchdown of the day and put Washington in a 14-3 hole in the opening minutes of the second quarter.
Dallas then blew that lead open on the next possession after Dak Prescott capitalized on what would have been an offsides against the Commanders for an 86-yard catch and run for wide receiver KaVontae Turpin, stretching the lead to 21-3.
While the defense struggled as Dallas amassed 289 yards of total offense in the first half, Commanders wide receiver Deebo Samuel proved to be the lone source of early optimism for Washington, accounting for 93 of the team’s 145 yards of offense in the first half despite Josh Johnson finishing 7-for-10 for 116 yards through the first 30 minutes.
But Washington finishing 0-for-3 on third downs resulted in short-lived drives with Dallas proving capable of moving the ball at will through the first 25 minutes. That was until Deebo Samuel’s 29-yard run put the Commanders in Dallas Territory before a horsecollar against Quinnen Williams pushed the offense into the redzone, setting up running back Jacory Croskey-Merritt for his first touchdown of the day, trimming the deficit to 21-10 before a 42-yard field goal pushing Dallas’ lead to 24-10 at the break.
After the two teams traded punts to open the second half, Croskey-Merritt broke loose for a 72-yard touchdown for a one-play drive, cutting the deficit in half in the process.
Washington appeared to catch a late break after Brandon Aubrey missed a 58-yard attempt, giving the Commanders the ball near midfield less than two minutes into the final quarter, but a five-play drive ended after failing to pick up one yard on both second and third down before a false start forced a punt at the 50 yard line.
In the end, it proved to be the swing that was the dagger in Washington’s comeback efforts.
Dallas made Washington pay with a 14 play drive spanning over seven minutes before Brandon Aubrey drilled a 51-yard field goal, handing the Commanders a two-score deficit with under four minutes left.
One bright spot for the defense was Johnny Newton, who led the team with nine tackles, three solo, five QB hits, three sacks and two TFLs. He became the first franchise player to record at least three sacks in a single game since defensive end Preston Smith did so in the final weeks of the 2015 season.
Von Miller also notched a second down sack in the fourth quarter for his 137.5th in his career, moving into a tie with Richard Dent and John Randle for tenth all-time.
Croskey-Merritt, meanwhile, notched his second 100-yard rushing game of the season with 105 yards and two touchdowns on 11 carries. His 9.5 yards per carry also marks a career-high.
Washington will now close the regular season on the road against the Philadelphia Eagles. The NFL has yet to release the week 18 schedule with all games drawing the TBD designation heading into the rest of the week 17 slate.