The Dallas Cowboys and Washington Redskins will soon be kicking off in their Week 17 regular-season finale. For the Cowboys, a potential playoff spot is on the line. But the official inactives list for today reveals that Dallas will have to go to work without some key players.
No Tyron Smith or Byron Jones are big losses for Dallas; their starting left tackle and their top cornerback. They will also have to go without starting DT Antwaun Woods.
Veteran swing tackle Cam Fleming will start on the offensive line. While not nearly the talent that Smith is, Fleming is an adequate backup compared to some we’ve had in the past.
Jones’ absence at CB means even more playing time for Jourdan Lewis, which isn’t a bad thing. We also may see preseason favorite Donovan Olumba, who was just called up from the practice squad earlier this week.
Veteran Christian Covington should start at DT as we’ve seen in previous week when Woods was out. These missing players, with Leighton Vander Esch’s move to IR on top of them, aren’t what you like to see in a must-win game.
Thankfully, though, it looks like Washington will be missing even more.
Washington will have to go back to Case Keenum at QB with Haskins injured. The passing game will be further hurt by the loss of breakout WR Terry McLaurin, who will fall just short of a 1,000-yard rookie season.
Starting defensive backs Josh Norman and Landon Collins will also be out. The Redskins won’t even have backup safety Troy Apke, who started two games earlier this season.
Dallas still has the edge on talent, but we thought the same last week against the Eagles. We’ll find out how much it matters in just a few hours.
