The Dallas Cowboys (10-4) will host the Washington Football Team (6-8) at AT&T Stadium on Sunday Night Football. This will be the second matchup with Washington in three weeks. Dallas handily beat them in week 14.
With a win against Washington, Dallas will clinch the NFC East. The Cowboys look to right the ship on offense. It has been widely noted and written about how the offense has been in a funk.
They did look better against the New York Giants last week but were still very inefficient in the red zone leaving points off the board. Dak also averaged less than six yards per attempt, and the offense is struggling to push the ball down the field.
The Cowboys will be at home this week for the first time since week 12. The offense averages 35.5 points per game at home, the most in the NFL.
This time around, Dallas will try to take advantage of a weak Washington pass defense. Washington has given up the third-most passing yards on the season, and they are tied with the Indianapolis Colts for most passing touchdowns allowed (28).
Washington allows the sixth-most passing yards per attempt (7.6), so perhaps Dallas can finally make plays down the field in this game. They also possess the third-worst passer rating against in the NFL (101.7).
Advanced metrics also illustrate Washington's troubles defending the pass. Per rbsdm.com, Washington ranks 27th in dropback EPA (0.178) and 24th in dropback success rate (49.4%).
The rush defense is better for Washington as they rank 10th in rush success rate (38.5%). Ezekiel Elliott struggled in their last meeting, rushing for 45 yards on 3.8 yards per carry. However, Dallas will have Tony Pollard in this game, who returned last week after missing one game due to injury. Pollard came back in a big way with 74 yards on 6.2 yards per carry.
On defense, the Cowboys will look to replicate their dominant performance from two weeks ago, in which they gave up 224 total yards and 3.6 yards per play while forcing four turnovers. Taylor Heinicke will return for this matchup, as he has been activated off the Reserve/Covid-19 list. However, Heinicke passed for only 122 yards in the previous meeting, completing 11 of his 25 pass attempts.
It will be interesting to see how the Trevon Diggs and Terry McLaurin matchup goes this time around. In week 14, McLaurin did exit the game with a concussion, but he was held without a catch before that. The Dallas secondary is playing at an elite level, and they are coming off a game in which they had three interceptions.
The Dallas defensive line will look to wreak havoc again against Heinicke and this offensive line. In week 14, the Cowboys' defensive front recorded five sacks and forced two quarterback fumbles.
The Cowboys should have no problem in this matchup, as they are clearly more talented than Washington. However, the big question is will we see a rejuvenated Dallas offense, and it is by far the most significant thing Cowboys fans will be looking at in this game. It seems to be an ideal scenario for this to occur, but there will be doubts until it happens.
Cowboys win this game 27-13.
