5 plays that helped Commanders come back to beat Cowboys

At long last, the Dallas Cowboys’ 2024 season is over. They had nothing to gain from a win over the Commanders, yet they came excruciatingly close to doing so anyway. Trey Lance made his first (and likely last) start as a Cowboys and showed everyone why he was buried on the depth chart all year long.

Dallas outgained the Commanders in total yards but finished with just one touchdown on six red zone trips, which was ultimately the difference in a close loss that came down to the final play. These five moments, in particular, kept Washington in it all day long.

Trey Lance holds it too long on RPO, draws penalty

The Cowboys’ first offensive drive started out pretty good, with Lance hitting Jalen Tolbert on third and long to move the chains. Before long, they were knocking on the door of the red zone.

Mike McCarthy dialed up an RPO play, and Lance pulled the ball out. He hesitated for a bit, trying to work through traffic, before hitting Jonathan Mingo for a 13-yard gain that would have set up first and goal. Alas, a flag was down.

The nature of RPO plays are that the ball must be thrown quickly to avoid offensive linemen from moving too far downfield, which is what happened to Tyler Guyton. The rookie was hit with ineligible man downfield, but the penalty was really on Lance for holding the ball too long. Either way, it wiped out a first down and ultimately forced the Cowboys to settle for a field goal.

Trey Lance sacked on second down

The Cowboys’ second punt of the day ended up being their best play of the day, at least in terms of yardage gained. Jamison Crowder muffed the punt, and C.J. Goodwin recovered it at the Washington 22.

After a first down run went for three yards, Lance dropped back to pass on second down just inside the red zone. He couldn’t find anyone, and seemingly didn’t see safety Jeremy Chinn come screaming down for the sack.

That set up a difficult third and 15, and Dallas opted to run a draw to Rico Dowdle, which only gained four yards and set up a field goal. But the sack virtually guaranteed the drive was over, squandering the best starting field position the Cowboys had all day.

Trey Lance missed Rico Dowdle in the endzone

The Commanders finally got on the board with a field goal with just under five minutes left in the game, and Dallas had a chance to get the first part of a double-double before halftime. Some quick passing from Lance helped set up first and goal with just a minute remaining.

Two misses from Lance, with a seven-yard run from Dowdle in between, set up a fourth down attempt. Lance once again didn’t see the free rusher, but he managed to evade the pressure and scramble out to his left. He found Dowdle wide open in the endzone, but just tossed the ball in the dirt.

It was a perfect encapsulation of Lance the player: tantalizing raw talent but a lack of nuance to his game. Instead of an easy touchdown to go up 13-3, the Cowboys held onto a narrow 6-3 halftime lead. The repeated red zone failures kept the Commanders in this one when they should’ve been blown out by halftime.

Asim Richards blocks nobody on Trey Lance keeper

The Cowboys got their first, and only, touchdown of the game to retake the lead, going up 19-16. Mike Zimmer’s defense then forced a punt on a three-and-out, giving the Cowboys the ball back with five and a half minutes left. A big run from Dowdle fell just short, setting up third and one.

McCarthy called for a read option, and Lance pulled the ball when the defensive end came crashing down on Dowdle. But Lance had nowhere to go, as Asim Richards – in the game at left tackle – inexplicably chose not to block a single soul.

Lance was stopped for no gain, though he should have easily gotten the first down. Cameras caught Lance and Richards conferring on the sideline afterwards. Had they moved the chains, Dallas could’ve run the clock down considerably. Instead, they punted and promptly gave up a touchdown drive.

Marcus Mariota’s big fourth down run

Speaking of that touchdown drive, it almost didn’t happen. Marcus Mariota scrambled on third and short but was stopped just shy of the first down marker. That brought up fourth and one at the Dallas 49, too far for a game-tying field goal attempt.

Just as the Cowboys had done before, Washington called for an option play. This time, when Mariota pulled the ball he had wide open space to roam, and he took full advantage of it.

Had the Cowboys managed to get a stop on this play, it would’ve been ball game, as the Commanders had just one timeout with 33 seconds remaining. But the play flipped the field and, ultimately, set up Mariota’s game winning toss to Terry McLaurin.

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