Cowboys’ experiment should end right after win over Commanders on Christmas Day

Instant takeaways from the Dallas Cowboys’ win over the Washington Commanders in Week 17.

Mauricio Rodriguez — Dallas Cowboys News Writer
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Dec 25, 2025; Landover, Maryland, USA; Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott (4) scrambles with the ball against the Washington Commanders in the second quarter at Northwest Stadium.
Dec 25, 2025; Landover, Maryland, USA; Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott (4) scrambles with the ball against the Washington Commanders in the second quarter at Northwest Stadium. Geoff Burke-Imagn Images

The Dallas Cowboys beat the Washington Commanders, 30-23, on Christmas Day, but it wasn’t a pretty game.

At least not for many involved, including Dak Prescott — who was consistently hit on Thursday — and defensive coordinator Matt Eberflus. Let’s dive into our instant takeaways from the game.

Cowboys struggle to protect Dak Prescott

The Cowboys’ defense is terrible, but their pass protection isn’t much better. Last week, the Chargers recorded only three quarterback hits and one sack against Dak Prescott. On Christmas, the Commanders had six sacks and 11 QB hits.

Two big reasons why?

  1. The Cowboys are playing Tyler Smith at tackle as an experiment to end the season. It’s not going great so far. In this game, Dak clearly missed his All-Pro-caliber lineman playing inside. Smith lost a couple of reps in the edges and was responsible for Prescott going to the ground more than once. It was one game, but the left tackle experiment should be shut down. He’s just too good at guard to be playing at tackle. Just play the great guy where he’s great.
  2. RB Javonte Williams and TE Jake Ferguson were knocked out of the game with injuries. Their responsibilities in pass pro have helped the struggling pass protection all year long. At one point, for example, backup RB Malik Davis was run over by a blitzing LB Bobby Wagner. Perhaps Williams would have helped.

Now granted, pass pro wasn’t the only issue for the passing game. Prescott was inconsistent since the game started, making great plays here and there, but also failing to find CeeDee Lamb on what would have been three big plays, at minimum. After a great start, things just looked off in the second half.

Fourth-down shenanigans

En route to a near-perfect first half, the Cowboys’ offense went for it on fourth down four times. Each of them occurred within the first two drives, yet it was enough to set a new franchise high since 1991.

It was achieved through a 50-50 approach, with two conversions being the result of Javonte Williams pounding the rock. Prescott found George Pickens and Jalen Tolbert for the other two. Brian Schottenheimer has been inconsistently aggressive in fourth-down situations. Thursday’s outing might convince him to go for it more frequently. They added two more conversions in the second half to end the game six-for-six.

KaVontae Turpin loves playing in Washington

Last year, it was a 99-yard kickoff return. This time around, it was an 86-yard touchdown catch down the middle. KaVontae Turpin sure knows how to show off in Washington.

The Cowboys may be better served with a more complete WR3, but Thursday was a reminder of why it’s so hard to keep Turpin off the game plan. The dude is so fast.

Defense fails its easiest test

You would have assumed that facing a Josh Johnson-led offense would have been an easy task for Matt Eberflus’ defense. But by the time the Cowboys gave up a 72-yard touchdown run to Bill Croskey-Merritt in the third quarter, the Commanders were averaging over 10 yards per play.

It was more of the same for the Cowboys: Missed tackles at every level, poor run fits, and no QB pressure. Eberflus’ seat keeps getting warmer ahead of the regular season finale.

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