Week 7: Dallas Cowboys vs. Washington Redskins Recap

by
Former Writers
October 22, 2018

rdlife1976 via Flickr

Redskins Saved By The Upright!

The Washington Redskins maintained their first place standing in the NFC East thanks to a debunked field goal off the upright.

Dallas Cowboys kicker, Brett Maher, missed a game-tying kick at the end of the game from 52 yards out. It was initially a 47-yard attempt, but after a snap infraction against the long-snapper, Louis-Philippe Ladouceur Dallas was called back. This game was as advertised: two heated rivals going to war.

Cowboys’ Inconsistency

The Cowboys knew that they were going to have a tough game against their division rivals on Sunday. Another 40-point outing like Week 6 seemed highly unlikely. They were going to need to win the battle between the tackles. Unfortunately for them, running back Ezekiel Elliott had just 33 yards on 15 carries. Dallas’ success heavily relies on Elliott’s ability to gain 100 yards or more on the ground.

In what has become a dangerous practice by the Cowboys, they abandoned the run early in the game and relied heavily on the passing game. Prescott threw the ball 35 times with 22 completions. He had 273 yards, one touchdown, and zero interceptions.

In the end, Prescott had eight fewer passes last week against the Jaguars and five more carries. Ezekiel Elliott had nine fewer carries today than he had last week. The lack of consistent play-calling has plagued the Cowboys all season.

The defense played well again as it only gave up one TD and held the Redskins to 305 total yards.

Washington Plays Smash-Mouth Football

The Redskins won on Sunday by playing the old-school way: running the ball and playing smash-mouth defense. Running back Adrian Peterson had a stellar game on the ground with 99 yards on 24 carries. The ageless wonder continues to amaze football analysts and fans alike with his production at the age of 33.

Peterson still runs hard and through would-be tacklers. This ability to run the ball gave Washington the slight edge in time of possession with a total of 30:55 to Dallas’ 29:05. Their defense was relentless.

They racked up a total of four sacks on Dak Prescott. Ezekiel Elliott was a non-factor on the ground or in the passing game thanks in large part to Washington’s defenders being disciplined and utilizing gang tackles.

Washington wanted to show that they are a true contender in the NFC this season, and they may have done that on Sunday. Most importantly for them is that they now have a two-game lead on the Cowboys and the Philadelphia Eagles in their division.

Final Score: 20-17 Washington Redskins

Looking Ahead

Washington will have another division matchup next week against the New York Giants. New York has struggled mightily this season, but all bets are off in rivalry games.

The Cowboys will have a much needed week off to regroup and try to figure out what they need to do to win going forward. Dallas is now 0-4 on the road and will need to learn how to counter crowd noise by being able to run the ball on a consistent basis.