Washington Commanders Achieve Something Not Done in 25 Years on Thanksgiving

The Washington Commanders lost 45-10 to the Dallas Cowboys, but that wasn’t the worst of it.

ARLINGTON, Tx. — The Washington Commanders were already on the outside looking in before losing to the Dallas Cowboys 45-10 on Thanksgiving day, but now they’re so far out there that they’re doing things no NFL team has done in a quarter century.

According to OptaSTATS, if Commanders fans are feeling like they’re seeing their favorite team learn in ways they never thought possible, there’s a reason for it.

“Entering today, NFL teams were a combined 57-0 over the last 25 regular seasons when having a game with: 100+ rushing yards, 250+ passing yards, 35:00+ TOP (time of possession), no more than 25 penalty yards, no more than 1 turnover,” OptaSTATS says. “The Commanders did all that today and lost by 35.”

In Week 11 the Washington defense came up with nine sacks and lost by more than 10 points to quarterback Tommy DeVito and the New York Giants. 

That Commanders effort in many ways pales in comparison to what we saw in Week 12, however, given that dose of context. 

“We’re in a game and we’re fighting and battling and scrapping, and then we just basically lost control of it,” coach Ron Rivera said of his team’s Thanksgiving effort. “It’s just one of those things. You’ve got to make some plays. You get into a fourth down situation and don’t make a play, that’s tough.”

Washington Commanders head coach Ron Rivera during the second quarter of the game between the Dallas Cowboys and the Washington Commanders at AT&T Stadium / Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports

In the first half Thursday, Washington surrendered 20 first half points while the offense produced 10.

The most painful stretch came in the late stages of the second quarter when Commanders quarterback Sam Howell punched in a one-yard touchdown run to bring the first half deficit down to four with less than two minutes remaining before halftime. 

It took the Cowboys less than one and a half minutes to find the end zone themselves, and even with a missed extra point Washington trailed by double digits, never to score again.

Questionable fourth down decisions of the going for it and not going for it variety led to Washington surrendering a valuable opportunity, and then turning the ball over deep in its own end with the game still in reach.

Commanders QB Howell Stacks Bad Games in Loss vs. Cowboys

Those issues, and some of the more common on-field variety that have plagued the team all season were familiar visitors for the holiday event, and because of it the Commanders are now stepping onto the doorstep of sweeping changes next offseason.