Dallas Cowboys vs. Washington Commanders: 5 Keys to Win, Injury & Inactives

It's NFL Week 12 Dallas Cowboys vs. Washington Commanders: 5 Keys to Win, Injury & Inactives

The Dallas Cowboys and Washington do battle with coach Ron Rivera's Commanders team limping into AT&T Stadium on Thanksgiving Thursday. But ... as has been the case with Dallas' last two opponents, we say "beware the wounded animal.'' ... at least for a while, anyway.

The Cowboys are overwhelming favorites (rightly so?), but this is the NFL, and it is a division game, so anything can happen. 

With a potential third straight "trap game'' for the Cowboys (who've avoided that trap in the previous two), what does coach Mike McCarthy's team have to do in order to secure their eighth win of the season? Simply do these five things!

But first, the inactives list includes Jayron Kearse, Deuce Vaughn (which tells us Rico Dowdle is playing), Asim Richards, Noah Igbinoghene, Eric Scott, and Trey Lance (emergency quarterback).

Now to the five keys.

1. Light up Washington's secondary: If there is one vulnerability for the Commanders (and there is actually many more than one), it is that the defense gives up a ton of passing yards, as eight times this season, they have given up 350+.

With Dak Prescott in MVP-like form and CeeDee Lamb doing as he pleases, airing the football out against a defense that can't stop the pass seems simple enough. 

If the Giants' Tommy DeVito can have a stat line of 18/26 for 246 yards and three touchdowns...what could Dak and the second-best offense in football (30.2 points a game) put up?

2. Defensive line needs to feast: One of Washington's biggest problems is protecting Sam Howell. In the last three games, the young QB has been sacked 15 times (nine vs. the Giants last week ... meaning they're now second in sacks allowed with 51).

The offensive line has resembled a turnstile at times, and with Micah Parsons (10 sacks), Dorance Armstrong (five), DeMarcus Lawrence, and Sam Williams (four), there is a potential for everyone to eat.

If the Giants sacked Howell nine times, what can the Cowboys' vaunted defense do? That my friends, is a scary prospect.

The Cowboys face a wounded Commanders team at AT&T Stadium / Brad Mills-USA TODAY Sports

3. Protect Dak Prescott - oddly!: Now, this jumps out a little bit, and the numbers might be skewed due to last week, but through 11 games, the Commanders rank third in sacks (35.0) in the NFL. So, while their defense is giving up a league-worst 27.7 points a game, the defensive line still hunts. ... or, at least it did before the trade deadline, with Washington stripped itself of some talent.

While the Cowboys offensive line didn't give up a sack vs. Carolina, in their previous two games, Dak was sacked five teams in each (vs. Giants and Eagles). 

So, despite having the "best five," Dak can still be had ... maybe. Protecting No. 4 and keeping him upright, though, will allow him to slice and dice Washington's secondary.

But if Dak is picking himself up off the turf, then Dallas will be where it doesn't want to be - in a dogfight against a team with nothing to lose.

4. Ride that turnover wave: Another one of Washington's warts is turnovers. Six last week vs. the Giants has the Commanders now tied with the Las Vegas Raiders for the most turnovers in the NFL (21).

With an opportunistic Dallas defense tied for eighth in turnovers (16), the Cowboys need to capitalize if something comes their way. Luckily, Howell will give Dallas chances, as Washington has an offensive turnover in six of their last seven games.

Another pick-6 for DaRon Bland, anyone?

5. Clamp "Scary" Terry McLaurin: Howell has one go-to guy on offense - McLaurin. The star receiver has 13 more receptions (56) and 235 more receiving yards than the next-best pass catcher (tight end Logan Thomas, 43 catches, 409 yards).

When in a tough spot, Howell often searches for No. 17, and in his last seven games, McLaurin has at least seven targets per game. If the Cowboys' defense can take away McLaurin's impact and force Howell to from behind, things could get messy in a hurry.

Add it all up, and our Mike Fisher's prediction of Cowboys 30, Commanders 20 - with the thinking being that the 11-point spread is a bit too much - can come true.