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The Dallas Cowboys' 2022-23 regular season comes to a head Sunday afternoon in the nation's capital. The commanders are mathematically eliminated from playoff contention, but the Cowboys still have reason to finish the year strong. A win in Washington plus a Philadelphia loss would net the Cowboys first place in the NFC East. Add a San Francisco 49'ers loss to that equation and suddenly the Cowboys are the top seed in the NFC. Dallas' starters will be in the game at least at first. There's no telling if the same can be said for the Commanders. Sam Howell has already been named the starter and it might be faster to name the Washington players that haven't landed on the injury report this week during practice. The Cowboys are staring at a layup. Here are some predictions for how exactly Sunday's game will play out.
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3. T.Y. Hilton leads the Cowboys in receiving yards
T.Y. Hilton's opening arguments in Dallas have been very convincing. The veteran midseason acquisition delivered a play of the year contender on 3rd and 30 against the Eagles in Week 16 before catching four out of five targets against the Tennessee Titans a week ago for 54 yards and multiple first down conversions. Hilton has had his moments to be sure, but he hasn't yet left his mark on a game from a volume production point of view. This week is a good opportunity for him to do that. Maybe the most important development since Hilton's addition has been his ability to spread out a defense and open up opportunities for CeeDee Lamb, Dalton Schultz, and others, but he has the ability to leave his own mark too. Sunday is the Cowboys' last chance to really get Hilton rolling ahead of the playoffs. Against the depleted Commanders, look for the veteran to put on a vintage performance.
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2. Nahshon Wright and DaRon Bland's crash course ends on a high note
The Cowboys acquired Xavier Rhodes off waivers Saturday to try and combat some of their depth issues, but Nahshon Wright and DaRon Bland have been holding down the fort at cornerback increasingly well. The secondary faces their third backup quarterback in three weeks on Sunday, which is a huge advantage for the inexperienced secondary men now charged with holding down the fort in the absence of Anthony Brown. It's hard to envision Howell stepping in for the Commanders and carving up the Cowboys' secondary. Sunday is the perfect opportunity for Wright and Bland to get one last tune up an bolster their confidence before they're tasked with holding down playoff offenses. Bland gets a pick and both he and Wright have a solid game.
1. Starters only play two quarters
This one might not fall under the “bold” category. The Cowboys are heavy favorites Sunday afternoon. Then again, they were against the Titans as well. There's just little reason to believe that Washington will put up a fight in the season finale though. Howell will probably inject some energy into the offense for his first-ever start, but he won't be able to hold off the Dallas defense or keep step with Dak Prescott. Look for Cooper-Rush to take a well-deserved victory lap in the second half with the rest of the second team at his side.
