The truth is that the Washington Commanders aren’t very good on defense. And when Jayden Daniels makes key mistakes, that’s a recipe for disaster. As the Commanders face a critical division game in Week 7, here are the bold predictions for the NFC East clash against the Cowboys.
Washington enters with a record of 3-3, alternating wins and losses through six weeks. The Cowboys come with a mark of 2-3-1.
Both teams are coming off a loss where it came down to the final play. A field goal knocked out the Commanders against the Bears, while the Cowboys suffered the same fate against the Panthers.
Commanders QB Jayden Daniels will account for three scores
Maybe it will be three passing scores like against the Bears, or maybe he will mix in a running score. But Daniels should be able to get the Commanders into paydirt several times against the Cowboys’ defense.
One thing that helps Daniels is motivation. This is a potential season-changing game. A win could erase the bitter finish against the Bears, where Daniels fumbled away an opportunity to lock things up.
Best of all for the Commanders, Daniels continued to be a team leader despite the loss, according to The Athletic.
“He didn’t stammer,” David Aldridge wrote. “He didn’t stutter, [and] he took responsibility and held himself accountable. [Also,] he didn’t blame the rain that fell most of the night at Northwest Stadium. He didn’t point to a defense that, again, struggled to make simple tackles and — for one of the few times this season — was terrible against the run. He didn’t hide behind “I’ll have to look at the film” or other such bromides.”
QB Jayden Daniels simply trying to get better
Daniels began working through the things he did wrong in the game against the Bears.
“Being aggressive, just going through my keys,” Daniels said of the pick. “Like I said, I didn’t play how I should, how I hold myself to how I should play. So, I’ll be better.”
And he said he needs to trust what he sees.
“Just trusting the plays and the keys, going through my keys, and being smart with the football,” Daniels said. “There’s a time and place for everything, to be aggressive. Early on, we’re driving, we have momentum [to] put points on the board. Don’t make a throw like that, even though I know I can make a throw like that. You just look back at it, you learn from it. That’s kind of what this game is. If you win or you lose, you’re always learning from stuff. You can always be better. You’re not a perfect player because there’s no perfect player on this field or in this league.”
The Cowboys’ defense has been generous. Daniels should have opportunities to make big plays. Young receivers Luke McCaffrey and Jaylin Lane have shown signs of helping. And maybe Terry McLaurin returns for Week 7.
Commanders’ defense will surrender over 300 yards passing
This almost goes without saying. The Commanders’ defense has almost no chance to slow down the Dallas offense if CeeDee Lamb returns as expected.
But it’s not just Lamb. The Commanders won’t be able to cover George Pickens, either. And they will struggle on key down to contain Jake Ferguson.
All things said, it could take 38 points for the Commanders to win this game. It’s so bad on defense that the Commanders are pulling guys off the street to rush the passer. See: Drake Jackson.
How bad is the Commanders’ defense? They're kind of awful, according to a post on X by John Keim.
“… They had an 8-point lead and failed to tackle Swift on a short pass; couldn’t stop the run. The D just hasn’t played anywhere near expected. Daniels will recover. The D hasn’t shown reason to think it’ll change”
Fourth down will decide the outcome
Both of these teams will try to avoid punting. It won’t be four downs everywhere, but if it’s three or less anywhere reasonable, these teams will go in this matchup.
And the team that wins the majority of the fourth downs will likely come out on top.
Zach Ertz will find the end zone
He’s not a big volume guy, but Ertz has scored three times this season. All of them have come with Daniels in the lineup.
Daniels is looking for Ertz when the end zone is close. Too bad he didn’t see Ertz on the interception he threw, trying to hit Deebo Samuel. Don’t look for a lot of yardage, but Ertz should have a couple of end-zone area targets.
