LANDOVER, Md. — In reality, the Dallas Cowboys had little to play for. The Philadelphia Eagles were taking care of business against the New York Giants, securing the NFC East crown – and the No. 1 seed – that was up for grabs at the day’s start.
The most troubling thing for the Cowboys is that it showed. And for the offensive side of the ball, it’s part of a pattern that has plagued the team down the stretch and left the Cowboys limping into Tampa Bay to face Tom Brady and the Buccaneers for a wild card matchup.
“You guys got a big vocabulary,” Cowboys head coach Mike McCarthy said when asked to describe the offensive performance in a 26-6 loss to the Washington Commanders. “Go for it.”
Challenge accepted!
PLAYOFF PICTURE: Here’s what it looks like after regular season
DOLPHINS IN PLAYOFFS: Will likely have to face Bills without Tua Tagovailoa
Here are a handful of quick Thesaurus pulls to help paint a picture of how the unit played: unpropitious, cataclysmic, demoralizing, execrable.
At the center of the conundrum is quarterback Dak Prescott. His word to summarize his own performance is not acceptable for print, unfortunately, but it rhymes with “smitty.”
Prescott was a dreadful 14-for-37 for 128 yards with one touchdown and one interception. His longest completion went for 15 yards. The offense logged 10 three-and-outs (with Prescott on the field) thanks to a 4-for-18 (22.2%) showing on third down. Prescott has thrown 10 touchdowns and eight interceptions over his last five games, a stretch over which the Cowboys went 3-2. Prescott finished tied for the league lead with 15 interceptions this season.
The lowlight for Prescott came early in the second quarter after two nearly identical throws to the right. On the first attempt, Commanders cornerback Kendall Fuller almost pulled in an interception. Prescott wished the result of the next play was the same. This time, Fuller jumped the route again and walked into the end zone for a 28-yard return and six points.
At the start of the fourth quarter, Prescott was 10 of 29 for 93 yards. He was inaccurate all day, with the Commanders breaking up seven passes. He missed high, low, ahead and behind.
Washington’s defense sat six starters in a meaningless game for it. Prescott said he had “zero awareness” of the proceedings in Philadelphia, a 22-16 victory for the Eagles that zapped the Cowboys’ chances of winning the NFC East. But Dallas didn’t take care of its own business, regardless.
“Coming into this game, I feel like we knew we were going to win,” said receiver CeeDee Lamb, who caught the Cowboys’ lone touchdown six seconds before halftime. “We all got to flip the switch.”
Obviously, the Cowboys did not meet that standard.
“We play pro football, man,” right guard Zack Martin said on the topic of uncertain motivations entering the game. “If you come out and don’t go, this is what happens.”
McCarthy added that the Cowboys came into this week with little rhythm.
“It wasn’t our best week of practice, without a doubt,” he said. “We had moving parts trying to (play) guys at different (positions).”
“Our players are human,” McCarthy added.
Prescott’s struggles are one piece of the “pie” that owner and general manager Jerry Jones loves to talk about while deciding how to dole out contract extensions to Lamb, Prescott and running back Ezekiel Elliott, who rushed eight times for 10 yards.
The Commanders’ defensive line bullied the Cowboys up front all game. As a team, Dallas had 27 rushing attempts for 64 yards (2.4 yards per carry). A holding call killed a drive. Simple screens could not be completed.
Special teams was another factor the Cowboys must course-correct ahead of Tampa Bay. Punter Bryan Anger poorly set the tone by mishandling a snap after Dallas’ first possession, giving the Commanders the ball at the Cowboys 20-yard line. Returner KaVontae Turpin muffed a punt later in the first quarter to once again give Washington the ball in the red zone.
This is not all to completely absolve the defense. Commanders quarterback Sam Howell, in his first NFL start, threw a touchdown on his first dropback to Terry McLaurin. Later in the game, he and McLaurin connected for a 52-yard play that set up a field goal.
The Cowboys can look back on the regular season as a 12-5 club that was in contention for the most competitive division in football down to the final day. That’s one prism to look at Sunday’s result. But that would be ignoring the fact that too much went wrong for the Cowboys in the nation’s capital.
The corrections must come quickly. Or else the offseason will arrive faster.
“There’s no other choice,” Martin said. “We do this again, we’ll be sitting at home next week.”
Follow Chris Bumbaca on Twitter @BOOMbaca.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Cowboys, Dak Prescott continue troubling trend as Tom Brady awaits