Week 14’s Cowboys vs WFT game – the good, bad and ugly

Week 14 of the 2021 NFL season brought the Dallas Cowboys ever so close to their first goal, a division championship. Sunday afternoon in the nation’s capital was a lot like the previous week’s victory over the New Orleans Saints.

The Cowboys are morphing into something that has not been seen within this franchise in many, many years. Dallas is becoming a defensive team that carries their offense.

For as long as most of us can remember, fans have clamored for just an average defense. The thought of a middle-of-the-pack defense to pair with the notoriously high-powered offense seemed like a recipe for success. Now, the defense is doing all the heavy lifting while the offense continues to struggle.

There is still time to figure it out. But, as each week goes by, the excitement of watching games is largely coming from when the Cowboys do not have the ball.

Next week, Dallas will face off against a struggling New York Giants offense which should provide even more entertainment on the defensive side of the ball. Before we look forward to next week’s divisional matchup, let’s take one last look at the good, the bad, and the ugly from the 27-20 win over Washington.

Cowboys vs. WFT: The Good = Defense

Last week’s “good” against New Orleans was the performance of the defense. What occurred this past Sunday deserves repeated accolades for the same group.

The Washington Football Team started off the game with the following:  a punt, an interception, a fumble, a punt, a punt, a punt, and a kneel down before half. Washington ran 32 plays and gained just 51 yards.

This Dallas dominance was brought to life in large part due to the defensive line finally being healthy again. Ends Demarcus Lawrence and Randy Gregory each produced a sack, as did tackle Neville Gallimore, who was playing in his first game of the season.

The star, once again, was linebacker Micah Parsons. Not only did he have a huge sack on a fourth down, which led to a fumble recovery for a touchdown, but he also led the defense in shutting down Washington’s running game.

Coming into the game, Washington had their rushing attack rolling. Washington averaged over 140 yards on the ground in their previous six games. In this game, however, they were held to just 100. Running back Antonio Gibson was limited to just 36 yards.

Parsons’ two sacks extended his personal streak of six straight games with a sack. With 12 on the year, he is just 2.5 sacks away from breaking the NFL record for a rookie. His play, along with the health of the defense is definitely something to be excited about.