Cowboys vs Commanders Week 18: history, key players, projection

Cowboys vs Commanders: Gut projection

Projection: Dallas Cowboys 27, Washington Commanders 13

In a repeat of the same score as last week, the Cowboys take this one to move to 13-4 on the year and 5-1 in the NFC East, the best of any of the four teams. This may be the same score, but it won’t feel as ugly and sloppy as the Thursday night win against Tennessee did.

This will be a bit of a boring game as the Cowboys are the better team in this one on both sides of the ball, especially facing a team with a rookie quarterback making his first start paired with a defense that has nothing to play for. Dallas should try to lean on that skill and wear on Washington over the course of the game.

Suspect Dallas to do what they can to get a comfortable first half lead and then try to call off the dogs a little bit in an effort to rest guys for the playoffs. Mike McCarthy will want the starters to look sharp and have some confidence entering the playoffs but knows protecting guys will quickly become the most important task at hand.

The Dallas defense will get two or three turnovers in this one due to flustering Howell and capitalize on those with ease. The field will be a bit sloppy and this game will go quietly into the evening without too many question marks.

The biggest question mark left becomes the Eagles and Giants matchup. Dallas knows crazier things have happened and will do what is needed to win this game and give themselves a shot at the NFC East title and a home playoff game in the event the Eagles falter.

3 Cowboys with everything to gain from 2022 season finale

The Cowboys can potentially claim the No. 1 seed and the NFC East in the 2022 finale. These players, in particular, have everything to gain from the game.