What little hope Dallas Cowboys fans had for Sunday's game against the Washington Commanders was swiftly vaporized once the team's inactives were revealed. The Cowboys are without a trio of All-Pros, including guards Zack Martin and Tyler Smith, and cornerback Trevon Diggs.
It's far from ideal, but with Dan Quinn looking to make a statement against his former team, it made for a worse-case scenario. The Commanders are 7-4 and are primed to make the playoffs for the first time in years. They were bound to go all-out to put a beatdown on the Cowboys.
We'll see how the game unfolds, but Quinn sent a not-so-subtle message to Dallas pregame in the form of Washington's Week 12 captains. They are a trio of former Cowboys: defensive end Dante Fowler, center Tyler Biadasz and cornerback Noah Igbinoghene.
Related: Dan Quinn subtly trolls Cowboys with surprise roster move before Week 12 game
The Commanders won the toss and wisely deferred. To the surprise of everyone, though, Mike McCarthy scripted a gorgeous opening drive that had Dallas primed to put points on the board.
It was nearly the perfect response to Quinn's troll job, but Jalen Tolbert dropped a perfect pass from Cooper Rush on 3rd-and-5 to ruin the drive. Brandon Aubrey came out for a chip-shot field goal and it was blocked.
Jalen Tolbert ruined Cowboys' excellent response to Dan Quinn's pregame troll job
Brandon Aubrey’s field goal is blocked‼️
— FOX Sports: NFL (@NFLonFOX) November 24, 2024
(via @Commanders)
pic.twitter.com/qUPnDMpYeH
That the Cowboys' field goal operation is no longer a sure thing is a perfect (and depressing) encapsulation of this season.
It all goes back to Tolbert's drop on third down. Tolbert was draped in coverage, but Rush gave him a perfect ball in traffic and he flat-out dropped it.
The Cowboys gained 43 yards on their first three plays: an 8-yard CeeDee Lamb reception, and 11-yard Lamb run and a 24-yard catch and run by Luke Schoonmaker, who got the start today with Jake Ferguson out with a concussion.
A touchdown on the opening drive after Quinn appointed three former Cowboys as Washington's captains would have been the perfect response.
While there's no guarantee Dallas would have scored - their red zone offense has been a disaster all season - they would've had 1st-and-goal if Tolbert made the play. McCarthy cooked up a fantastic opening set of plays, so you would have liked the offense's odds of finding the end zone.
Tasked with defending a short field, the Cowboys held Washington to a field goal on the ensuing drive. There is no excuse for the field goal getting blocked, but Tolbert's drop will be looked back at the turning point if Dallas is unable to defeat Quinn.