What we learned: Cowboys were caught in no man’s land in Week 18

DALLAS — The regular season didn’t end on a pretty note for the Dallas Cowboys, who got humiliated by the Washington Commanders in Week 18. The loss comes with some good and bad news, however.

The good news is the game didn’t wind up meaning anything in the standings for the Cowboys, whose spot in the postseason was secured already and wouldn’t have changed after the results of Week 18, even if they had won. 

The bad news is the putrid performance in the blowout won’t provide any positives heading into their playoff matchup on Monday night.

And despite clearly wanting to win the game by virtue of playing their starters for the majority of the game, the Cowboys also escaped without much wear and tear ahead of an arduous playoff road. 

Ultimately, in the NFL, these types of games tend to come around occasionally and if Dallas gained experience from taking their lumps, they’ll be better off for it in the playoffs. Here’s what we learned about the Cowboys from their embarrassing Week 18 loss:

Since starting quarterback Dak Prescott returned from injury in Week 7, the Cowboys were the best third down conversion team in the league. Against the Commanders, that all changed. 

The Cowboys ended up with a pathetic 22% conversion rate on third downs in the loss and they were put in too many third-and-long situations to be successful on offense.

It didn’t help matters that offensive coordinator Kellen Moore kept banging his head against a wall with early down runs that didn’t get enough positive yards, but the trend of Prescott bailing out the offense ended in Week 18. 

If the Cowboys want to beat Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the playoffs, they’ll need to clean up the third down issues that they experienced against the Commanders.

The Cowboys lost center Tyler Biadasz to an ankle injury in Week 17, which prompted a shift in most of the offensive line. Rookie left tackle Tyler Smith moved to left guard, Connor McGovern slid to the center position and veteran Jason Peters got the start at left tackle. With three new moving pieces, the results were not good.

In the run game, the Cowboys could muster just 2.4 yards per carry and Prescott didn’t have much time in the pocket. Prescott was sacked just once, but he didn’t look comfortable all afternoon.

The Commanders do have one of the league’s best defensive lines with three first round picks lining up, so it wasn’t an easy task for a group starting their first game together in the current alignment. The lack of cohesiveness showed as the Cowboys couldn’t muster much offense and the offensive line needs to be better if Biadasz can’t return for the playoffs.

This hasn’t been just a Week 18 issue, but the Cowboys didn’t have enough receivers capable of creating separation against the Commanders. Washington’s defense knew that was the case and sat on some of the go-to routes for Dallas. Aside from WR CeeDee Lamb, the Cowboys had trouble creating space.

Prescott’s game wasn’t efficient at all, but he did find success connecting with Lamb, who was the only receiver capable of getting in open space. In throwing to Lamb, Prescott was 5-7 for 52 yards and a score.

Throwing to everyone else, the veteran QB went 9-30 for 76 yards. Prescott had accuracy trouble, but he also was throwing into some tight windows due to receivers being unable to separate from defenders. 

Either the scheme must get guys open space or the players must do a better job of finding room, because too many receivers lacking the ability to separate was one of the glaring problems with Dallas’ offense in Week 18 that will be exploited in the playoffs if not addressed.

The Cowboys have a solid defense, but offenses are starting to find the weak spots and are repeatedly attacking them. Teams know that the Cowboys want to let their pass rushers attack, so the game plan has called for misdirection and getting the ball out quicker. It worked on the first touchdown for the Commanders in their win and teams with mobile quarterbacks continue to hurt the Dallas defense.

Offenses are also noticing that Cowboys linebacker Anthony Barr isn’t as quick as he used to be and are targeting him in the middle of the field in the passing game. Isolating Barr on an offensive weapon is an easy way to move the chains and has been working more often down the stretch.

Another option is to throw at whichever wide receiver is lined up opposite of cornerback Trevon Diggs. The Cowboys lost two of their starting corners for the year and now offenses are picking on the other CBs. Diggs has been beaten some this season, but he’s also one of the game’s biggest ballhawks and it’s safer to throw away from him against the inexperienced Dallas corners. 

In Sunday’s loss, the Commanders threw at second year CB Nahshon Wright and veteran corner Trayvon Mullen with success. Throwing at anyone besides Diggs has become a favorite play for opposing offenses and it’s been successful. 

The Cowboys need to have an answer for these defensive issues and there isn’t much time to figure it out.

Do you think the Cowboys have learned their lessons ahead of the playoffs? Share your thoughts with Ben on Twitter @BenGrimaldi.