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Daily Slop – 18 Nov 24: Injured, struggling & traveling on a short week, Cowboys may offer a ‘get right’ opportunity for post-TNF Commanders

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Philadelphia Eagles v Dallas Cowboys
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Washington Post (paywall)

What we’ve learned about the Commanders — and what they still need to prove

Two losses in less than a week slightly tarnished Washington’s stellar first half of the season and brought about a handful of questions on what to expect over the final six games.

The Washington Commanders’ early-season hot streak led by rookie quarterback Jayden Daniels has fizzled. A sloppy defeat to the visiting Pittsburgh Steelers on Nov. 10 followed by a tepid response in a loss at the Philadelphia Eagles on Thursday dropped Washington back to reality at 7-4.

The Commanders have a quarterback, but neither he nor the offense is a finished product.

This is obvious, but it’s worth repeating. Daniels has moxie and a skill set that have instilled hope of a long-term turnaround in Washington. But he is still a rookie and still adjusting. Where he goes, the team goes.

The defense has some studs.

Edge rusher Dante Fowler Jr. is one of them: Entering Sunday, his 8.5 sacks ranked third in the NFL. So is linebacker Frankie Luvu, a free agent who signed a three-year contract with Washington to help set a foundation and be a staple for the future. The team’s plan for Luvu was for him to do a little of everything. So far, so good. Through Week 11, Luvu has seven sacks, 41 run stops, two pass breakups, a forced fumble and two fumble recoveries.

[S]econd-round draft pick Mike Sainristil has quickly developed into a key asset who can play multiple spots. He was drafted to be the nickelback but shifted outside because of injuries and performance issues elsewhere in the secondary. Now the question is whether he’ll shift back inside when cornerback Marshon Lattimore (hamstring) is healthy.

And then there’s safety Jeremy Chinn, who has starred in the past few games. Chinn has 39 tackles, one interception and a fumble recovery since Week 9, becoming one of Washington’s defensive leaders and top playmakers.

Can Daniels rediscover his dynamic play?

Daniels hasn’t seemed quite himself since his injury. But he insists he’s healthy enough to do all that he’s capable of on the field.

“If I wasn’t, I wouldn’t be on the field right now,” he said Thursday night.

But something is amiss. In Daniels’s first six games, he led all starting quarterbacks in completion percentage (75.3) and averaged 53.7 rushing yards. In his past four games, he’s at 59.5 percent and averaging 27.5 rushing yards.

Commanders Wire

Commanders’ Brian Robinson reaches a franchise milestone

With his 63 rushing yards against the Eagles in Thursday night’s 26-18 loss, Brian Robinson surpassed 2,000 career rushing yards. No, he is not among the top leading rushers in the NFL. However, Robinson is revealing that he is a productive dual threat.

Robinson not only reached 2,000 rushing yards in his third season (with six remaining games), but he also became the fourth running back in Washington Redskins/Commanders franchise history to hit 2,000 rushing yards and 500 receiving yards in his first three seasons in the NFL.

Sports Illustrated

Commanders’ Hiring of Coach Dan Quinn Another Misstep by Cowboys

The Washington Commanders appear to have hit a home run giving Dan Quinn his second run at being an NFL head coach, and the Dallas Cowboys lost out because of it.

“What they really should have done was axe (Cowboys coach Mike) McCarthy earlier and made Dan Quinn stay,” Chris Long said on his Green Light with Chris Long (Yote House Media) program.

After Quinn took the job with the Commanders he also took coach Joe Whitt Jr. with him to be his defensive coordinator. That left Dallas needing someone to run the defense that Quinn and Whitt had helped craft into one of the best in the league, and it turned to Mike Zimmer for the job.

At the time some thought Zimmer would make Quinn’s unit even better and would never get gashed on the ground the way the Cowboys were in their playoff exit game against the Green Bay Packers specifically.

10 weeks into the NFL season Dallas is giving up the 24th most rushing yards per play and the most passing yards per play when compared to the other 32 teams. Safe to say those assumptions have fallen short.

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Blogging the Boys

Cowboys roundtable: loss to the Eagles, the QB position, and this week’s game on MNF

Our writers provide their opinions on the latest Dallas Cowboys news during our weekly review on the Roundtable.

Things look bleak at the quarterback position with both Cooper Rush and Trey Lance failing against the Eagles. What can Mike McCarthy do to turn things around for next week’s game?

The Cowboys offense produce five turnovers last week against the Eagles. Cooper Rush failed to keep hold of the ball and fumbled snaps during the game, while Trey Lance helped add to the tally with an interception. Between both quarterbacks they produced 66 passing yards, zero touchdowns and averaged a passer rating of 47.1.

Brian: The best thing Mike McCarthy could probably do to improve the QB situation is to go to more of a read-option game plan with Trey Lance. Taking advantage of Lance’s athleticism and what he can do with his legs may be the only way to provide a little bit of a spark to the offense moving forward. Even that’s probably not enough to turn things around though.

Howman: Short of discovering a Lazarus Pit and dragging Dak Prescott into it, nothing. Cooper Rush is the top option right now because he knows the offense really well and has chemistry with the receivers, but he lacks any real physical gifts. Trey Lance is the exact opposite, loaded with raw talent but lacking any of the fundamentals you need to quarterback effectively in the NFL.

Tom: Nice comic book reference, Howman. However, this is just an unsolvable puzzle for Dallas. Rush just looks to have lost whatever he had in the past when he could rise to some heroics. Playing Lance and trying to come up with something like read-options to give him a chance seems the only reasonable path forward, but this question begs another: will Mike McCarthy even try to do the best for the team? He is moving from lame duck to crippled pigeon, and with how snappish Jerry Jones was about the alignment of celestial bodies after the Eagles debacle, it is not improbable that McCarthy will be gone before the end of the season.

RJ: Honestly at this point it is difficult to believe that anything can be salvaged from this mess. I think we are resigned to the fact that we are simply watching grains of sand drip through the hourglass.

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