The Cowboys shot themselves in the foot on national television Monday night. Two turnovers and some questionable coaching decisions turned the game into a 34-10 blowout loss. Being down your starting quarterback, half the offensive line, and key defensive pieces is certainly not ideal, either. They’re back on the road this week, which surprisingly is where all their wins have come, to face a dangerous Commanders team. The Dallas-Washington rivalry runs deep, and the Cowboys have won four of the last five, but nothing is promised with this team anymore.
The Commanders are on a two-game slide, but they have a chance to right the ship in their next three games (Cowboys, Titans, Saints). Their offense remains the catalyst, but it does seem noticeably slower since Jayden Daniels got hurt in Week 7, which has only highlighted issues on defense even more. Is there a chance that Dallas can kick the Commanders while they’re down here?
The Commanders have aligned in shotgun formations on 77% of their offensive snaps this season, the third-highest rate in the NFL. They have run the ball on a league-high 43.9% of plays from shotgun, averaging 5 yards per play, on par with the NFL average (5.1). In contrast, they have averaged 7.1 yards per pass play out of shotgun formations, the fourth most in the NFL.
The Cowboys are the only defense since at least 2018 to have allowed opposing rushers to gain more yards than expected on over half (50.6%) of their carries from shotgun formations.
