DALLAS (11-5) at WASHINGTON (4-12)
Sunday, 4:25 p.m. EST, Fox
BETTING LINE: Cowboys by 13 1/2, according to FanDuel Sportsbook.
AGAINST THE SPREAD: Cowboys 9-7; Commanders 6-9-1
SERIES RECORD: Dallas leads 77-48-2.
LAST MEETING: Cowboys beat Commanders 45-10 on Nov. 23 at Dallas.
LAST WEEK: Cowboys beat Lions 20-19; Commanders lost to 49ers 27-10.
COWBOYS OFFENSE: OVERALL (6), RUSH (14), PASS (4), SCORING (3)
COWBOYS DEFENSE: OVERALL (8), RUSH (20), PASS (5), SCORING (5)
COMMANDERS OFFENSE: OVERALL (21), RUSH (24), PASS (18), SCORING (23)
COMMANDERS DEFENSE: OVERALL (32), RUSH (25), PASS (31), SCORING (32)
TURNOVER DIFFERENTIAL: Cowboys plus-8; Commanders minus-12
COWBOYS PLAYER TO WATCH: WR CeeDee Lamb is 66 yards behind Miami’s Tyreek Hill for the NFL lead in yards receiving going into the final weekend. Lamb has set single-season franchise records for yards with 1,651 and catches with a league-leading 122. The fourth-year star is coming off a career day against the Lions. His 13 catches and 227 yards were personal bests. He scored a touchdown in an eighth consecutive game. Lamb is the first Dallas receiver with a TD streak that long.
COMMANDERS PLAYER TO WATCH: S Kam Curl. One of several pending free agents on defense, Curl has had plenty of ups and downs this season. Whether his future is with Washington or elsewhere, this is a final chance to show what he can do in coverage and making open-field tackles against an elite passing offense.
KEY MATCHUP: The Cowboys defense vs. Sam Howell. If this is anything like San Francisco or the New York Jets, Dallas will be able to feast on Howell’s mistakes and take advantage of Washington’s banged-up offensive line missing at least two starters. Howell has clearly worn down as the season has gone on and could be ripe for another pick-6 from DaRon Bland, who intercepted him and returned it for a TD on Thanksgiving to break the single-season NFL record.
KEY INJURIES: Cowboys DT Johnathan Hankins could return after missing three games with a sprained ankle. … Backup RB Rico Dowdle has returned to practice after sitting against Detroit with an ankle injury. … LG Tyler Smith tore the plantar fascia in a foot against Detroit. If he plays, it will likely be without practicing all week. Undrafted rookie T.J. Bass is the likely starter if Smith can’t play. … DE Dorance Armstrong was limping noticeably in the locker room Wednesday, the same day rookie DE Viliami Fehoko (knee) was activated from injured reserve. … The Commanders could be without a couple of veterans dealing with knee injuries: DT Jonathan Allen and CB Kendall Fuller. … Young DBs Christian Holmes (concussion) and Tarik Castro-Fields (shoulder) are also trending toward being out.
SERIES NOTES: The Cowboys have won 34 of 64 visits to Washington in franchise history. While Dak Prescott is 10-2 against the Commanders, each of the losses came on the road. That includes last season, when he had a career-worst completion rate of 37.8% (14 of 37) and his third-worst passer rating (45.8). Prescott did have a season-best 142.1 passer rating in Dallas’ win at home this season. He threw for 331 yards with four touchdowns and no interceptions.
STATS AND STUFF: The Cowboys can clinch the NFC East title with a victory. They are tied with defending division champion Philadelphia. The Eagles need a victory and a Dallas loss to be the first team to win the division back to back since they won four in a row from 2001-04. … A victory gives Dallas 12 wins for a third consecutive season. It’s a first for the club since four consecutive seasons at least 12 wins from 1992-95. The Cowboys won three Super Bowls in that stretch but haven’t even been to an NFC championship game since. … Dallas has a plus-122 point differential in NFC East games this season. That’s the second-highest for a team against division opponents since 2000. … Cowboys coach Mike McCarthy is 41-25 in the regular season. That’s the most wins for a Dallas coach in his first four seasons. … Prescott leads the NFL with 32 touchdown passes, five shy of his career high from 2021. The eighth-year pro made his third Pro Bowl. … LB Micah Parsons has half a sack over his past three games. The third-year pro has never gone four games without at least one sack. Parsons made his third Pro Bowl, the third Dallas defender to earn that honor each of his first three seasons. … Bland has gone four games with an interception but still leads the NFL with eight, including the record for pick-6s with five. … K Brandon Aubrey has the NFL record with 35 field goals without a miss to start a career. The 28-year-old rookie and former Major League Soccer prospect is tied with Gary Anderson (Minnesota, 1998) for the second-most field goals without a miss in a single NFL season. Mike Vanderjagt holds the record with 37 for Indianapolis in 2003. … The Commanders have lost seven in a row. They would get the second pick in the draft with a loss and a Patriots win or a loss and the Saints victory against the Falcons. … QB Sam Howell leads the NFL with 19 interceptions and has been sacked a league-high 61 times. His 585 passing attempts rank second. … Howell is set to be the first Washington QB to start every game of a season since Kirk Cousins in 2017. With 207 yards passing, he can also be the franchise’s first to 4,000 in a season since Cousins. … WR Terry McLaurin is 54 yards receiving away from a fourth consecutive 1,000-yard season.
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