The Cowboys ended their regular season with a poor showing in Washington.
Nobody enjoyed Sunday’s Dallas Cowboys game. Nobody on this side of things, at least.
The Cowboys played to win against the Washington Commanders, but the manner with which they played certainly suggests that their minds and motivations may have been elsewhere. We spent a lot of time last week talking about how they could capture the NFC East crown or top seed in the conference, but based on the vanilla-style nature that they showed at FedEx Field, the Cowboys may have accepted fate before anybody else.
We discussed everything from Sunday’s loss on the latest episode of The Postgame on the Blogging The Boys podcast network. Make sure to subscribe to our network so you don’t miss any of our shows! Apple devices can subscribe here and Spotify users can subscribe here.
Even if you somehow believe that the Cowboys punted a bit against the Commanders it is no excuse for how discombobulated they looked. The season is not doomed (as evidenced by them being favored in their Wild Card matchup) but they have a lot to turn around if they want to be playing next weekend.
There were no stock ups to hand out after the regular season finale. Let’s get this over with.
Stock Down: Mike McCarthy
Mike McCarthy and Co. might have said all of the right things last week (playing to win, wanting momentum, etc.) while understanding that this game offered them nothing significant in all likelihood. Look at the Los Angeles Chargers as an example. They played starters almost all of the way through their Week 18 game and did so with actually nothing to gain from a seeding standpoint. Wide receiver Mike Williams was banged up and now that is something that the team has to deal with moving into the playoffs.
Back to the Cowboys though, even if McCarthy and staff were fine taking the loss, you can do so without looking completely broken. It all falls on him and this week it was all bad.
Stock Down: Kellen Moore
Again, if the Cowboys were purposefully being vanilla on offense then it is difficult to blame Kellen Moore for much; however, you cannot look that unorganized as an NFL team.
It feels like the Kellen Moore vitriol has gotten a bit out of hand. While Sunday was not good for the most part the Cowboys have been one of the very best offenses in the NFL this season. Kellen Moore does not have zero to do with that.
But that is the person that we need to see every week regardless of the circumstances (shout out Jason Garrett).
Stock Down: Dak Prescott
There is not anything to say that hasn’t been said already. The interceptions have to stop. You think that they would just based on some sort of regression. But that isn’t coming. Only more is coming. More and more and more and more.
Next week is going to go a long way in determining the perception of Dak Prescott.
Stock Down: Ezekiel Elliott and Tony Pollard
In their defense, the Cowboys were operating without Tyler Biadasz (more on that in a moment) which certainly made life more difficult than they are used to. Still, though, a big strength of this team for a long time has been their ability to run the ball.
Tony Pollard picked up his 1,000 yards on the season, but other than that this was a pretty blah affair.
Stock Down: Michael Gallup
Obviously he is coming back from injury but it has not been the most fun season ever for Michael Gallup. He caught one pass off of six targets on Sunday.
Stock Down: Life Without Tyler Biadasz
The Cowboys played this game without their starting center and very clearly missed him. All due respect to Connor McGovern, life without Tyler Biadasz was just not the same considering it caused so many changes across the line as a whole.
Stock Down: Micah Parsons
There is no denying that he is one of if not the best player on the entire team, but Parsons has been a little bit absent as of late, at least relative to the expectation that he has built for himself in the NFL. We are moving past what we saw against the Commanders, but him being his usual self is going to be something that has to happen if the Cowboys want to succeed.
Stock Down: Non-Trevon Diggs Cornerbacks
Who would have thought that Trayvon Mullen wouldn’t automatically save the day? The Cowboys are thin at cornerback and a big reason why are the injuries to Jourdan Lewis and Anthony Brown which happened some time ago. There is nowhere to run now. It has to get better or everyone will be at home.
Stock Down: Bryan Anger
This is simple. You can’t turn the ball over.
Stock Up: Health For The Playoffs
Remember earlier when I said there was no stock up? I lied.
Technically I didn’t, though. This stock up has to do with the team as a whole as opposed to the game that they just lost. It is possible that they get Leighton Vander Esch, Johnathan Hankins, and Tyler Biadasz all back for the playoffs.
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