“When they last met” is an ongoing series during the NFL season, recalling the preceding game between Washington and the next opponent on the Commanders’ schedule.
Dallas 38, Washington 10 – Week 18, January 7, 2024
Ron Rivera’s last game as Washington’s head coach illustrated so well how far his program had fallen.
In his last game, Rivera and the Commanders were thumped by the Cowboys 38-10 at the then-FedEx Field in Landover.
The Cowboys were clearly the superior team, gaining 31 first downs, while the Commanders could only generate 12.
How bad were the Commanders? Dallas had 440 total yards, while Washington could only manufacture 180.
Remember that this was a Commanders team and coaching staff that had been thoroughly embarrassed just a month earlier, on Thanksgiving Day 45-10, by the same Cowboys team that was actually eating Turkey on the sidelines and laughing at the Commanders.
In this season finale, Dak Prescott was not challenged, not being sacked, completing 31 of 36 passes for 279 yards and four touchdown passes. Meanwhile, Commanders quarterback Sam Howell was being sacked four times, took seven more quarterback hits, and was intercepted twice.
Washington had played the Cowboys twice in a month and lost 45-10 and 38-10. The result seriously resembled what you see when the high school varsity team plays another high school team. The disparity of talent and intensity resulted in a boring second-half blowout. This game, like the entire season, like the Ron Rivera era, couldn’t end soon enough.
Rivera’s program was in total shambles (no exaggeration), and the fan base was actually relieved when it was over, knowing the Josh Harris ownership group was going to make wholesale changes.
