Washington Football Team: Three takeaways from Week 11 win vs. Cowboys
3. Defense made timely plays when it counted
It wasn’t a great first half for the Washington defense. Their No. 1-rated pass defense, which had been a talking point on the week, was exposed as the mirage that many fans expected it to be. Ronald Darby was guilty of being burnt on numerous occasions and allowed the Cowboys to stay in it as a result.
That said, Washington’s defense did come up with some big plays as well at critical times, especially in the second half.
It started when Jonathan Allen recovered an untimely fumble by Ezekiel Elliott at the start of the half. With Washington up 17-13, the fumble, forced by Daron Payne, was critical to helping Washington build a touchdown advantage. That led to the Cowboys playing from behind for most of the second half and opened up more pass rushing opportunities for Washington.
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As a result, Daron Payne and Tim Settle were able to get a couple of key third-down sacks later in the half. Those ended Dallas’ drives and chances to cut into what was then a close game at the time.
Most impressively though, the team had a key goal-line stand after a brutal Alex Smith interception where Jaylon Smith returned the ball inside the 5-yard line.
Ironically, the best defensive play of the sequence was Terry McLaurin tackling Smith short of the goal-line, as it looked like the Cowboys linebacker would have a chance to convert the pick into a TD, but McLaurin used every ounce of speed he had to track him down.
After that, the team stuffed a run, Jeremy Reaves snuffed out a reverse, and CeeDee Lamb couldn’t haul in a pass to score. The Cowboys had to settle for three points which preserved Washington’s lead and kept the pressure on Dalton and Co. to keep playing from behind. That kept the momentum with Washington and the same can be said of the strong work Khaleke Hudson did to sniff out a poorly-planned fake punt by the Cowboys that set up a late Washington score.
A bow was put on the strong second-half defense when Montez Sweat intercepted Andy Dalton and returned it for a touchdown. It was a great play by the athletic edge rusher and matched a similar play made earlier in the day by future Hall of Famer J.J. Watt. That was just gravy for Washington.
The defense had their warts, especially in the first half, but in the second half, the team looked great once again. As long as their defense can continue to make timely stops and key halftime adjustments, they should be able to perform well.