Commanders key numbers: Turkeys weren't the only thing roasted on Thanksgiving

What key numbers emerged from a Thanksgiving Day thrashing for the Washington Commanders against the Dallas Cowboys?

The Dallas Cowboys carved up the Washington Commanders defense all game en route to a resounding 45-10 victory on Thanksgiving. The dinner table wasn't the only place there was stuffing, as Dan Quinn's defense stifled the visiting offense for much of the contest.

Dak Prescott feasted on the Commanders' underperforming defense, hitting wide receivers all over the field with his Thanksgiving spread offense.

But enough of the Turkey Day puns. In all seriousness, the Commanders lost their second straight NFC East game and it wasn't even close.

Should we be surprised? Coming in as 13.5 point underdogs, not much was expected of the Commanders. Even then, their performance was a letdown.

After the Dallas offense turned a 2nd-and-25 into a 3rd-and-7 and then an eventual first down during an 11-play, 90-yard touchdown drive, we knew it was going to be a long day. However, with back-to-back scoring efforts, the Commanders gave a slight sense of hope to the fans, cutting the Cowboys' lead to four.

That hope dissipated quickly after the Cowboys offense went 75 yards in five plays to take a 20-10 advantage before halftime. And, that is when the scoring stopped for Washington.

I'm not sure if the team was strategizing in the locker room at the half or watching the Dolly Parton concert, but the Cowboys piled it on after the breaky. This enabled them to achieve their fifth straight home game victory by 20-plus points.

And the worst part? The Cowboys already had their post-game celebration planned out in advance, knowing full well that Washington would present no challenge on Thursday.

Well, at least Commanders' fans can be grateful that the season is closer to being over and change should be coming soon. Here are the key numbers from Week 12.

The Good: Commanders offense had more balanced play-calling

376: The Washington Commanders finished the game with 376 yards of offense, which is the first time the Dallas Cowboys defense has allowed more than 300 yards since their Week 5 loss to the San Francisco 49ers.

In fact, over the past two weeks, the Cowboys have only allowed 187 and 172 total yards of offense respectively.

100: Curtis Samuel had a big game, finishing with nine receptions for 100 receiving yards. His nine receptions surpassed how many he has had the past three weeks, and his yardage matched the same amount he has had in his previous five games combined.

This was also his first 100-yard receiving game since signing with Washington during 2021 free agency.

46.6: Although the Commanders are in the bottom half of the league in third-down conversion percentage, they converted 7-of-15 attempts (46.6%) against the Cowboys - including a 30-yard pass from Sam Howell to Samuel on 3rd-and-10, a 15-yard strike to Jahan Dotson on 3rd-and-10, and a 29-yard reception to Cole Turner on 3rd-and-7.

6.4: After seeing no carries in three straight games, Chris Rodriguez Jr. has once again shown he can be a contributor, averaging 6.4 yards per carry over the last two contests. He finished Thursday's game with four rushes for 21 yards, and definitely deserves to get a bigger share of touches.

The Bad: How many times can we say Commanders defense before it gets old?

0: 0 represents the number of points the Washington Commanders scored in the second half, finishing their drives with a turnover on downs, punt, turnover on downs, turnover on downs, an interception returned for a touchdown, and the end of the game.

0 also represents the number of times the offense got into the red zone in the second half and the number of fourth-down conversions the Commanders had all game. 0:00 is also the amount of time the Dallas Cowboys have trailed at home this season, and Washington did nothing to change that.

13: The Commanders defense gave up 13 big plays (passes of 15+ yards/runs of 10+ yards) against the Cowboys, four of which directly resulted in touchdowns. The defense gave up passes of 15 (2), 16, 18, 24, 25, 31 (2), 34, and 35 yards and runs of 10, 14, and 27 yards. Those 13 plays represented over 68 percent of Dallas' total offense in the game.

6-0: Dak Prescott is now 6-0 at home against Washington, during which time he has 17 touchdowns and no interceptions. The quarterback finished the game with 331 passing yards, four touchdowns, and a 142.1 passer rating against the Commanders - complete domination from start to finish.

2: Sam Howell has now thrown pick-sixes two weeks in a row. He had a one last time out late in the fourth quarter, which ended any chances of a comeback.

This week, Howell threw a pick-six to DaRon Bland, who made history with his NFL-record fifth interception taken to the house this season. Even if the signal-caller doesn't make the Pro Football Hall of Fame, the ball from his interception might make its way to Canton.

With the next two games against the Miami Dolphins and Los Angeles Rams, Commanders fans will get a chance to reminiscence about what could have been, facing off against two former Washington assistants in Mike McDaniel and Sean McVay.

Adding insult to injury is the fact that the Commanders just did something that hadn't been done in 57 games.

It's going to be a long 10 days before the team's next game against the Dolphins.