The Washington Redskins traveled to Arlington, Tex., on Sunday, Dec. 29, 2019, to face the Dallas Cowboys in the final week of the regular 2019 NFL season. The Redskins entered this game 3-12 on the season after losing in overtime to the New York Giants last week and are guaranteed the second draft pick after losing this game as well. Dallas came into this week 7-8, still hoping to clinch the NFC East with a victory over the Redskins and a Philadelphia loss to the Giants. Only one of these scenarios proved to be true at the end of the game as Philadelphia emerged victorious.
Dallas opened the game with possession and went three-and-out in their opening drive before causing the Redskins to turn over the ball in their opening drive after Jaylon Smith intercepted a pass from Case Keenum. Dallas converted the turnover into three points in the next drive when Kai Forbath kicked a 28-yard field goal to put the Cowboys on the board first, 3-0, with eight-and-a-half minutes on the clock.
Dallas gained early possession yet again after Adrian Peterson fumbled a pass from Keenum and Xavier Woods recovered the ball for a nine-yard return. Dallas again capitalized on the turnover with a field goal kick, this time from 47 yards out. The Redskins kept possession of the ball for the rest of the first quarter and the Cowboys kept the lead, 6-0.
The Redskins were unable to convert their first possession of the second quarter into any points and on the Cowboys’ opening drive, Prescott fumbled the ball after being sacked and Shaun Dion Hamilton recovered the fumble to give possession right back to the Redskins. Washington put their first points on the board after Dustin Hopkins kicked a 31-yard field goal to close the lead to three points, 6-3.
In the next Dallas drive, Prescott connected with Amari Cooper for a 48-yard pass that set the offense up for a 13-yard touchdown pass between Prescott and Ezekiel Elliott, extending the Dallas lead to 10 points, 13-3.
The teams exchanged downs in the next three possessions before Dallas scored again when Elliott rushed the ball for a 33-yard touchdown with four minutes left to play in the half, adding another seven points to the score.
Washington answered in their next drive and put their first touchdown on the board after Keenum connected with Steven Sims, Jr. for the six-yard pass with 34 seconds on the clock and a 10-point deficit going into halftime.
The Redskins had possession to open the second half of the game and finished the opening drive with Hopkins kicking another field goal, this time from 42 yards out and closing the gap in the lead to seven points, 20-13.
Dallas came alive in their opening drive after Prescott rushed the ball for 23 yards and then threw a 17-yard pass to Cooper before throwing a four-yard touchdown pass to Michael Gallup a couple of plays later and extending the lead to 14, 27-13 with 8:17 on the clock.
In the next Redskins possession, Keenum connected with Sims for a 65-yard run to bring Washington to the Dallas 10-yard line. However, the Redskins could not get through the Dallas defense to reach the end zone and Hopkins put up a 28-yard field goal to close out the drive, closing the lead to 11 points, 27-16.
The Cowboys wouldn’t let the field goal go unanswered and put up one of their own when Forbath kicked a 48-yard field goal, bringing the lead back to 14 points with 4:11 in the quarter, 30-16. The back-and-forth scoring stopped in the next possession when Washington went three-and-out, but Prescott connected with Gallup for a 32-yard touchdown in the Cowboys’ next possession and extended the lead to 37-16 to start the fourth quarter.
The Redskins had possession of the ball when the fourth quarter started, but they were unable to convert the drive into any points, and Dallas put a touchdown on the board in their opening drive after Prescott and Gallup connected again, this time for 45 yards and went wide open in the score, 44-16.
The Cowboys would put another field goal up before the end of the game when Forbath kicked the ball from the 40-yard line, extending the lead by another three points, 47-16, with just under three minutes to play. The score would remain unchanged for the rest of the contest. Dallas solidly handled Washington and finished their season 8-8.
At the same time Dallas was wrapping up the victory in Texas, Philadelphia was also widening the gap between themselves and the Giants, all but winning the game with a little over five minutes to play. The Dallas victory was futile with a Philadelphia victory and the Cowboys’ season ended with this game regardless of the victory. It just didn’t end with a losing season, but instead a .500 season.
The #DallasCowboys end the 2019 season with a W.@WinStarWorld | #WASvsDAL pic.twitter.com/5jMaekTDnS
— Dallas Cowboys (@dallascowboys) December 30, 2019
