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The Washington Commanders will enter Week 17 with the opportunity to register a 12-win season in the NFL.
Spurred on by the real-deal rookie QB, Jayden Daniels under centre, the Commanders will harbour hopes of a legitimate deep run into the play-offs.
Momentum is the key here and a road trip win vs Dallas would be perfect before further travels to either LA or Tampa Bay.
Sunday’s opponents have not hit the expected heights in 2024 and the Cowboys expectations for a postseason essentially hit the skids when QB Dak Prescott suffered a hamstring injury in Week 9.
Here at UKHTTC, we welcomed back UK Cowboys Fans to the blog to answer a few questions about the Dallas season, what is needed to improve in 2025 and predictions for the Sunday match-up.
UKHTTC: it has been an injury-hit roster for the Cowboys, which has pretty much derailed any hopes for a successful season. Is it a case of 'get healthy' in 2025 or are there any deeper issues to address?
Injury hit yes, however that isn't the only factor.
The Commanders and they who shall not be named (Eagles!) had a stronger showing in both free agency and through the draft.
Dallas had a second draft class miss in a row. That's our base of improving the team and it has not been working.
The Cowboys had multiple players taken from injury who've not performed to their own standards and that's not helping. All of these are issues of our own creating and we're not helping ourselves at all.
Who has been the Cowboys MVP this season?
There are three who stand out:
Brandon Aubrey (PK)
Bryan Anger (Punter)
DeMarvion Overshown (LB)
Highly paid WR CeeDee Lamb also improved with each game. Everyone else: average to poor in 2024.
Who has been a disappointment?
There's no player coming out of 2024 with a higher rating than they entered it with.
Last year we'd multiple all pro and Pro Bowl value players. Bar Aubrey this season and Overshown, until he got injured, none of our roster have been close.
Where can the Cowboys get some success vs the Commanders this Sunday?
No area springs to mind. Dallas will struggle to run the ball against the Commanders interior DL and the OL is shot to pieces. After Lamb, the Cowboys receivers and Tight Ends are depth pieces at best.
There is also a chance we play backup QB Trey Lance or even Will Grier, so you'll see turnovers come the way of the Commanders.
What are the priority needs in Dallas this off-season?
Pick a position and we've a need, with the exception of QB and WR1 and the specialists such as Aubrey and Anger.
2025 will have to be a retool for Dallas and a new head coach (spoiler alert) will have to choose an identity for this team.
There are several veterans who might not return and plenty of out of contract players whose time in Dallas is at an end. So rebuilding from the foundations up is essential next season.
Will there be a Head Coach change in Dallas this off-season?
For certain there will be.
Mike McCarthy isn't a bad head coach, but he was brought in for play-off success and that hasn't materialized.
Offensive play calling had been very poor for two seasons now and there's a predictability about Dallas that teams across the NFL can plan for.
Have you been surprised by the Commanders this season led by Dan Quinn?
No, not really.
A weak schedule and multiple one score victories have put Washington in a better-looking position than they possibly are as a team.
The success of this team will be more evident next year, when teams have a year of tape on your QB and whilst you've give cap room now for 2025 you've only a small number of contracted players, so retooling your roster will be key.
Dan Quinn is a great DC but not a great HC, he got Atlanta to a Superbowl but was that his or Kyle Shanahan’s doing? We will never know.
Score prediction for Sunday and tell us a little bit more about the UK Cowboys fans
Washington 34 Dallas 19 is my Sunday prediction.
We are the original UK Dallas Cowboys fan club, founded in 2014 by Jamie Smith and Lauren Draper Wood.
We've been going strong since then and up to recently were amongst the largest NFL UK groups. Due to a Twitter and Facebook hack we lost both accounts which had over 10k members each and we're trying to rebuild from a nil base.
The podcast has been in operation for six seasons now, twice a week, and we have a live draft coverage every year since 2020.
2021 was a particular highlight where we managed to get Stephen Jones (Executive vice president, CEO, and director of player personnel for the Dallas Cowboys) to join us for 30 minutes on draft day. He was open with us, and nothing was of the table.
In 2022 we also got Will McClay the defacto GM to join too and he was very engaging with us.
You can find us on all the usual social media channels and this off season will see a major drive from us to rebuild our fan base across all social media channels
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