As it turns out, the Commanders didn’t need Sunday’s win to clinch the sixth seed in the NFC playoffs. The Packers lost to the Bears before Terry McLaurin’s 5-yard touchdown catch gave the Commanders the lead with three seconds left.
Washington will finish as the six seed, avoiding a trip to Philadelphia in the wild-card round, with a 12-5 record. The Commanders head into the playoffs with a five-game winning streak.
McLaurin’s touchdown reception from Marcus Mariota, who replaced Jayden Daniels for the second half, was his 13th touchdown catch of the season. That is a single-season franchise record for receiving touchdowns. He caught eight passes for 62 yards.
The Cowboys dominated the yards (378-269) and time of possession (37:03-22:57) but went only 1-for-6 in the red zone with Trey Lance making his starting debut for the team.
Lance was 20-of-44 for 244 yards, with Jalen Tolbert catching four for 98. Rico Dowdle ran for 72 yards and a touchdown on 22 carries.
Dallas fell to 7-10 and now has a decision to make on Mike McCarthy’s future.
Daniels was only 6-of-12 for 38 yards before leaving at halftime as the Commanders had only 64 yards in the first half. Mariota went 15-of-18 for 161 yards and a touchdown and ran for 56 yards and a touchdown on five carries.
