The Good, Bad and Ugly, NFL Week 17: Cowboys’ Offense Provides Holiday Cheer

Some of the defensive play was uglier than your favorite Christmas sweater, but Thursday’s first game was closer than many expected.

Dak Prescott and the Cowboys came out on top in the first game of the Christmas tripleheader. / Amber Searls-Imagn Images

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1. Good: Cowboys’ offense provides holiday cheer amid lost season 
2. Bad: Cowboys let Commanders hang around with 72-yard TD run
3. Ugly: Washington will have a tough time fixing its defense

Some of what we saw from the Cowboys’ and Commanders’ defenses was uglier than your favorite Christmas sweater, but the meaningless game with no playoff implications wasn’t as bad as many fans probably expected.

Instead of getting a blowout to kick off the first of three games on Christmas, the Cowboys’ defense decided to make it interesting by allowing Jacory Croskey-Merritt to take off for a 72-yard touchdown run to bring the Commanders back within a touchdown in the third quarter. But Dallas added a couple more field goals from Brandon Aubrey to eventually put away Washington, 30–23.

In the second Christmas game, the Lions will look to keep their slim playoff hopes alive in Minnesota. Detroit’s struggling defense will face undrafted rookie quarterback Max Brosmer. On Christmas night, the Broncos will be at Arrowhead Stadium to face the postseason-eliminated Chiefs with unheralded quarterback Chris Oladokun making his starting debut.

The weekend slate will offer more appealing games with plenty of playoff implications. The Chargers host the Texans for the first of two games on Saturday. The winner of that one will make one final push for a division title while the loser should get comfortable with the idea of being a wild-card team. 

On Saturday night, the Packers will welcome the Ravens to Lambeau in a matchup that might not include Jordan Love and Lamar Jackson. Green Bay requires a victory to clinch a playoff spot and Baltimore needs to win its final two games of the regular season and for Pittsburgh to lose out for a chance at the AFC North title. 

We might get a Super Bowl preview on Sunday when the Bills host the Eagles. We’ll also get an intriguing Sunday Night Football showdown between the 49ers and the visiting Bears.

Let’s assess all the action, starting with the Christmas tripleheader. 

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Good: Cowboys’ offense provides holiday cheer amid lost season 

Apparently, I was the only one who enjoyed the Zoom call with Cowboys legend Emmitt Smith during Netflix’s broadcast, because many on social media were upset about the random in-game interview taking up a sizable chunk of game time.

I thought hearing Smith’s stories were better than watching the Commanders’ awful defense in the first half, but fine, let’s highlight the Cowboys’ high-scoring offense instead. 

Dak Prescott had no issues moving the ball on Washington coach Dan Quinn’s defense early. Dallas’s first three drives resulted in 240 yards and three touchdowns. Prescott (19-of-37, 307 yards, 2 TDs) connected with the speedy KaVontae Turpin for an 86-yard touchdown bomb that gave Dallas an 18-point advantage in the second quarter. At that point, it would have been better to watch a Christmas movie on Netflix. Then again, those upset about the in-game interview with Smith likely watched the entirety of this Christmas game filled with bad defenses. (Oh, the power of fantasy football championship week.) 

But I’ll stop being negative about the product on the field because the Cowboys’ offense (480 total yards) gave its fans something to cheer about amid another disappointing season. If Dallas (now 7-8-1) can fix its defense—at least it’s not as bad as Washington's defense—this team could make some real noise in 2026 after the offense produced a 4,000-yard passer, a 1,000-yard rusher (Javonte Williams) and a pair of 1,000-yard receivers (George Pickens and CeeDee Lamb) in Brian Schottenheimer’s first season as head coach.

Bad: Cowboys let Commanders hang around with 72-yard TD run

The Cowboys needed to play situational football after allowing Washington back in the game with Croskey-Merritt’s long touchdown run with 9:34 in the third quarter. 

Dallas went from potentially cruising in a blowout to having to deal with a one-score game in the second half because the poor defense gave the Commanders a one-play touchdown drive that took only 10 seconds off the game clock. From there, all Prescott and his offense could produce were three consecutive field goal attempts, with Aubrey going two-of-three on the kicks. 

By failing to score touchdowns in the second half, the Cowboys were forced to trust their bad defense not to let the game get closer than a touchdown. Prescott eventually came through when he killed enough clock on the final drive, but situational football could have easily been avoided if the defense hadn’t allowed the one-play scoring drive.  

Ugly: Washington will have a tough time fixing its defense

Have I mentioned that the Commanders (4–12) have a terrible defense? Well, let’s talk about it again because this team is going nowhere next season, even with a healthy Jayden Daniels, if the Washington decision-makers don’t make defensive upgrades. 

Washington can look at Dallas for reasons why being a one-sided team doesn’t work in the NFL. The Cowboys can light up the scoreboard, but they’ll be taking their winter vacation at the same time as the Commanders.

But the Cowboys have a better path to repairing their defense because of the draft picks they gained in the Micah Parsons trade with the Packers. The Commanders lost picks due to the acquisitions of Deebo Samuel and Laremy Tunsil. 

Washington, however, just needs an average defense that takes a bend-but-don’t-break approach because Daniels is capable of guiding a productive offense if he stays healthy in 2026. The Commanders will likely draft an edge rusher with their top-10 draft pick in April. They should also consider trading cornerback Marshon Lattimore and defensive tackle Daron Payne to gain draft picks. 

This team is in desperate need of young defensive talent, especially after what this unit showed on Christmas. 

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