Common-denominator Commanders: Dan Quinn, former Cowboys keep winning

The landscape of the Dallas-Washington rivalry has undergone a tectonic shift but this week’s contest will have some familiarity.

The Cowboys (3-7) need a win at Washington (7-4) on Sunday (1 p.m. ET, FOX) to avoid their first six-game losing streak since 2015, the year before Dallas drafted Dak Prescott. Shoot, Dallas didn’t even lose six games overall in any of the prior three seasons, finishing 12-5 each year from 2021-23. Over that three-year span, only Kansas City (37-14, .725) had a better regular-season record than Dallas (36-15, .706).

And during those prior three seasons, the Dallas defense was led by Dan Quinn. When Quinn left the Cowboys to become Washington’s head coach in January, he took with him Joe Whitt to serve as his first Commanders defensive coordinator. Two months later, Washington signed former Cowboys edge-rusher Dante Fowler. Including Washington’s 7-4 mark this season, Quinn, Whitt and Fowler – who has 8½ sacks in his first Commanders season – have gone 19-9 (.679) together since 2022.

Cowboys quarterback Cooper Rush was 5-2 as a starter while Whitt was the Dallas pass game coordinator and secondary coach, including a 25-10 win over Washington on Oct. 2, 2022, in which Fowler sacked Carson Wentz. While Quinn acknowledges the history of the rivalry, he and several former Cowboys, including defensive end Dorance Armstrong, center Tyler Biadasz and receiver Noah Brown – who caught the winning pass from Jayden Daniels in the Daniels Miracle Victory – won’t lionize one game. This one counts just as much toward their ultimate goal.

“For me and for the guys, man, it’s Washington-Dallas Week. Let’s get down,” Quinn said Wednesday. “I don’t make one too often bigger than another. I just think they’re all really important, and we absolutely go after it as hard as we can.”

Lamb nearing rarified air: Cowboys wide receiver CeeDee Lamb needs three receptions and one touchdown catch on Sunday to reach 70 catches and five touchdowns on the season. He would become the first player in ever with at least 70 receptions and five-or-more touchdown catches in each of his first five NFL seasons. In each of his last four games against Washington, including that 2022 victory with Rush as quarterback, Lamb has caught a touchdown pass.

Dual-threat Daniels: Among all rookies this season, Daniels ranks third with 482 rushing yards. He needs 18 more on Sunday to become the first rookie quarterback since Kyler Murray in 2019 to reach 500.

For more information on the Commanders and Cowboys, visit the Washington and Dallas team pages at ProFootballPost.com.