The Washington Commanders fell to 7-5 on the season Sunday, falling 34-26 to the Dallas Cowboys at Northwest Stadium. It is the third loss in a row for Washington, including the second in a row at home.

It was a game in which literally no fouls were committed for three quarters before the two teams combined for 41 points in the fourth quarter. Thanks to the power of two kickoff returns for touchdowns, including one on a late kickoff, the Cowboys held on after the Commanders staged a furious rally and were poised to tie the game after Terry McLaurin’s 86-yard touchdown. Unfortunately, kicker Austin Seibert missed the potential extra point, ending Washington’s comeback.

What happened on Sunday? There is a lot to criticize about such a terrible performance. We identify six key takeaways from the loss.

Don’t be fooled by the latest insulting numbers

The Commanders finished with 412 total yards. Pretty impressive, right? Consider that 192 of those 412 yards came in the final five minutes when quarterback Jayden Daniels engineered three consecutive scoring drives. One of those was McLaurin’s 86-yard touchdown. That means Washington had a total of 230 yards through about 55 minutes of game action. In the first half, Washington blocked a punt and a field goal, forced a turnover and lived in Dallas territory. Yet the commanders only achieved three points.

Is this a Kliff Kingsbury problem? Or Jayden Daniels? Or will these personnel shortages at wide receiver and in Washington’s offense be made up for? Kingsbury has a chance to turn the tide on his transgressions in the second half of the season. Washington has five games remaining.

The defense failed when it mattered most

In some of the most critical moments of the game, the defense failed to come through. When Daniels scored a touchdown on Washington’s first drive of the second half, the Cowboys marched down the field and pulled ahead with a score of their own to take the lead. The Commanders faced a Dallas offense with three backups on the offensive line, a backup quarterback, a thin wide receiver room outside of CeeDee Lamb and the NFL’s second-worst rushing attack. Yet. Dallas moved the ball well, got first downs and the Commanders sacked Cooper Rush once. And that sack wasn’t a real sack, as Rush gave himself up to keep the clock running. It was an unacceptable defensive effort that saw Rush drop back for 32 passes, and the Commanders failed to make him uncomfortable all game. Remember, Dan Quinn and defensive coordinator Joe Whitt Jr. came from Dallas and have practiced against this offense for the past three years.

Team ultimately lost the turnover battle

Washington was able to get by without turning the ball over. On Sunday, the Commanders turned the ball over three times. Tight end John Bates’ fumble in the fourth quarter led directly to a Dallas touchdown that made it 20-9. The Cowboys were up by four points, and it looked like Daniels and the Commanders were about to finally get going when Bates fumbled. Dallas scored and the Commanders kept pushing and still could have won the game.

Bates is not the reason Washington lost, far from it. At some point, the turnover trend would turn against the commanders. That happened on Sunday and they lost.

Benjamin St-Juste’s crucial mistake

On the last play from scrimmage in the first half, Rush had one chance to get into field goal position and get the Cowboys on the scoreboard. What has he done? He targeted Benjamin St-Juste, who gave up a 41-yard reception to Jalen Brooks to set up a field goal that made the score 3–3 at halftime. Imagine if the Cowboys hadn’t kicked that field goal? The entire second half is different. It’s the latest mistake for St-Juste, who teams seemingly turn to every time they need a big play.

Safety Jeremy Chinn also played poorly, but this is par for the course for St-Juste. The commanders desperately need Marshon Lattimore to get healthy. What does this say about Emmanuel Forbes? He still can’t get on the field as St-Juste continues to struggle and Michael Davis is in front of him. Noah Igbinoghene also had a difficult match and scored two penalties. Still, this action before halftime should not be forgotten in a game full of Washington mistakes.

A catastrophe for a special team

Here is Washington’s special teams day:

• A field goal blocked

• A punt blocked

• Missed a field goal

• I missed two extra points, including one that would have tied the game with twenty seconds left

• This allowed KaVontae Turpin to return a punt 99 yards for a touchdown with about three minutes left

• Dallas returned Washington’s onside kick 43 yards for a touchdown

How is it possible that many things can happen to one team in a match? And yet the Commanders still had chances to win the game late or at least send it into overtime. Special teams have been positive all season, but on Sunday they were expensive. You can’t blame this on the coaching when you see Turpin’s return. Players missed Turpin. It was execution.

Dan Quinn continues to save Mike McCarthy’s job

It seems like Dallas coach Mike McCarthy is on the hot seat every year. Things changed when he hired Dan Quinn as his defensive coordinator in 2021. Thanks to Quinn quickly improving the defense, the Cowboys went 12-5 in each of Quinn’s three seasons as defensive coordinator. He saved McCarthy’s job.

Did he save McCarthy’s job again on Sunday?

The Commanders had no desire to lose this match. They were healthier, at home, and the better team. But every time Dallas tried to give them the game, Washington gave it back. A terrible performance, made even worse when you consider that Quinn should know McCarthy’s offense and personnel better than anyone. And why was Quinn so conservative? He had a few chances to be aggressive, which he did earlier in the season, and played it safe.

It was an embarrassing day for Dan Quinn.

This article originally appeared on Commanders Wire: 6 takeaways from Commanders’ 34-26 loss to Cowboys