Sports

Dallas Cowboys Hit With Brutal Callout Following Win Over Commanders

Nairavoice · Sep 21, 2026 · 2 min read

The Dallas Cowboys entered their home opener in Week 2 against the NFC East rival Washington Commanders badly needing a win. Starting off the 2026 season with an 0-2 record after losing to the New York Giants in Week 1 would have been devastating.

When all was said and done, Jerry Jones watched his team pick up the victory. The Cowboys ended up defeating the Commanders by a final score of 37-20.

Just before halftime, the Commanders suffered a major blow. Star quarterback Jayden Daniels went down with a dislocated left elbow after being stepped on by his own offensive lineman. Washington was never able to recover from that injury.

Even though Dallas was able to come through with the win, it wasn’t always pretty. One notable analyst and former NFL quarterback spoke out with a brutal callout for the Cowboys following the game.

Dallas Cowboys Face Brutal Callout After Defeating the Commanders

Former NFL quarterback Alex Smith, who is currently an analyst for ESPN, did not like what he saw defensively from Dallas. He called the team’s defense out during an appearance on “Get Up.”

“They gave up 200 yards rushing yesterday at home,” Smith said.

Coming into the 2026 NFL season, the defensive side of the football was the big question mark for the Cowboys. Jones and the front office attempted to fix some of the problems throughout the offseason. Clearly, they were not able to get that job done.

Allowing the Commanders to run for 182 yards on 32 carries isn’t going to cut it. They also allowed backup quarterback Marcus Mariota to come into the game and complete 11 of his 16 passes for 111 yards, a touchdown, and no interceptions.

Offensively, Dallas looked good. Dak Prescott threw for 279 yards and four touchdowns. But, the Cowboys are only going to get as far as their defense allows them to come playoff time.

There is still time for first-year defensive coordinator Christian Parker to get things figured out. A win is still a win, but Smith obviously saw problems on the defense. Dallas will need to fix those problems as the season moves forward.