Where to watch Cowboys vs. Commanders: TV channel, live stream, prediction, pick, odds, spread

The Week 7 matchup between the Washington Commanders (3-3) and Dallas Cowboys (2-3-1) at AT&T Stadium isn’t a game that could officially knock either team out of the playoffs, but it has some of those vibes.

Both teams blew fourth-quarter leads and lost on game-winning field goals as time expired in Week 6: the Cowboys suffered a 30-27 loss to the Carolina Panthers after leading 24-20 in the fourth quarter, and the Commanders suffered a 25-24 loss to the Chicago Bears after leading 24-16 in the fourth quarter. There are 10 teams in the NFC entering Week 7 with two or fewer losses, so a loss here will set the loser of this game back early in the second third of the 2025 season.

“We have to win. We have to win this game,” Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott said Thursday. “We have to improve in every aspect, and we have to win in the fourth quarter. I understand where some of these losses came late. We have to expect to win. We have to do what’s necessary and just win.”

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Dallas enters Week 7 as the most Jekyll and Hyde team in the NFL: They are the No. 1 total offense (387.5 total yards per game) and No. 3 offense (29.7 points per game) while also being the second-worst defense (30.7 points per game allowed) and worst total defense (411.7 total yards per game allowed). the Cowboys offense will continue to look to continue in Week 7.

“That’s my standard. [getting points on every possession]. That’s our standard: That’s what we think we can do, what we hope to do,” Prescott said. “So I don’t think it’s any added pressure because of our defense’s early struggles. First, we must trust them. We’re going to do our job, that’s part of being a pro: doing your job and trusting the man next to you will do his. … When we get off the field, if we don’t score or if we get in the red zone and get a field goal and not a touchdown, that whole group is pissed and dissatisfied. …It’s because we expect it and because we have the capacity. …Hell, it’s certainly not unrealistic. I feel like I have to score every time. I feel like I have to complete every pass. …You better feel that way and you better think that way.

Both teams will be without two of their most impactful players on Sunday, with Commanders Pro Bowl wide receiver Terry McLaurin (quad) and Cowboys Pro Bowl cornerback Trevon Diggs (concussion) both ruled out Friday.

Where to Watch Commanders vs. Cowboys Live

• When: Sunday October 19 | Time: 4:25 p.m. ET
• Or: AT&T Stadium – Arlington, Texas
• TV: Fox | Flow: Fubo (try for free)
• Follow: CBS Sports app
• Odds: Commanders -1.5; O/U 54.5 (via FanDuel Sports Betting)

Cowboys versus commanders: what you need to know

How will Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott split the football defense against Dan Quinn with WR CeeDee Lamb joining George Pickens in the lineup?

Prescott threw 10 touchdowns and no interceptions in the three games Lamb missed from Weeks 4-6 after suffering a sprained ankle in a Week 3 loss to the Chicago Bears. He was able to continue producing a prolific clip because of how explosive 24-year-old wide receiver George Pickens stepped up. Pickens’ six receiving touchdowns are tied with Detroit Lions All-Pro receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown for the 2025 NFL season lead, and his 525 receiving yards rank third. He’s also on a five-game receiving touchdown streak, tied for the longest active touchdown streak in the NFL with Tampa Bay Buccaneers wide receiver Jalen McMillan.

Football too being force-fed lamb to remove rust from the All-Pro? Not according to Prescott, but Lamb will obviously continue to be an important part of the Cowboys’ high-flying aerial attack.

“It’s as much Schotty, the playmaker, as it is the guys. [coaches] in the game plan, [their] responsibility to put them in those positions where they’re read No. 1 or read No. 2,” Prescott said. “From there, it’s easy for me. Just stay within myself, keep reading the defense the way I saw it, stay in the game, whoever gets open gets it. …Obviously, the way they orchestrate it, it [Lamb] have a chance. »

Lamb and Pickens should get plenty of opportunities Sunday against Commanders coach Dan Quinn, who worked as Dallas’ defensive coordinator for three years, from 2021-23, when the Cowboys won 12 games in three straight seasons. Quinn’s unit with Washington defensive coordinator Joe Whitt Jr., who worked as Quinn’s passing game coordinator in Dallas from 2021-2023, calling man coverage plays on 29.1% of their defensive snaps, the ninth-highest rate in the NFL.

“They are very aggressive. [Whitt] trusts its back-end [the secondary] and rightly so: these guys are young, talented and they can play men,” Lamb said Thursday. “It shows all over the squad, and they have a good [pass] rushing. I know a lot of the guys on the defensive side there really well. For me, it’s just about preparing myself for what I’ve been faced with. [in practice] my second to fourth years here [2021-2023] when he was here. I know them very well [Quinn’s and Whitt’s] defense and I know Joe Whitt very well.”

Will Jayden Daniels, Washington’s powerful ground player, crush Dallas’ ailing defense?

On the other hand, Dallas’ defense was just shredded on the ground by former Cowboys running back Rico Dowdle in a Week 6 loss. Dowdle got revenge on the Cowboys for letting him enter free agency this offseason in favor of signing Javonte Williams by rumbling for 183 yards on 30 carries, an average of 6.1 yards per carry. Dallas now ranks as the fourth-worst run defense in the NFL, allowing an average of 142.2 rushing yards per game.

That’s not ideal coming into a game with dual-threat quarterback Jayden Daniels, the Commanders’ 2024 NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year, and Washington’s second-ranked rushing game, with 151.0 rushing yards.

“We’ve got to be better with our techniques, better with our hands. All of that is fixable and fixable,” Cowboys defensive tackle Kenny Clark said Wednesday. “We just need to get this thing in order.

Even if Clark and the Cowboys can do better on the ground, they need to tighten up against Daniels, who has thrown seven touchdowns and just one interception in four starts, as well as the passing game since Dallas enters Week 7 as the NFL’s worst pass defense, allowing 269.5 passing yards per game.

“We have to be able to rush him, but at the same time rush smartly,” Clark said. “He’s a slippery guy, and he’s got a lot of speed, so we just have to be able to work together. On top of that, you just have to check him. That’s the biggest thing: being able to cover his receivers well, and when we have opportunities, we have to make sure we get hits.”

Dallas’ main problem is something fundamental in the new defensive coordinator Matt Eberflus: communications. Missed calls in run and pass games have led to 49 explosive plays allowed this season – the second most in the league, behind the Miami Dolphins (50). Much of the problems are due to Dallas corners like Diggs, DaRon Bland and others struggling to all be on the same page in Eberflus’ zone coverage-based system. Dallas is running zone on 87.2% of its defensive snaps, the highest rate in the NFL, and running man on just 7.9% of its defensive snaps, the lowest rate in the league. Both Diggs and Bland led the NFL in interceptions in seasons under Quinn, whose defenses are much more man coverage-based. Eberflus might feel comfortable playing more man coverage this week with Washington’s top two receivers, Terry McLaurin (quad, ruled out) and Deebo Samuel (heel, listed as questionable) dealing with injuries this week.

“It’s very frustrating. It’s all these points [given up]receivers are wide open down the field, too many coverages broken,” Cowboys cornerback Trevon Diggs said Sunday, via the Dallas Morning News. “It’s a lot. I feel like we’re everywhere and we really don’t have an identity.”

Cowboys vs. Commanders prediction, picks

Washington being without McLaurin and potentially Samuel in Week 7 will allow Dallas’ defense to get a stop or two, and Prescott should continue to light up the scoreboard with Pickens and Lamb on the field against the familiar Quinn/Whitt scheme. It will be just enough for the Cowboys to escape with a slim victory.

Prediction: Cowboys 38, Commanders 35