Washington Commanders head coach Dan Quinn made no mistake in his verbiage: Sunday’s contest against the Dallas Cowboys is a must-win game. Accordingly, the Commanders will play their starters in the final game of the regular season.
Commanders to Play Starters Against Dallas in Week 18
With the opportunity to lock up the No. 6 seed in the NFC playoffs, the Commanders are playing to win against the Cowboys. Accordingly, all healthy starters are expected to start on Sunday.
“We’re going to go after [it] as hard as we can. I think the seeding portion of this is really important, and that’s what we discussed as a team,” Quinn said. “We thought [in Week 17] the vibe was awesome at the game.
“We thought we left some plays out there, and so for us that leveling up as we’re heading into this week with Dallas would be really important. But we recognize having a six seed and going into the playoffs with that is a good thing. And so, we’re going to fight like hell to keep that.”
On Wednesday, Quinn doubled down on his position in reiterating the starters will play.
“We’re gonna work our asses off to keep the No. 6 seed,” Quinn said.
Expect to see Jayden Daniels, Terry McLaurin, Zach Ertz, and Co. in this one. The Commanders are treating this like a playoff game and will not rest any starter who is healthy.
Here it is in a nutshell: If the Commanders can beat the Cowboys on Sunday, they will stay in the No. 6 spot and travel to face either the Los Angeles Rams or the winner of the NFC South (the Tampa Bay Buccaneers or Atlanta Falcons).
With a loss to the Cowboys and a win by the Green Bay Packers, the Commanders would travel to Philadelphia to face the Eagles in the Wild Card Round. It would be the rubber match against the NFC East rivals.
The Commanders would much rather stay in the No. 6 seed, which is why Daniels and the rest of the starters will suit up in Week 18.
Cowboys coach Mike McCarthy played it close to the vest with the media when asked if Cooper Rush or Trey Lance will start in Week 18. He also would not say if both will play.