That includes a veteran face on the defensive side of the ball. The Cowboys bolstered their defense early in the season, bringing in veteran pass-rusher and former No. 1 overall pick Jadeveon Clowney on a one-year/$3.450 million deal.

While the Cowboys have already been eliminated from the playoffs, Brian Schottenheimer isn't taking his foot off the gas.

With that schedule, Week 18 has two games with special meaning for the Cowboys: The losers of the Ravens-Steelers and Bucs-Panthers playoff elimination games will face the Cowboys in 2026. There are some other interesting twists lurking in this schedule:

Local Dallas native and Jesuit College Prep alum, EJ Smith, son of former Dallas Cowboys legend Emmitt Smith, has declared for the 2026 NFL Draft.

KaVontae Turpin exploded against the Commanders, leading to Brian Schottenheimer having some interesting comments.

Eberflus has been on the hot seat for what feels like the entire year, but fortunately for Cowboys fans, one major potential candidate for defensive coordinator is being connected to Dallas before the regular season concludes.

Last week, the Commanders faced the Dallas Cowboys and were dealing with more injuries. This time, defensive tackle Daron Payne sat with an injury. Earlier in the week, Eddie Goldman was placed on injured reserve.

We might look back on the Dallas Cowboys' 30-23 win over the Washington Commanders as the game Malik Davis cemented his place on the 2026 roster. Having been on the couch for the first part of the year, Davis has been Javonte Williams' backup over the past couple of months.