As division rivals, the Cowboys and Redskins/WFT/Commanders have had as vitriolic a relationship as the Hatfields and McCoys, and the fan bases seem to hate each other just as much.
When Jon Machota, who covers the Cowboys for The Athletic, joined JP Finlay Friday to finish out this week’s trip around the NFC East, Machota had a pretty interesting synopsis on the situation:
"No one takes them seriously because of what Dan Snyder has done over 20-plus years,” Machota told JP. “There’s not any real respect, and it’s funny, because when you look at the way the season ended last year…that’s one of the worst games I’ve ever seen the Cowboys play up in Washington, and one of the worst games Dak Prescott has ever played.”
There was a lot of Cowboys talk in general, including the notion that the ‘Boys are the only ones that can challenge the Eagles in the NFC East, but Machota did say that “while the Commanders are a clear fourth, they may be headed in the right direction with Eric Bieniemy calling plays.”
In that vein, Machota had one other thought on Dallas vis-à-vis DC: the Commanders sale is bad for the rest of the NFC East? Yes, but not in a negative to the Commanders way – more that now, they’ll have owners who AREN’T named Snyder.
"I don’t know if new ownership will make the Commanders instantaneously one of the Top 10 teams in the NFL again, but getting away from what they’ve been has to be a huge positive,” Machota said. “I’ve done a ton of interviews, and when people want to talk about that sale, I tell them that this is bad for the Cowboys. If you're a Cowboys fan you want Dan Snyder to own the Commanders forever.”
Machota understands that, hailing from a city that had/has a similar situation.
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“I’m from Detroit, and if you’re a fan in the NFC North, you want the Ford family to own the Lions forever so you can look at them every year as two wins,” Machota said. “To sell to anyone who can revitalize things and get a new stadium…DC is a phenomenal sports fan base, but there have been so many games over the last decade where no one is there, even against a big rival; the last thing you want is the Commanders getting back in this thing, and all of a sudden, it’s the clear best division in football. You want them to stay down!”
Listen to Machota’s entire chat with JP Finlay above!
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