Dallas (6-8-1) at Washington (4-11)

Thursday, 1 p.m. EST, Netflix.

NFL Odds: Cowboys by 6 1/2.

Against the spread: Cowboys 7-8; Commanders 5-10.

Series record: Dallas leads 80-49-2.

Last week: Cowboys lost to the Chargers 34-17; Commanders lost to the Eagles 29-18.

Last meeting: Dallas beat Washington 44-22 on Oct. 19.

Cowboys offense: overall (2), rush (17), pass (1), scoring (5).

Cowboys defense: overall (30), rush (20), pass (32), scoring (31).

Commanders offense: overall (20), rush (4), pass (24), scoring (24).

Commanders defense: overall (31), rush (29), pass (26), scoring (27).

Turnover differential: Cowboys minus-8; Commanders minus-12.

Cowboys player to watch

WR CeeDee Lamb. He's looking for a strong finish despite Dallas being out of the playoff chase. His career low for touchdowns is five from his rookie season in 2020, and he needs two TDs to reach that number. Lamb also needs 168 yards over the last two games to surpass last season’s total of 1,194 yards receiving despite essentially playing in two fewer games this season.

Commanders player to watch

RB Jacory Croskey-Merritt. The guy everyone calls “Bill” is worth keeping an eye on to see whether he gets more touches as Washington begins to think about which players could get bigger roles next season. The seventh-round pick has scored six TDs as a rookie, including one each of the past two games.

Key matchup

Hard to think of anything in this game as “key,” given these are two teams playing out the string. One thing to keep an eye on is whether Dallas will go a third game in a row with zero sacks, despite getting to face a backup quarterback and with at least one, and possibly two, of Washington's starting offensive linemen out.

Key injuries

Cowboys: LB DeMarvion Overshown got a concussion last week. He missed the first nine games recovering from his second major knee injury in his first two NFL seasons. … DT Quinnen Williams missed a game with Dallas for the first time since the November trade with the New York Jets. He seemed to be progressing in his recovery from a concussion when a neck issue arose before the Chargers game. … Coach Brian Schottenheimer isn’t ruling out the return of T Tyler Guyton, who has missed the past four games with a sprained ankle.

Commanders: QB Marcus Mariota is coming off hand and leg injuries in Week 16. If he can't go, the other QBs on the roster are Josh Johnson, Jeff Driskel and Sam Hartman. ... LT Laremy Tunsil (oblique) missed last week's game. ... RG Sam Cosmi (concussion), WR-PR Jaylin Lane (ankle) and DT Eddie Goldman (concussion) went on IR this week.

Series notes

The Cowboys’ win in the season’s first meeting was their 80th in the series, their most against the three NFC East opponents.

Stats and stuff

Even though they’re already eliminated from the playoffs, the Cowboys can finish 5-1 in the NFC East with victories over the Commanders and New York Giants in Weeks 17 and 18. They would also be the second team to finish 8-8-1 since the NFL went to 17 games in 2021. Washington did it three years ago. … QB Dak Prescott has tied Tony Romo for the most 4,000-yard seasons in franchise history with four. Prescott enters Thursday 727 yards from his career high of 4,902 in 2019. … Prescott is one of eight QBs in NFL history with at least 35,500 passing yards and 240 touchdown passes in their first 10 seasons. ... WR George Pickens has five games with at least 130 yards receiving this season, most in club history. … Dallas has gone without a sack in consecutive games for the first time since 2017. James Houston leads the team with 5 1/2 sacks. If that holds up, it would be fewest for the team leader since sacks became an official stat in 1982. ... Washington has lost nine of its past 10 games and wasn't even competitive in more than half of those losses, getting defeated by at least 21 points five times. ... This comes after coach Dan Quinn's debut with the team last season, when AP NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year Jayden Daniels led Washington to a 12-5 regular-season record and a berth in the NFC championship game. ... Daniels only appeared in seven games this season because of knee, hamstring and left elbow injuries and has been shut down for the season. ... He is one of six members of the ideal offensive lineup that has missed significant time; that includes RG Sam Cosmi, who went on IR this week.

Fantasy tip

Any of the talented receivers on either team — Terry McLaurin and Deebo Samuel on Washington; CeeDee Lamb and George Pickens on Dallas — could have a big day, considering how poor both pass defenses and pass rushes are.

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