Three takeaways as Cowboys feast on Commanders on Thanksgiving

The Dallas Cowboys continued to make a statement they are Super Bowl contenders with a 45-10 Thanksgiving Day win over the Washington Commanders.

Here are three takeaways from that win. 

1. The Cowboys are a different team at home

The Cowboys extended their home winning streak to 13 consecutive games and a perfect mark in the 2023 season. It is not just that the Cowboys are perfect at home, but they are absolutely obliterating teams.
Thursday's game looked like it was going to be a challenge as the Cowboys clung to a 14-10 lead with Washington seemingly building some momentum. However, things escalated quickly as the Cowboys started to hit big plays in the second half and the Commanders struggled to finish drives.

There are just two possible concerns with Dallas's home dominance.
The first is they are unlikely to get a home playoff game unless something wild happens with the Philadelphia Eagles in the NFC East the rest of the way.

The second is the Cowboys have not really beaten a top contender in the NFL and have mostly stomped over the league's bottom-feeders.
When they have played top teams like San Francisco and Philadelphia, the results have not yet been there.

2. Is this it for Ron Rivera in Washington?

If it isn't, it is only a matter of when.

Rivera was already on the hot seat given his consistent lack of success with the Commanders, and things really started to reach a boiling point after last week's ugly loss to Tommy DeVito and the New York Giants. They followed that up by getting embarrassed on national TV against a divisional rival and were not even relatively competitive.

After Thursday's game, he is just 26-35-1 in Washington. 

The Commanders have a new ownership group that not only has a desire to win immediately, but they also did not hire Rivera and have no loyalty to him. 

At this point it seems inevitable he will not be back next season. The question is if he will be back next week.

3. DaRon Bland is becoming a superstar

There was a concern that when the Cowboys lost defensive back Tevon Diggs for the season that their defense was going to be in trouble.
That concern is long forgotten thanks to the star turn made by the second-year cornerback.

Bland's 62-yard pick-six on Sunday set an NFL record for five pick-sixes in a single season. 

He is also leading the league with seven interceptions overall and already has 12 in just a season-and-a-half. That sort of impact makes him a game-changer and somebody who opponents need to account for on every play.

It will also cut down on his opportunities as teams start to stay away from him.