luckadjusted

Week 2 2026 · September 20, 2026

Commanders at Cowboys, Week 2 2026: who deserved to win?

The Cowboys beat the Commanders 37–20 and were the better team on the day: replayed with the same form, they win 8 of 10. The Commanders had the bounces: fumble bounces alone were worth 1.6 points to the Commanders.

Before kickoff the Cowboys were 60% favorites. The biggest swing (Q2, 0:03 left): the Commanders were stopped on 3rd & 1, worth 13 points of win probability to the Cowboys.

Final

Washington Commanders 20
Dallas Cowboys 37

September 20, 2026 · AT&T Stadium · Closing line: Cowboys −3.5

Luck index +21 Cowboys about even · −21 Commanders

Each team’s own plays from this game, resampled into new drives 4,000 times: with the way both teams actually played, how often does this performance win? How the replay works

Ten replays. Commanders win 2, Cowboys win 8.

  1. 1 WAS 35 DAL 23
  2. 2 WAS 20 DAL 17
  3. 3 WAS 24 DAL 26
  4. 4 WAS 17 DAL 21
  5. 5 WAS 17 DAL 24
  6. 6 WAS 8 DAL 17
  7. 7 WAS 16 DAL 29
  8. 8 WAS 24 DAL 38
  9. 9 WAS 9 DAL 27
  10. 10 WAS 3 DAL 27

Three other ways to ask

Each answers a different question, so none of them replaces the replay above.

The closing betting line, turned into a probability. What everyone knew before the game.

The line plus what this game showed, weighted by how much one game can tell. It stays close to the line because one game says little.

Every kick, fumble bounce, drop, conversion and judgment call redrawn; everything else fixed. The narrowest view of luck.

How 4,000 replays ended

Commanders win 21% of them, Cowboys 79%, counting the 4% still level after regulation as half each. The line is what actually happened: Cowboys by 17.

Show as a table
Final margin in the replaysShare of replays
Commanders by 17+2.5%
Commanders by 9–165.4%
Commanders by 1–813.4%
Level after regulation4.0%
Cowboys by 1–827.3%
Cowboys by 9–1624.2%
Cowboys by 17+23.4%

Where the luck was

Take the luck out

The final margin was Cowboys by 17. Remove the luck, one kind at a time, and it becomes Cowboys by 12.1.

Each row takes one kind of luck out of the margin. Color shows which team it helped. Luck shares are the fitted ones (how much of each component is luck).

The kicks

How likely each kicker was to make that kick (his own record, the distance and the weather), and what happened.

  • B. Aubrey, 25 yds made · 100% expected
  • D. Stevens, 27 yds made · 98% expected
  • D. Stevens, 47 yds made · 79% expected
  • B. Aubrey, 44 yds made · 86% expected
  • D. Stevens, 51 yds missed · 73% expected
  • B. Aubrey, 60 yds made · 68% expected
Bar: expected chance of a make. Filled dot: made. Open dot: missed or blocked.

When it happened

Cowboys’ chance of winning

Numbers mark the biggest luck moments, listed below.

nflfastR’s in-game win probability. It ignores the betting line, so it starts near even. Shaded above the middle while the Cowboys were ahead in it, below while the Commanders were.
#WhenWhat happenedWin probability forNext drive
1 Q1 5:52 Defensive Offside on the Commanders (Charles Omenihu), 5 yards, wiping out the playPre-snap flags · 18 flags in 3818 snaps before, position avg 1 per 304 +8% DAL DAL: Field goal
2 Q1 2:24 The Commanders converted 3rd & 183rd & 4th downs · 19% expected +6% WAS WAS: Field goal
3 Q2 2:04 T. McLaurin dropped a catchable passDrops · 4 drops on 315 catchable balls before this +6% DAL WAS: End of half
4 Q2 0:03 The Commanders were stopped on 3rd & 13rd & 4th downs · 68% expected +13% DAL WAS: Field goal
5 Q3 12:55 D. Stevens made 47-yard field goalKicks · 79% expected for him, 1 of 2 from 45+ before +5% WAS WAS: Turnover
6 Q3 11:26 The Cowboys converted 3rd & 83rd & 4th downs · 35% expected +7% DAL DAL: Field goal
7 Q3 8:04 The Cowboys were stopped on 3rd & 33rd & 4th downs · 55% expected +6% WAS DAL: Field goal
8 Q3 7:15 The Commanders fumbled and the Cowboys recoveredFumble bounces · loose balls are close to 50/50 +6% DAL WAS: Missed field goal

Missing players

Key players (usually on the field for half the snaps or more) who missed this game or part of it, valued by position and quality. The same players are missing in every replay, so this counts as luck in points only.

  • Tyler Smith (DAL OL), out (IR) · 0.9 pts
  • Malik Hooker (DAL S), out · 0.3 pts
  • DeMarvion Overshown (DAL LB), out · 0.1 pts
  • Laremy Tunsil (WAS T), out (IR) · 1.1 pts
  • Frankie Luvu (WAS LB), out · 0.3 pts

Adjust the assumptions

Disagree with how much of a fumble bounce or a pass interference call is luck? Change it and the coin-flip replay reruns in your browser.

Only coin-flips re-rolled

Commanders 5% · Cowboys 95%

Final margin
Cowboys by 17
Luck in points
4.9 for the Cowboys
Luck-adjusted margin
Cowboys by 12.1
Replay with same day's form
Commanders 21% · Cowboys 79% unchanged: why
How much of each is luck?

0% treats it as skill, 100% as pure luck. The tick is our fit.

What counts

We tested momentum on 19,000 lucky breaks and found none, so it's off by default. Why

Flip a play

Force the other outcome, in this game and in every replay: a made kick becomes a miss, a stop becomes a conversion, a flag goes the other way.

About these numbers

Play-by-play and win probability from nflfastR via nflverse; kicks valued against each kicker’s own record; drops and interception-worthy throws from FTN charting; injuries from snap counts and injury reports.

Methodology and validation · All Week 2 2026 games · Commanders · Cowboys

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