ARLINGTON — The Dallas Cowboys defense was just 1 yard away from giving up its second touchdown of the first half, but it got a stop.

With three seconds left before halftime, Washington Commanders coach Dan Quinn decided to forgo a field goal attempt and put the ball in quarterback Jayden Daniels’ hands.

But the Commanders had a bad exchange on the snap, and as Daniels fell backward, he landed awkwardly on his elbow, which was said to be dislocated, as the clock expired.

The sequence forced Daniels, who combined for 165 yards and one touchdown, to miss the rest of the game. Dallas ended the half without giving up points on that Commanders drive.

That key goal-line stop helped the Cowboys beat the Commanders 37-20 in their home opener.

“I was worried about what it was going to be like if we did end up 0-2,” Cowboys owner Jerry Jones said after the game. “And I can’t say that I was a pillar of strength in my mentality coming into the game because I’ve got a lot of respect for the coaching over on the Washington Commander side. But having said all of that, this was a very important win for us.”

The Cowboys defense allowed 389 yards, 24 first downs and Washington was 8-14 on third-down. The Cowboys defense was not good, but they showed some improvement from last week. Communication was a major issue for Cowboys defensive coordinator Christian Parker’s defense in just his first game calling plays. 

“They gave up some big plays, they gave up some scores, and it was all things that were controllable and they could control,” Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott said about the Dallas’ defense bouncing back. “And so I think they went into this week preparing to do exactly that. …We said there’s two ends of communication, the guy giving and the guy receiving the information and making sure both parts are clear.”

But, multiple Cowboys defensive players, including Kenny Clark and Quinnen Williams, thought that their unit showed improvement in Week 2 with Jaishawn Barham manning the green-dot.

“The message that we need to communicate,” Quinnen Williams said. “We need to execute. Even today, we got some communication things we need to (work on). Execute a little bit more, but we got to win and definitely every single game, win or loss, you got to learn from it.”

Dallas defense finished with three tackles for loss, six quarterback hits, four pass deflections and a forced fumble.

But the Cowboys also received some help after multiple Commanders passes that looked as if they could have been touchdowns were either dropped or poorly thrown. A couple of inches to the left or right, and this could have been a different game.

That doesn’t mean the Cowboys defenders failed to take advantage of their opportunities.

Barham went into the locker room with a stinger while starting the first game of his NFL career, according to the local broadcast. After returning to the field, he ran down a Commanders player and punched the ball out. The fumble was recovered by Cowboys linebacker Dee Winters, who finished the game with a team-high nine tackles.

“I just know a dog when I see one, and I know my teammates,” Cowboys wide receiver CeeDee Lamb said about Barham. “I’m with these guys every single day, been with them since the spring. You get a good feel of a guy and how passionate he is about it and how much love he has for this game.”

The fumble recovery put the Cowboys at the Commanders’ 13-yard line. Two plays later, Prescott, who finished with 279 yards and four touchdowns, threw a 12-yard touchdown pass to tight end Jake Ferguson, giving Dallas a 27-13 lead over Washington. Prescott’s fourth touchdown broke the Cowboys’ all-time passing touchdowns record.

This was Barham’s first game as the green-dot for the Cowboys, and he finished with seven tackles with a preliminary 94.5 PFF grade. While Barham had the best game of his young career, he did show some sign of fatigue when he threw up twice on the same play in the second half. Barham missed some time in training camp with a groin injury.

“He played phenomenal when it came down to wearing a green-dot as a rookie,” Williams said about Barham. “Second game of the year, getting everybody in order, especially up front and different things like that. So just continue to build on it, and we all got huge trust in him.”

Prescott said that Barham made a good first impression on his during training camp.

“It was a short conversation, but when I walked off I’m like he’s wired the right way for defense.

In the second quarter, Daniels uncorked a deep pass to Pro Bowl wide receiver Terry McLaurin, who had a step on Cowboys cornerback DaRon Bland. But Bland caught up to the ball and went for the interception. While he did not come down with it, his aggressiveness forced the ball out of McLaurin’s hands and saved a touchdown.

Cowboys defensive end Donovan Ezeiruaku had a bevy of pressures against the Commanders, but missed recording a sack. He was able to blow by multiple Commander defensive ends, but he’s looking to finish the job next game.

“Started off relatively slow for me in the first half, I had to make some adjustments personally,” Ezeiruaku said. “Make some decisions in my head because I know what I’m capable of. So, I kind of came out there in the second half wanting to go help this team win the ballgame.

“Unfortunately I wasn’t able to get their quarterbacks down. That’s something I got to improve on because I had the opportunities.”

Cowboys rookie safety Caleb Downs was tied for second on the team with seven tackles. Even after Cowboys safety P.J. Locke went down with a foot injury, Parker decided to keep Downs mostly at nickelback. 

Downs was flying around the field and always around the ball, he was credited with one pass breakup. The rookie defensive back is also still the only Cowboy to register a sack after two weeks. His sack came in Week 1 against the Giants. 

The Cowboys entered the game without DeMarvion Overshown and Malik Hooker, who both started Week 1, because of injuries. Also, defensive backs Cobie Durant and Locke were injured in Week 2. Locke was in a walking boot after the game and Durant injured his hamstring after a player stepped on it.

The Cowboys won’t have much time to get healthy as they will play the Baltimore Ravens in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil on Sunday. 

Dallas will hope to continue building on defense regardless of the injuries in Week 3.