There's sudden urgency for old NFC East rivals as Commanders visit Cowboys following opening losses

ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — There's a sudden sense of urgency as the Washington Commanders and Dallas Cowboys renew an old NFC East rivalry with both teams staring at an 0-2 start in division games.

The Commanders and coach Dan Quinn are trying to find the form of the 2024 season, when they reached the NFC championship game, while the Cowboys and quarterback Dak Prescott want to get back to where they were the year before that when Quinn was in charge of their defense.

In other words, a pair of non-playoff teams from a year ago will try Sunday to bounce back from season-opening road losses. Dallas fell to the New York Giants and Washington is on the road again after losing to Philadelphia.

“There’s definitely must wins in this league,” Prescott said. “You don’t want to say it, and at the end of the day, if it didn’t happen, there’s still time. There’s a lot of opportunity. But yeah, just from this team, all the changes, all the excitement, we’ve got to go win.”

The Cowboys never had a lead as their overhauled defense looked just as woeful as a season ago, particularly while never getting a stop in the second half and giving the Dallas offense just two possessions after halftime.

The Commanders trailed for good from the early moments of the second quarter in Jayden Daniels' return from injury, and came up a 2-point conversion short of getting even in the final two minutes against the two-time defending division champions.

“The message I kind of hit with the team is I wanna see us level up,” Quinn said. “There were definitely some things that I liked. I liked how hard we played, toughness, but I also think, man, there’s a lot we can grow on.”

Washington (0-1) at Dallas (0-1).

When/where to watch: Sunday, 4:25 p.m. EDT, Fox.

Latest odds: Cowboys by 3 1/2.

Against the spread: Commanders 1-0; Cowboys 0-1.

Last week: Commanders lost to the Eagles 24-22; Cowboys lost to the Giants 28-20.

Last meeting: Cowboys beat Commanders 30-23 on Dec. 25, 2025, in Washington.

Series record: Cowboys lead 81-49-2.

Daniels vs. the Dallas defense. The first game under new defensive coordinator Christian Parker was a borderline disaster for the Cowboys. Among the many breakdowns was turning quarterback Jaxson Dart loose around the end on multiple bootlegs. Dart also had a fabulous overall game, going 23 of 29 with three touchdowns and no interceptions. Daniels is even more dangerous than Dart, so a similar effort from Dallas will result in another ugly outcome for Parker.

— The Cowboys haven't started 0-2 since 2010, when Wade Phillips was fired as coach with a 1-7 record as Dallas went on to a 6-10 finish.

— The only time Quinn started 0-2 in nine seasons as a head coach was 2020, when he was fired in Atlanta following an 0-5 start. That was four years after the Falcons reached the Super Bowl, losing to New England.

— While the Cowboys hired Parker after firing Matt Eberflus following his only season, the Commanders have two new coordinators in David Blough on offense and Daronte Jones on defense. Jones interviewed with the Cowboys before they picked Parker. Dallas' Klayton Adams is in just his second season as an offensive coordinator, although he doesn't call the plays. Head coach Brian Schottenheimer does.

— The Cowboys are 25-5 against NFC East teams at home since Prescott took over as the starter in 2016. That .833 winning percentage in the division is the best in the NFL over that span. Prescott is 13-2 against the Commanders, and one of those losses was a meaningless regular-season finale when Dallas had clinched a playoff spot during the 2023 season.

— Washington's Terry McLaurin needs 25 yards receiving to become the 11th receiver among active players to reach 7,000 for his career. He's trying to become the first Washington receiver with six 1,000-yard seasons.

— Prescott needs four touchdown passes to become the franchise leader. Tony Romo holds the current mark at 248. Assuming Prescott gets there, the only notable QB franchise record he won't have is wins. Three-time Super Bowl winner Troy Aikman had 94 regular-season victories, 11 more than Prescott.

— Commanders linebacker Sonny Styles and Cowboys safety Caleb Downs will be back on the field together. The rookie first-round draft picks were teammates at Ohio State last season. Styles, the seventh overall choice last spring, had a sack and two tackles for loss in his debut. Downs, the 12th pick, crushed Dart on a blitz and forced a fumble that the Giants recovered.

Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts (1) runs from Washington Commanders linebacker Sonny Styles (52) during the second half of an NFL football game, Sunday, Sept. 13, 2026, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

Washington Commanders head coach Dan Quinn watches from the sidelines during the second half of an NFL football game against the Philadelphia Eagles, Sunday, Sept. 13, 2026, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Chris Szagola)

Washington Commanders quarterback Jayden Daniels (5) walks off the field after the team's loss to the Philadelphia Eagles in an NFL football game, Sunday, Sept. 13, 2026, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)

Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott talks to reporters following an NFL football game against the New York Giants, Monday, Sept. 14, 2026, in East Rutherford, N.J. (AP Photo/Pamela Smith)

LOS ANGELES (AP) — An SUV driver was under the influence of drugs when she swerved into the wrong lane, blew a red light and slammed into a Los Angeles city bus, killing two riders, prosecutors said Thursday as they charged her with murder.

It was a tragedy compounded by the subsequent fatal crash of a TV news helicopter that had been covering the collision.

Bailee Lynn Rios was speeding and impaired when she drove her 2004 Ford Expedition the wrong way down a busy avenue and struck a vehicle before plowing into a city bus on Tuesday, Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman told a news conference.

Rios, 36, faces two charges of second-degree murder in the deaths of the two people on the bus, identified as Daniel Castillo, 46, and Gage Weida, 31. Castillo left four children.

“There are no words that can truly capture how much we will miss him or the space he leaves behind in our lives,” Castillo’s youngest daughter, Johaunna, wrote on a fundraising page for funeral expenses.

Rios was being held on $4.1 million bail and is scheduled to appear in court Friday. Online court records did not list a lawyer who might speak on her behalf, and the public defender’s office did not immediately return a message about whether it was representing her.

Reached Wednesday, her mother Cindy Rios said she was shocked and saddened by the string of events. She said she had not spoken to Bailee Lynn Rios since her arrest and had not been contacted by law enforcement. She could not immediately be reached Thursday for additional comment.

The news helicopter crash killed both people on board, pilot George Marciniw and reporter Eliana Moreno, and a man on the ground, Edy Gutierrez Mejia. At least four cars and two storage containers burned after the helicopter caught fire.

A vigil was planned Thursday evening to honor the victims of both crashes.

There were no immediate details on what caused the helicopter to go down, but investigators said significant clues could come from the last seconds of video the crew broadcast. In it, an alarm could be heard inside the helicopter’s cockpit as it lost altitude.

National Transportation Safety Board investigator Fabian Salazar said Wednesday that the video is “probably the most important evidence that we have discovered so far.”

Just after the beeping starts, a woman’s voice says “uh oh.” The helicopter moves quickly away from the bus crash site and starts losing altitude. The woman says “You can’t pull up?” before the video stops as the chopper nears the ground.

Aviation safety expert Jeff Guzzetti said the alarm suggests a potential loss of engine power and a dangerous decrease in the main rotor speed. He said the pilot appeared to be trying to perform an emergency maneuver to use the wind to force the rotor to spin again.

The NTSB is also investigating the bus collision.

Moreno and Marciniw both worked for Angel City Air, a helicopter contractor, and provided aerial coverage for NBC4 and Telemundo 52.

Moreno, born in Orange County, joined Angel City Air in 2010, the same year she earned a broadcast journalism and political science degree from Chapman University. She reported for several news outlets and began flying with Marciniw in 2023, NBC4 said.

Marciniw grew up in Southern California and graduated from Burbank High School in 1974.

There have been at least eight fatal crashes involving news helicopters in the U.S. since 2000, killing 16 people, according to a review of federal accident records and news accounts.

A memorial for Eliana Moreno and George Marciniw, who died in a helicopter crash the day prior while covering an accident for a television station, at the site where their helicopter used to park at Whiteman Airport in Los Angeles, Wednesday, Sept. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Ethan Swope) ADDITION: the day prior while covering an accident for a television station.

A person adjusts flowers at a memorial for Eliana Moreno and George Marciniw, who died in a helicopter crash the day prior while covering an accident for a television station, at the site where their helicopter used to park at Whiteman Airport in Los Angeles, Wednesday, Sept. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Ethan Swope) ADDITION: Adds in a helicopter crash the day prior while covering an accident for a television station.

A memorial for Eliana Moreno and George Marciniw who died in a helicopter crash is seen at the site where their helicopter used to park at Whiteman Airport in Los Angeles, Wednesday, Sept. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Ethan Swope)

In this aerial view, people investigate the aftermath of a news helicopter crash in Chatsworth, a neighborhood in Los Angeles, on Wednesday, Sept. 16, 2026.(AP Photo/Ethan Swope)

A person adjusts flowers at a memorial for Eliana Moreno and George Marciniw who died in a helicopter crash at the site where their helicopter used to park at Whiteman Airport in Los Angeles, Wednesday, Sept. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Ethan Swope)