Rivalry is just like old times
ARLINGTON — When the Dallas Cowboys host the Washington Football Team on Thursday, it will be just like old times when these longtime rivals square off on Thanksgiving in a game with NFC East title implications.
Consider it an ode to times gone by. Think Tom Landry, Roger Staubach, Drew Pearson facing George Allen and Billy Kilmer in those classic showdowns of the 1970s.
Except this is 2020. The only thing that is the same is that the winner could end up in first place in the division.
The Philadelphia Eagles (3-6-1) are currently in first, but they’ve got the toughest draw of the weekend in hosting the NFCWest-leading Seattle Seahawks on Monday night. Washington, Dallas and the New York Giants are all 3-7.
The NFC East is the only division since the 1970 NFL merger in which every team has the same number of wins and a losing record in Week 11 or later. And the three wins are the fewest by a division leader through Week 11 since the merger.
But none of that matters now.
The winner of Thursday’s Dallas-Washington game will become the division’s first four-win team and will take a temporary hold of first place.
Coach Mike McCarthy has said that the team has been improving, and on the heels of Sunday’s 31-28 road victory against the Minnesota Vikings, the Cowboys are looking to post consecutive wins for the first time in 13 months, when they beat the Eagles (Oct. 20) and Giants (Nov. 4) on either side of the bye.
“It’s a one- game season each week,” linebacker Jaylon Smith said. “That’s
our focus. We’re going to go 7-0 [after the bye]. We got the Redskins next on Thanksgiving, looking forward to it.”
The Cowboys believe they have gotten better over the course of the season despite the dismal 2-7 start.
The only way to prove it to start stacking wins together and that’s why Thursday’s game is so important, especially after getting their first road win of the season.
“This game is so much about confidence and motivation, momentum, those types of things,” McCarthy said. “It’s important for us to take this experience—win on the road, which is tough— obviously we finally accomplished that and be able to come home and play on Thanksgiving in front of a national audience.”
Here are three things to watch out for during the game:
Dalton’s revenge
One might expect that the Cowboys will be head
ing into this game with one highly-motivated quarterback in Andy Dalton at the helm. It was Washington linebacker Jon Bostic, who knocked Dalton from the game in the previous meeting on Oct. 25 with a dirty hit.
Dalton said he doesn’t remember much from that game because of memory loss due to the concussion and he still doesn’t taste much either because of his ensuing battle with COVID-19.
He missed the two games after Washington loss, but was triumphant in Sunday’s return, throwing three touchdowns in defeating the Vikings. It goes without saying that a victory against Washington on Thursday would taste so sweet.
Growing ground game
A big key to the team’s improved play of late has been a reduction in turnovers and a return to a reliance on the running game.
The Cowboys have averaged 32.3 rush attempts and 152.3 rush yards over
the past three games, culminating with the seasonhigh 180 yards on the ground in their win over the Vikings. The team has found a nice mix of pounding Ezekiel Elliott and using the quick Tony Pollard as a change of pace.
Who plays at corner?
Perhaps the one nagging question for the Cowboys heading into Thursday’s game is the status of cornerback Anthony Brown, who re-aggravated a rib injury against the Vikings. Brownmissed three games earlier in the season with the rib injury. The team has not practiced this week so they have no idea if he can go and for how long.
Rashard Robinson, who was called up from the practice squad last week, replaced Brown against the Vikings and he could get the call again. The Cowboys could also turn to Saivon Smith. Either way, it’s a spot Washington might try to target for big plays with receiver TerryMcLaurin.