The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
COWBOYS TOP REDSKINS; BEARS DOWN LIONS
Ezekiel Elliott made the $21 donation after his touchdown. Amari Cooper took the freebie following the first of his two scores.
The bonus for the Dallas Cowboys: They’re all the way back in the NFC East race.
Cooper had a 90-yard touchdown after celebrating with a free throw following his first scoring catch, Elliott ran for 121 yards with his TD, and the Cowboys pulled even with Washington atop the division with a 31-23 Thanksgiving win over the Redskins on Thursday.
The Cowboys (6-5) won their third straight game since the first home loss, to Tennessee in the Dallas debut of Cooper following a trade, dropped them two games under .500.
Dallas’ eighth win in nine Thanksgiving games against Washington, and second in three seasons, earned a season split. The Redskins (6-5) lost for the third time in four games in Colt McCoy’s first start in four years coming off Alex Smith’s season-ending leg injury.
The former Texas Longhorns star threw three interceptions to offset two touchdown passes. McCoy won his two previous starts at the home of the Cowboys, one for the 2009 Big 12 championship and the other his most recent NFL victory with the Redskins in 2014.
Cooper, the former Oakland receiver, had much more fun in his second home game, finishing with a Dallas Thanksgiving-best 180 yards receiving — 105 of those coming after the catch on his two touchdowns.
First, Cooper ran away from Quinton Dunbar after the Washington cornerback slipped on a short pass, turning it into a 40-yard TD for a 17-13 lead. Cooper celebrated by mimicking a free throw, shooting the football through the goal post.
On the 90-yarder, Cooper made the catch just outside the Dallas 30, spun out of the arms of Fabian Moreau and won the race to the pylon against Ha Ha Clinton-Dix, who tried to shove him out of bounds around the 5. It was his longest career catch and the longest completion in Dak Prescott’s three seasons.
McCoy looked as if he hadn’t started a game in a long time early, throwing into double coverage on his first play and fumbling while trying to scramble on his third, with the Redskins recovering and punting. But McCoy settled in with a couple of thirddown passes to Jordan Reed to keep drives going, then hit Vernon Davis in stride on a 53-yard touchdown — the longest Washington completion of the season — for a 7-7 tie.
The Cowboys were having all the fun before the Redskins pulled even, with Elliott scoring on a 16-yard run and dropping $21 into a giant Salvation Army red kettle behind the end zone. The cash was handed to him by a team photographer.
As a rookie in 2016, Elliott jumped into the kettle on the same part of the field after a touchdown in a 31-26 win over the Redskins. That season’s NFL rushing champion, who wears No. 21, was fined for the stunt and later donated $21,000 to the Salvation Army.
After scoring on a scrambling 5-yard run for the third Dallas touchdown in less than eight minutes and a 31-13 lead, Prescott let Elliott help him into another kettle on the other end of the field, drawing the same unsportsmanlike conduct penalty Elliott did two years ago.
Elliott missed the Thanksgiving game last year on his six-game suspension over domestic violence allegations.
Bears 23, Lions 16: Chase Daniel made the most of his chance to fill in for Mitchell Trubisky, having the best day of his journeyman career.
Daniel set career highs with 230 yards passing and two touchdowns to keep the Bears rolling with a road win. The NFC North-leading Bears (8-3) sealed their fifth straight victory with Kyle Fuller’s interception in the end zone with a little more than a minute left.
Detroit (4-7) has lost four of five, plummeting to last place in the division.
Chicago broke a 16-16 tie on Eddie Jackson’s 41-yard picksix with six minutes remaining. It was Jackson’s second consecutive game with an interception returned for a touchdown. It’s also the fifth career defensive touchdown for the 2017 fourthround pick.
The Lions drove to the Bears 11 on the ensuing drive, but couldn’t score because Matthew Stafford’s pass to Michael Roberts was picked off by Fuller. Fuller’s interception was the 20th of the season for the Bears.
The 32-year-old Daniel made his third career start and his first in nearly four years, replacing Trubisky, who was out with a shoulder injury.
“He knows that offense really well. He’s a little bit of a different player obviously, but he’s still athletic,” Lions coach Matt Patricia said.
Daniel finished 27 of 37. He had a 10-yard touchdown pass to Taquan Mizzell in the second quarter and a 14-yard pass to Tarik Cohen in the fourth. And unlike Stafford, he didn’t make any costly mistakes.
Stafford was 28 of 38 for 236 yards with two interceptions.
Detroit became the first team to lead Chicago in a month when LeGarrette Blount ran for his first of two touchdowns early in the second quarter. Blount had 88 yards and the two touchdowns.
Jets: Rookie QB Sam Darnold sat out team drills for a second straight day of practice, increasing the likelihood he’ll sit out against New England on Sunday. Darnold strained his right foot against Miami on Nov. 4 and didn’t play the following week against Buffalo. Josh McCown will start if Darnold’s unable to play.