Redskins, Cowboys, and Holiday Traditions
By: Drew Willingham
Headline Photo From: timesrecordnews.com
DALLAS, TX – Thanksgiving Day, a day spent to express gratitude with family and friends for nearly 400 years now. The NFL has celebrated within the traditional holiday since 1920 and for nearly a century provided us with unforgettable moments. The Dallas Cowboys would join this tradition in 1966, two years later they would take on their rival, The Washington Redskins for the first time on this day. This game would mark the ninth contest between the two rivals on Thanksgiving day, Dallas (7-1) all-time coming in to this contest and hosting at home against a team without their starting quarterback.
Washington Redskins Backup QB Colt McCoy entered this game as a Starter for the first time this season and his first start since 2014. In that 2014 Season, McCoy’s first start was against The Dallas Cowboys, a 20-17 Overtime victory for the Redskins as McCoy would beat his favorite childhood team in his home state of Texas. McCoy, the organization, and the fans were hopeful that his experience against this team would be in their favor as they entered in to this contest.
The game started with Dallas receiving the ball and a touchback would start them at the 25-yard line. The Cowboys started strong out the gate, as they would move the ball down the field in less than 5 minutes of game time and score on a 16-yard rush by Ezekiel Elliot to give his team a 7-0 lead. The momentum favored the home team as they were (70-45-2) all-time against the Redskins prior to this game. The punters would be the highlight of the next drive for each team as they would each go three-and-Out.
The Redskins would start their second drive with 6:52 left in the first quarter, the offense looking to get something going as they came in to this game following a heartbreaking home loss to the Houston Texans. On third down, TE Jordan Reed would haul in a 20-yard pass from Colt McCoy to move the chains for Washington and restore hope in the franchise. Three plays later on third down, Reed would be targeted again and this time haul in a 11-yard pass from McCoy to give Washington another first down. The tide started to shift as Washington was on the Dallas 41-yard line and eyeing a score to potentially tie the game up. Another third down play would see the ball back in the hands of McCoy, who would attempt a pass to WR Trey Quinn that was intercepted by CB Anthony Brown of the Cowboys for a 1-yard gain. The Cowboys would run out the last three minutes of the clock and go in to the second quarter with a 7-0 lead.
The second quarter began with the Cowboys in possession of the ball, but it was short lived as Punter Chris Jones would leg a 51-yard punt that would end up with a fair catch by Trey Quinn at the Washington 9-yard line. McCoy would look to shake off his first quarter interception and restore hope back in to the support around him and his team. The offense would have tough field position, but they would persevere with Reed and RB Adrian Peterson, while earning two first downs to move the ball to the Washington 42-yard line. Peterson would then gain 9-yards to set up a 2-and-1 on the Dallas 49-yard line, following that play, TE Vernon Davis would be penalized for a false start that would set the team back another 5-yards. The offense would not be able to recover from the penalty and would end up punting three plays later. Dallas would go three-and-out on the following drive to give the ball back to Washington with 7:12 left in the second quarter.
On the first play of the ensuing drive by Washington, Davis would make up for his previous hiccup by hauling in a 53-yard touchdown pass by McCoy to tie the game up at 7-7 and put a smile back in the Redskins faithful. With that Touchdown reception, Davis ties NFL Hall of Famer Shannon Sharpe for sixth on the all-time list. The pass by McCoy is his longest since his 71-yard touchdown pass to WR Rashad Ross in a 2015 Week 17 Contest where the Redskins beat the Cowboys 34-23 to earn a playoff berth.
Dallas would start the ensuing drive on the 25-yard line following a touchback, the offense would look on to regain the lead with 7:04 remaining in the quarter. The offense would gain three first downs by the two minute warning by the legs of Elliot and the resurgence of WR Amari Cooper. The drive would end with a 28-yard field goal by K Brett Maher with 1:32 left in the quarter. The punters would again be the highlight of the next drive for each team as they would both go three-and-out. The Redskins would have possession of the ball with: 15 seconds left in the second quarter, but a kneel by McCoy would end the first half of this holiday contest. Dallas would lead 10-7 at halftime.
The third quarter would start with Washington receiving the ball and yet another touchback would start this drive at the 25-yard line. The offense would struggle to get any momentum going despite a defensive hold on Cowboys CB Byron Jones that would give the Redskins a first down. Tress Way would punt the ball 54-yards to pin the Cowboys at the 8-yard line on a fair catch by Cole Beasley. The Cowboys were unable to overcome their tough field position and go three-and-out, a 46-yard punt by Jones would result in a 30-yard Return by Trey Quinn that would set up the Redskins 25 yards away from the endzone. An injury to Redskins OT Trent Williams and penalties by both teams would transpire in just 90 seconds of play clock action. On the play that followed the injury , Colt McCoy would connect with Quinn for a 10-yard touchdown to give the Redskins a 13-10 lead. K Dustin Hopkins would miss the extra point and Washington’s score would remain the same as they led the Cowboys by a field goal.
The following drive would start with Dallas receiving the ball and guess what? Another touchback would occur and the Cowboys would start at the 25-yard line once again. On the first play of the drive, Amari Cooper would haul in a 11-yard pass from QB Dak Prescott to get the momentum back on their side. The next two rushes by Elliot would moved the back 24 yards and Dallas would be at the Washington 40-yard line with 6:57 remaining in the third quarter. The offense would line up in shotgun formation, Prescott would sling a pass short left to Cooper that resulted in a 40-yard touchdown and a 17-13 lead over their opponent. Cooper would have 114 yards receiving at this point in the game and play a vital role in how the rest of the game played out.
Washington would start the drive on the 25-yard line as a result of yet another touchback, down by 4 points, and ready to get the ball moving. McCoy would connect on consecutive big plays, the first to WR Josh Doctson for a 10-yard first down, and TE Vernon Davis for a 20-yard first down. From a viewers stand point, this appeared to be the potential making of a classic holiday showdown. The following play would be an 8-yard rush by Peterson to the Dallas 34-yard line, the offensive momentum was rolling strong with 4:10 remaining in the third quarter. A holding penalty on OT Morgan Moses, would subside that momentum and the Redskins would punt the ball to end the drive.
Dallas would start this drive at the 9-yard line and once again be in tough field position. Elliot would start off with a rush to the right for a 1-yard gain, the Cowboys were in need of a big play, and were about to make an attempt. While in Shotgun formation, Prescott would toss a deep pass over the middle to Cooper that would result in a 90-yard touchdown and increase their lead to 24-13 over Washington. Two plays after the unforeseeable touchback, McCoy would throw his second interception of the game and give the ball to Dallas toward the end of the third quarter. The Cowboys would move the ball down to the Washington 7-yard line prior to the clock expiring.
Starting the fourth quarter inside the 10-yard line, Dallas looked to extend their lead and get one step closer to victory. On the second play of the quarter, Prescott scrambled to the right for a 5-yard touchdown to increase the Cowboys lead to 31-13. With 14:03 left in the game, a win for the Redskins appeared to be far fetched at this point. Washington would actually be able return the next kickoff on a 44-yard gain by returner Danny Johnson. Starting in Shotgun formation on the Dallas 44-yard line, WR Josh Docton would haul in a pass from McCoy for a 17-yard gain, earning a first down and setting his team up with only 27 yards away from yet another score. McCoy and RB Kapri Bibbs would scramble their way down to the 1-yard line, that would set up a 1-yard touchdown run by Bibbs to make the score a little more respectable at 31-20.
Dallas would receive the ball and surprisingly return the kickoff 19 yards to the 22-yard line with 11:43 remaining in the contest. The Cowboys would ground-and-pound their way down the field and eat up over six minutes of game clock. The strategy would help ice the game to an extent, but they would end up punting on fourth down and Washington would get another shot to claw their way back with 5:27 remaining. The offense would start out strong and earn two first downs, and head in to the fourth play of the drive on the Dallas 36-yard line. In Shotgun formation, McCoy would attempt a pass to WR Mo Harris to only be intercepted by S Xavier Woods of the Cowboys for his third of the game. McCoy now with three interceptions, appears to be distraught as he can only wonder what the score would actually be had he not turned the ball over so many times. Dallas would punt on the ensuing drive, Washington would earn a field goal as a result and the score would be 31-23. Although it was now a one score contest, only 1:17 left in the contest meant that a miracle would need to take place to send this game to overtime. A failed onside kick by Hopkins would give Dallas possession and the ability to close out the game and earn the victory.
Dallas would move in to first place tied with Washington at a record of 6-5 in the NFC East and as a result of their third straight win. Washington now having dropped two straight contests, still sets atop the division with the Cowboys and still in the hunt for the division crown. However, after the loss of QB Alex Smith four days earlier to a season ending injury, the division title appears to be slipping away with each passing day. Both of these teams will need to make continued adjustments in order to have a chance at a playoff berth. With the Philadelphia Eagles (5-6) only one game behind the two teams, neither team can afford a big mistake or injury at this point and need to remain poised over the next five weeks in order to earn a chance at postseason glory. Dallas will host The New Orleans Saints (10-1) in a tough matchup against Drew Brees and company, while Washington travels to Philadelphia to take on a tough rival in the Eagles.
