Redskins and Cowboys Renew Rivalry on Thanksgiving
Whenever football fans think about Thanksgiving Day games past, the Washington Redskins and Dallas Cowboys 1974 game is one that comes to mind. It was 16-3 Redskins in the third quarter when Hall of Fame quarterback Roger Staubach left the game with a injury. Backup quarterback Clint Longley came into the game for the Cowboys and rallied them. With 28 seconds left in the game, Longley hit Drew Pearson for the game winning score from 50 yards out in the 24-23 win. The Cowboys were 6-5 going into the game. They ended that season in the Super Bowl. That game is one of the big reasons the Cowboys joined the Detroit Lions as a permanent Thanksgiving Day host.
Dallas had started hosting Thanksgiving Day games in 1966, but after their ’74 thriller and run to the Super Bowl, other teams complained the Cowboys 10-day break following the game gave them an advantage, (funny they never complained about the Lions having the same advantage). The 1975 and 1977 games went to the St. Louis Cardinals. The ratings for these games were much lower than the Cowboys games and so the Cowboys were offered the 1978 game. Cowboys owner Tex Schramm agreed so long as the Cowboys were made the permanent host of the second game on Thanksgiving. They have played in every year since.
The Redskins and Cowboys have long been one of the game’s best rivalries. The Cowboys lead the all-time series 62-40-2. In the 1982 season, the two met in the NFC Championship game with the Redskins winning to advance to their first Super Bowl championship.
This year, the Redskins come in with a Texas legend, Baylor University’s Heisman Trophy winning quarterback, Robert Griffin III. The Skins are not yet out of the NFC East race at 4-6. They trail the division leading New York Giants by two games. The 5-5 Cowboys trail them by only one game. New York will travel to play the tough Green Bay Packers on Sunday, so the winner of this game stands a great chance of gaining ground this weekend.
Here are the lines on the FC East games this week on Bovada:
Washington at Dallas– The Redskins are +3 +105 or +155. The Cowboys are -3 -125 or -175. Over/under is 48. We will go with the Redskins +3 and the under.
Green Bay at New York Giants- The Packers are +3 -130. The Giants are -3 +110. Over/under is 50.5. We gotta take the Packers with the points. We’ll go with the over too.
