There’s no doubt that Thanksgiving has a little extra sauce this year, especially for the Redskins fans who chanted “We want Dallas” at the end of Sunday night’s affirmative 42-24 beatdown of the Green Bay Packers at FedEx Field.
They want Dallas, and Dallas they will get Thursday afternoon, with an ascendent 6-3-1 Redskins squad taking on the league-best 9-1 Dallas Cowboys.
Washington plays against its arch-nemesis, on one of football’s biggest stages of the year, in a game with huge playoff implications — it’s enough to make any Redskins fan wistful for the days when playing the Cowboys late in the season felt like life or death just about every year.
The last time the Redskins traveled to Texas for Turkey Day — in 2012 — then rookie Robert Griffin III punished the Cowboys 38-31, throwing four touchdowns and 303 yards, out-dueling then-Dallas starter Tony Romo, who threw for three touchdowns and 441 yards himself in a losing effort. “The Washington Redskins will be a force to be reckoned with for some time,” one NFL writer wrote at the time, as RG3 and his fellow rookie in the backfield Alfred Morris led the Washington to what looked like the first of many NFC East titles to come.
That didn’t happen, but at least Griffin lifted the holiday curse for the Redskins. Before 2012, the Cowboys had won six consecutive Thanksgiving showdowns between the franchises.
Here’s a look back at some of the Redskins’ highs and (mostly) lows in the annual Thanksgiving Day game in Dallas:
Nov. 28, 1968: Cowboys win 29-20
The 1968 season wasn’t particularly kind to the Redskins. With only five wins on the season, Washington finished third in the division. The Cowboys, who would finish 12-2, squeezed out a fourth-quarter comeback. Washington went up 20-19, but Dallas retook the lead on a 25-yard Mike Clark field goal. Redskins’ quarterback Jim Ninowski tried to lead the Redskins downfield, but an interception returned for a touchdown by Larry Cole sealed the Cowboys’ victory.
Nov. 28, 1974: Cowboys win 24-23
The infamous Clint Longley game. Washington entered this Thanksgiving matchup at 8-3, needing only a win to secure a playoff spot. With less than 10 minutes left in the third quarter, the Redskins took a 16-3 lead. Victory seemed assured after Redskins’ linebacker Dave Robinson knocked future Hall of Fame quarterback Roger Staubach out of the game — forcing Dallas to bring in obscure, unknown rookie Clint Longley. But Longley — nicknamed “The Mad Bomber” — went 11 of 20 passes for 203 yards and two touchdowns to mount the comeback. Washington’s offense struggled, with quarterback Billy Kilmer throwing for just 112 yards on eight completions, and Duane Thomas and Moses Denson combining for just 105 yards rushing. The Redskins still made the playoffs, losing in the divisional round to the Los Angeles Rams. One-hit wonder Longley was traded a couple of seasons later, but had firmly cemented his place in Redskins-Cowboys lore with his Thanksgiving Day heroics — a performance Cowboys lineman Blaine Nye famously referred to as a “triumph of the uncluttered mind.”
Nov. 23, 1978: Cowboys win 37-10
Again, the Cowboys entered as heavy favorites over a mediocre Redskins squad. The Redskins were shut out through the first half, and the game was ultimately never within reach, as the Cowboys jumped out to a 13-0 lead in the first quarter. The key to the matchup? The Redskins simply could not stop the Cowboys’ rushing attack. Running back Scott Laidlaw finished with 122 yards rushing and two touchdowns on just 16 carries, and running back Tony Dorsett added another 72 yards rushing. In total, Dallas rushed for 289 yards. The Redskins managed just 81 yards on the ground, led by John Riggins’ 40 yards.
Nov. 22, 1990: Cowboys win 27-17
Once again, the Thanksgiving matchup featured a Redskins defense that could not solve a Cowboys’ running game. This time, Washington had fits with Emmitt Smith, who ran for 132 yards on 23 carries, scoring two touchdowns. Troy Aikman added another 222 yards in the air. The Redskins relied heavily on quarterback Mark Rypien, who threw the ball 54 times, completing 26 for 267 yards and a touchdown. Running back Earnest Byner led the Redskins with just 39 yards on the ground.
Nov. 28, 1996: Cowboys win 21-10
The Redskins started the season with an 8-3 record only to close 1-4, playing themselves out of the playoffs. In the midst of that losing streak was Washington’s Thanksgiving loss to the Cowboys, led again by Smith, who rushed for 155 yards on 29 carries, scoring all three of Dallas’ touchdowns. Aikman threw for just 63 yards, but the Redskins offense managed to record just 221 yards of total offense. Washington’s lone touchdown would come on a 26-yard Gus Frerotte pass to Leslie Shepherd. Frerotte threw for 175 yards, and running back Terry Allen led the Redskins in rushing with 34 yards.
Nov. 28, 2002: Cowboys win 27-20
Smith again torched the Redskins’ run defense. This time, Washington kept him out of the end zone, but Smith still managed to rush for 144 yards on 23 carries. Quarterback Danny Wuerffel kept the Redskins in the game, throwing for 243 yards on 21 completions and three touchdowns, but his three interceptions proved to be quite costly. An 11-yard touchdown pass by Wuerffel to Derrius Thompson gave the Redskins a 20-10 lead with 12:52 left in the third quarter, but a Wuerffel interception, caught by Roy Williams, was returned for a 5-yard touchdown. That, followed by a 41-yard touchdown pass by Chad Hutchinson to Joey Galloway gave Dallas its sixth-straight Thanksgiving victory over Washington.
Nov. 22, 2012: Redskins win 38-31
Griffin, who had won the Heisman while playing in nearby Waco at Baylor University, introduced himself to the Cowboys with four touchdowns as the Redskins totaled 437 yards of offense in a 38-31 victory. It was, in retrospect, one of the high points of Griffin’s career as a Redskin.
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