After Thanksgiving prayers were said, Josh Norman and his brothers, plates in hand, would start the march toward the buffet, football players following their instincts, working together to achieve a goal: In this case, food. But just as the Norman boys closed in on the turkey, their grandmother made a clarification: It was ladies first in the house. Stand down.
“She kind of wrecks that show,” Norman, the Washington Redskins cornerback, said with a laugh.
Norman will be surrounded by a different family this Thanksgiving. His brothers will be wearing burgundy and gold, and they won’t be crowding into grandmother’s house, they’ll be invading the glittering metallic homestead of Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones, renewing a rivalry that was once considered the league’s best.
Thursday’s game between the 9-1 Cowboys and a 6-3-1 Redskins squad that is suddenly one of the hottest teams in the NFL can’t help but remind fans of Thanksgivings past, when showdowns between the two franchises regularly featured names like Gibbs, Landry, Riggins and Staubach.
In a rivalry that has been marked in recent years by mediocre teams (Dallas has had one winning season since 2010, Washington has finished last in the NFC East eight times since 2004), both franchises arrive at Thanksgiving 2016 as teams on the rise, with young stars on both sides of the field. Norman, one of the league’s premier cornerbacks, will face off against the Cowboys’ All-Pro Dez Bryant. The Redskins have found a rookie running back gem in Robert Kelley, while the Dallas Cowboys may have the next Tony Dorsett or Emmitt Smith in their own rookie ball carrier, Ezekiel Elliott. Elliott’s backfield mate, Dak Prescott, has played so well that longtime Redskins nemesis Tony Romo can’t get back on the field, while the often overlooked Kirk Cousins is just the league’s hottest passer.
On Thursday, the teams face off in a game that has enormous consequences for both franchises. After starting the season with two losses, Washington needs a win to stay in the postseason hunt and maintain momentum. For the Cowboys, a win is one step closer to home=field advantage for the NFC playoffs.
But every Redskins-Cowboys tilt, no matter the record, is framed by lore — especially the Thanksgiving Day showdowns. The Redskins have played eight times on Thanksgiving, seven times in Dallas. Only one holiday trip to Texas has produced a win. That was in 2012, the last time the teams played on the holiday, when Robert Griffin III’s star was still rising.
And more than four decades after Clint Longley’s improbable last-minute 50-yard miracle to Drew Pearson to top the Redskins, 24-23, that 1974 game still symbolizes Washington’s frustration with spending the holiday in Dallas. The other Thanksgiving losses have each been by at least seven points.
Washington already has one loss to Dallas this season, falling short in Week 2 when former Redskin Alfred Morris scored the go-ahead run for the Cowboys from four yards out at FedEx Field.
The touchdown and that game became a launch point for both teams. Dallas began a nine-game winning streak anchored by Prescott and Elliott. The slow-starting Redskins finally found the right mix the following week with a win in New York and have lost just once since.
The Redskins also dealt with a truncated window in which to plan and heal this week. After playing Sunday night, the Redskins are in Dallas for a 4:30 p.m. kickoff to start their third game in 11 days, an unheard of stretch in the bruising NFL. Redskins coach Jay Gruden went so far as to say earlier this week he thought the schedule was not “really fair.” They have no choice but to deal with it.
“We used the bye week to really prepare also for the Cowboys, but they’ve had three games since then,” Gruden said. “But it helped us really come together with a plan. As far as their health is concerned, I think this time of year we’re in good shape, really, healthwise. I think the guys feel pretty good. They’re a little beat up … but I think come Thursday they’ll be ready to roll.”
The grandeur of the day should provide enough adrenaline to knock aside lingering fatigue. Euphoria starts with Dallas’ massive arena. The Statue of Liberty could stand inside the Cowboys’ titanic home, AT&T Stadium. The Empire State Building would fit laying down. Last year, 32.5 million viewers watched the spectacle in Dallas. It was the day’s top-rated program, easily surpassing the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.
“It’s a big show. It really is,” said Norman, who played the Cowboys last Thanksgiving as a member of the Carolina Panthers. “I was in it last year over there in Wonder World. Thing’s nice. Do a good job of all the theatrics that go on.”
Washington will be pushing under the lights to squash a trend. Even outside of Thanksgiving Day, history between the teams has not been kind to the Redskins. Dallas leads the all-time series 67-44-2. The organizations swapped dominant runs from the 1980s to the 1990s. Washington won three Super Bowls between 1982 and 1991. Dallas won in 1992, 1993 and 1995. Each has been desperate to return since.
Dallas’ nine-game winning streak has positioned it atop the NFC with the NFL’s best record. The Redskins’ offense has catapulted them into the playoff picture, at least as a likely wild card team. Cousins was named NFC Offensive Player of the Week for his 375-yard passing performance Sunday. Washington scored 42 points in a rout of the Green Bay Packers, prompting fans to chant, “We want Dallas!” into the cool night. The schedule has delivered the request to be played in the league’s showiest stadium on a national holiday. The stakes and environment are not lost on the team.
“You want to live in that moment because your children’s children are going to talk about the game,” Norman said.
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