Cowboys vs Commanders: 6 things to know about Week 12 Thanksgiving matchup

The Dallas Cowboys have reached that point in the season. The annual Thanksgiving Day game has arrived and this year the NFL gave fans a classic matchup. The Cowboys will be hosting the Washington Commanders in an old-school rivalry game where there’s no love lost.

These two franchises have been battling for 55 years and this will be the first of two meetings, with the last game coming in the final week of the season. The Commanders are coming into the game riding a two-game losing streak, and have lost four of their last five, while the Cowboys are playing their best football.

However, as the old saying goes, one can throw out the records when these two teams get together. The Cowboys and Commanders have had some memorable Turkey Day meetings, and one never knows what to expect.

Here are six things to know about the Week 12 matchup and the history of these two storied franchises on Thanksgiving.

Cowboys' most common Thanksgiving opponent

This matchup will be the 11th time the rivals have played on the holiday, the most of any opponent for the Cowboys. It’s also the team the Cowboys have beaten the most, going 8-2 in their first 10 meetings.

The first matchup came in the Washington franchise’s initial season of 1968, a game in which Dallas won 29-20. It took the team from D.C. seven tries to finally beat the Cowboys on Thanksgiving, a victory that came in 2012, by a score of 38-31.

After losing the first six games in the rivalry on the fourth Thursday in November, the Washington franchise has split the last four meetings.

Washington smoked them in the last Turkey Day meeting

The last time these two teams matched up on Thanksgiving, it was less of a holiday for the Cowboys. It was during the 2020 season, Mike McCarthy’s first in Dallas, and the team was clinging to faint hopes of a playoff berth without Dak Prescott.

An Andy Dalton-led team hung around for a little bit, but the Football Team as they were known back then, took over in the fourth quarter and smoked Mike Nolan’s defense. Rookie running back Antonio Gibson did the most damage, rushing for 115 yards and three touchdowns, including two demoralizing scores in the final quarter, in the victory.

Included in the loss for the Cowboys was a silly fake punt deep in their own territory that didn’t stand a chance of succeeding. The Football Team was leading by just four points at the time, and it took one play for their offense to score and put the game away. It was a desperation play that failed and snowballed into an embarrassing loss.

Robert Griffin III roasts Cowboys in 2012

The first win for the Washington team against the Cowboys on Thanksgiving came in 2012, when rookie QB Robert Griffin III ruined the holiday for the home team. It was somewhat of a homecoming for Griffin, who grew up in Copperas Cove, Texas, and played his college football at Baylor. In his first game back in the state of Texas, Griffin went wild on the Cowboys.

The rookie threw for 304 yards and four touchdowns against an overmatched defense. Griffin led the offense to 28 points in the second quarter, giving the Washington team a 25-point halftime lead and spoiling the second sittings for Cowboys fans everywhere.

Dallas did attempt a comeback that included quarterback Tony Romo throwing for 441 yards and three scores, two of which went to budding star wide receiver Dez Bryant, but the bid fell short. It was an epic Thanksgiving debut for Griffin, and it continues to stick out as one of the more memorable performances on the holiday.

"That rookie" saves the day

One of the first Turkey Day games between the teams was a classic. Old football fans might remember the 1974 meeting when the Cowboys needed to rely on backup quarterback Clint Longley to earn a come from behind win.

Starting QB Roger Staubach was injured in the game and the Cowboys turned to Longley, down 16-3 in the third quarter. What followed next was the stuff of legends.

Longley was a rookie at the time and the Redskins had a goal of knocking Staubach out of the game because all the Cowboys had left “was that rookie Longley.” That turned out to be enough to pull the upset. Longley entered the game and the Cowboys scored two touchdowns to take a 17-16 lead.

However, the Redskins scored a late touchdown to go up 23-17 and it looked like the game was over. Longley wouldn’t be denied in his moment, throwing a 50-yard touchdown to WR Drew Pearson with just 0:28 left to give the Cowboys a stunning 24-23 victory and a legend was born. The heroics were common for Pearson, but it was Longley’s best moment in Dallas.

Bloodied battle of the backups

Both the Redskins and Cowboys were going through bad years in 2002 when they faced off on Thanksgiving with backup quarterbacks under center. For the Redskins it was head coach Steve Spurrier’s apprentice Danny Wuerffel battling Cowboys QB Chad Hutchinson under a Dave Campo-led team.

The Redskins were about to take the early lead in the first quarter when the Cowboys blocked a 36-yard field goal attempt. In the recovery process, safety Roy Williams broke the Redskins holder/punter Bryan Barker’s nose diving for the ball. The shot of Barker’s broken nose remains one of the more bloodiest injuries ever seen.

In the third quarter, the Redskins were up 20-10 before the Cowboys took the game over. Williams picked off Wuerffel and returned it for the score to close the gap before Hutchinson hit Joey Galloway for a 41-yard touchdown to give Dallas the lead in the fourth quarter.

The Cowboys’ defense sealed the win with a fourth-and-one stop in their own territory to bring home the win.

Rookies lead the way in 2016

The Cowboys were riding the high in 2016 on the backs of their rookie sensations, Prescott and running back Ezekiel Elliott. After losing their season opener, the team had run off nine straight wins and was trying to hold off the Redskins from gaining ground in the NFC East race.

Dallas got out to a 17-3 lead in the first half and the game included the fracas between Redskins cornerback Josh Norman and Cowboys WR Dez Bryant. In the fourth quarter, Norman tried to intentionally hurt Bryant by twisting his ankle on a tackle near the goal line as the Redskins were attempting a comeback. On the next play, Prescott ran for touchdown to give the Cowboys a two-score lead.

Washington would close the gap with a touchdown, but Elliott finished off the win with his second score of the game. Rookies Prescott and Elliott accounted for all four Cowboys touchdowns in the 31-26 win.

Story originally appeared on Cowboys Wire