The 6-4 Washington Redskins will travel to Dallas to take on the 5-5 Cowboys in the second of 3 Thanksgiving games. Last week was important one for the NFC East as these teams had completely opposite weeks, which could have a big impact on the playoff picture. The Redskins suffered a crushing 23-21 home loss to the Houston Texans. To add injury to insult, quarterback Alex Smith suffered a season ending leg injury. He was replaced Colt McCoy who will be the starter for the remainder of the year. Dallas beat the Atlanta Falcons on the road 22-19. Brett Maher kicked a field goal on the last play of the game to secure the victory. It was the team’s second win a row and they currently sit 1 game behind the Redskins for first place in the division.
Smith was playing poorly before he suffered the gruesome injury midway through the third quarter last week as he had 2 interceptions and 0 touchdowns. McCoy came in and did a decent job as he completed 6 of 12 passes for 54 yards and a touchdown. He also ran the ball 5 times for another 35 yards. Jordan Reed led the team with 71 yards and a touchdown on 7 receptions. Adrien Peterson also had a nice game with 51 yards and 2 touchdowns on 16 carries. Defensively, they played well as they recovered a fumble and intercepted Deshaun Watson twice. They gave up 139 rushing yards on 31 carries, which is an average of 4.5 yards per run. For the year, the Redskins defense has allowed their opponents to average 19.8 points and 374 yards per game.
Dallas was trailing entering the fourth quarter last week and only had 6 points. They scored 2 touchdowns and a field goal in the final quarter to secure the win. Dak Prescott finished with a passer rating of 86.5 as he completed 22 of 32 passes for 208 yards, 0 touchdowns and 0 interceptions while also rushing for a touchdown. His favorite target was Ezekiel Elliott who had 7 catches for 79 yards. Elliott also led the team in rushing with 122 yards and a touchdown on 23 carries. Defensively, they sacked Matt Ryan 3 times and intercepted him once. They also allowed 80 rushing yards on 18 carries, which is an average of 4.4 yards per carry. On the season, their defense has allowed their opponents to average 19 points and 348 yards per game.
The Cowboys will have home field advantage and are favored by 7.5 points. They are 5-5 against the spread this season including 2-2 at home. They have momentum as they are on a 2 game win streak and Elliott has over 270 rushing and 2 touchdowns in during this streak. Washington has gone 7-3 against the spread this season including 3-1 on the road. Even though McCoy looked fine last week, the loss of Smith is a big loss for this offense. Expect the fans at AT&T stadium to be ready to help their team continue their win streak and move into a tie for first place with the Redskins.
