On Thanksgiving Day here in Arlington, Dallas managed to make a fight out of it after an incredibly lopsided and ugly first half, but the hole they dug themselves early proved to be too much for the Cowboys, as they fell to the Washington Redskins by a final of 38-31.
After kicking off to the Redskins, the Cowboys defense forced a three and out, which was good. Following that, Dallas drove to the Washington 12, where Dan Bailey made a 30-yard field goal to give Dallas an early 3-0 lead, which was also good. Unfortunately for the Cowboys, it was pretty much the last good thing of any sort for the rest of the half.
Washington rattled off four unanswered touchdowns in the second quarter, three of them on passes from Robert Griffin III (Aldrick Robinson, Pierre Garcon and Santana Moss were the receivers on those scores). Griffin finished with 411 yards through the air. The other score in the initial onslaught came on a one-yard run from Alfred Morris, who finished the first half with 63 yards on 12 carries. At halftime, it was 28-3, Redskins.
The second half started slowly for Dallas, with Bailey adding a 33-yard field goal to shrink the Washington lead to a still-daunting 22 points at 28-6 in the third. The offense finally showed a little life late in the frame, as Dez Bryant took a pass from Romo 85 yards for the team’s first touchdown of the day to make it 28-13.
But RG3 wasn’t done. He hit Niles Paul for his fourth touchdown pass of the day to once again extend the lead early in the fourth quarter, this time to 35-13. Dallas responded with a 10-yard touchdown catch by running back Felix Jones--after which Romo ran in the two-point try-- and Bryant’s second touchdown catch of the day, an 11-yarder, after which the Washington lead was a seemingly manageable 35-28. But the effort would fall short.
Former Cowboy Kai Forbath added a Washington field goal to put it at 38-28, after which Dallas could only manage a field goal by Bailey. A failed onside kick attempt, which was scooped up by Dante Hall and returned to just outside the Dallas goal line, ended it, cementing a seven-point Redskins win.
At 5-6, Dallas will host the Eagles next Sunday night on NBC.
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