For the 56th time in 64 seasons, the Dallas Cowboys will host a game on Thanksgiving Day.
The Cowboys are 32-22-1 all-time on Thanksgiving Day. They have never played away from home on the holiday.
Dallas was 4-0-1 at the Cotton Bowl on Thanksgiving, They were 22-14 at Texas Stadium and are just 6-8 at AT&T Stadium.
For the 11th time the team on the other side of the field will be the Washington Commanders.
The Cowboys hold an 8-2 record over Washington in those holiday games. But nearly every game has been memorable.
From the 1974 “The Mad Bomber” game to Troy Aikman’s first-ever win over the Redskins in 1990, the holiday version of the rivalry has been special.
The Cowboys won the first six meetings, played between 1968 and 2002.
Washington snapped the streak in 2012 before the Cowboys won two straight in 2016 and 2018. The Commanders won the last holiday meeting in 2020.
The Mad Bomber
Clint Longley’s heroics on Thanksgiving Day (Nov. 28th) in 1974 put the holiday game on the map.
The Redskins’ gameplan for every game against the Cowboys was to knock Roger Staubach out of the game. In 1974 they succeeded.
Staubach completed just three of his 11 passes for 32 yards with an interception. He was sacked twice before a concussion ended his day.
A little over a month before, the Cowboys had traded away former starter Craig Morton to the Giants.
That left rookie quarterback Clint Longley to come in off the bench for Staubach in the third quarter with Washington up 16-3.
Longley would go 11-for-20 for 203 yards in less than half a game. He would hit Billy Joe Dupree on a 35-yard pass to cut the lead to 16-10.
Walt Garrison gave Dallas a one-point lead with touchdown going into the final quarter.
Former Cowboy Duane Thomas put Washington back in the lead with a 19-yard touchdown run.
The Redskins lined up for a field goal later in the quarter but Ed “Too Tall” Jones blocked the attempt to keep Dallas in the game.
With 1:45 left, Longley stepped into Cowboys’ lore. Longley hit Bob Hayes on a fourth down pass to get the ball to midfield with 35 seconds left.
The Mad Bomber was born on the next play.
Longley hit Drew Pearson on a 50-yard pass for the game-tying touchdown. Effren Herrera hit the game-winning extra point.
The First Turkey Day Game
The Cowboys’ first holiday game was in 1966 and a 26-14 win over Cleveland. They defeated St. Louis 46-21 in 1967.
The first Thanksgiving Day game against Washington was a 29-20 win in 1968.
The winning streak was snapped in 1969 with a 24-24 tie against the 49ers.
After beating the Packers in 1970 and the Rams in 1971, the Cowboys finally tasted defeat with their turkey with a 31-10 loss to San Francisco.
Miami made it two losses in a row in 1973 with a 14-7 win at Texas Stadium.
Between 1974 and 1979 Dallas went 3-1 with wins over the Redskins (1974,1978) and the Cardinals (1976). The Oilers defeated the Cowboys 30-24 in 1979.
Dallas did not play a Thanksgiving Day game in 1975 or 1977.
They have played a game on every Thanksgiving Day since.
A Side Of Streaks
The Cowboys reeled off six straight wins on Thanksgiving between 1980-1985. They beat St. Louis twice during that run (1983 and 1985).
Dallas is 4-0 on Thanksgiving Day against the Cardinals with all four games played while the team was located in St. Louis.
They haven’t played the Cardinals on Thanksgiving Day since the team relocated to Arizona.
Seattle snapped the Cowboys’ streak with a 31-14 win in 1986 to begin a four-game losing streak on the holiday.
Dallas has also lost all three games that have gone into overtime on Thanksgiving Day.
In 1987, Dallas fell to the Vikings 44-38 in overtime. They dropped a 24-21 contest to Denver in 2005 in overtime.
The most recent overtime loss came at the hands of the Raiders, a 36-33 loss in 2021.
Heavenly Turducken
The late Pat Summerall and John Madden became a Thanksgiving Day tradition – mostly calling Dallas Cowboys’ games while we munched on turkey.
So did the Turducken. The Frankenstein monster of holiday meals quickly caught on.
As did the tradition of the game’s MVP(s) snagging one of the many legs attached to the “bird”.
One imagines nowadays the duo are calling the game on a different plane.
Don Meredith and Tom Landry leading an all-star squad of Cowboys against George Allen and the Redskins.
And plenty of Turducken to go around after the game.
Now that sounds heavenly.
- ALL-TIME THANKSGIVING DAY RECORD
- Opponent W-L-T / PF-PA
- NFC EAST
- GIANTS 2-0-0 / 58-23
- EAGLES 0-2-0 /10-60
- COMMANDERS 8-2-0 / 274-228
- NFC WEST
- CARDINALS 4-0-0 / 135-69
- RAMS 1-0-0 / 28-21
- 49ERS 0-1-1 / 34-55
- SEAHAWKS 2-1-0 / 99-47
- NFC SOUTH
- FALCONS 0-0-0 / 0-0
- PANTHERS 0-1-0 / 14-33
- SAINTS 0-1-0 / 27-30
- BUCCANEERS 1-0-0 / 38-10
- NFC NORTH
- BEARS 2-0-0 / 31-16
- LIONS 0-0-0 / 0-0
- PACKERS 2-0-0 / 58-34
- VIKINGS 0-3-0 / 89-117
- AFC EAST
- BILLS 0-1-0 / 15-26
- DOLPHINS 2-3-0 / 82-89
- PATRIOTS 1-0-0 / 20-17
- JETS 1-0-0 / 34-3
- AFC SOUTH
- TEXANS 0-0-0 / 0-0
- COLTS 0-0-0 / 0-0
- JAGUARS 0-0-0 / 0-0
- OILERS/TITANS 0-3-0 / 55-82
- AFC NORTH
- RAVENS 0-0-0 / 0-0
- BENGALS 0-0-0 / 0-0
- BROWNS 2-0-0 / 57-28
- STEELERS 1-0-0 / 20-10
- AFC WEST
- BRONCOS 0-2-0 / 45-50
- CHIEFS 1-0-0 / 24-12
- RAIDERS 2-1-0 / 88-67
- CHARGERS 0-1-0 / 6-28
- TOTALS 32-22-1 / 1341-1155
- Vs. NFC 22-11-1 / 895-743
- Vs. AFC 10-11-0 / 446-412
