The Dallas/Washington rivalry goes back to the days when George Allen was the football coach for Washington and Tom Landry wore his fedora on the sidelines for Dallas. The first game took place in Griffith Stadium on October 9, 1960 and was won by Washington. Over the years a rivalry was created with some of the greatest finishes in NFL history. But more recently, the Washington Football Team has not been a great team, and the rivalry faded. Maybe the old days of Diron Talbert who was from Texas and hated the Cowboys can return.
“George [Allen] got us hating the [Cowboys’] organization more than we did the players. It never got old under George. It just had a way of firing you up, and for that game, you SHOULD be charged up and raring to go. … If you have to hate somebody to play well, then you’ve got to hate ’em. When you play Dallas, it’s easy to do,” Talbert recalled.
This is the 121st game between these storied franchises. The Washington Football Team enters this game at 1-5 and the Cowboys are 2-4. If Washington wins, they would move into second place in the NFC East, and if Dallas wins they would be on top of the East. They will be playing on a sloppy field as it is raining heavy in the D.C. area.
Both teams have issues with their quarterbacks. The Cowboys lost their starting quarterback, Dak Prescott, to a gruesome leg and ankle injury. Washington never lost their quarterback as they have not had a franchise quarterback for years. Kyle Allen will start again this week for Washington and it will be Andy Dalton for Dallas. Keep an eye on rookie Antonio Gibson to take advantage of the Dallas run defense, and Terry McLaurin in the passing game.
The rest of the story of this game need Washington to change for the better. They are 1-7 against the Cowboys since September of 2016. That is why there is no rivalry when the scales are tipped to one side so much. The Vegas line had the Cowboys as 3 point favorites and has turned this morning to Washington as a 1 point favorite. The winner will put themselves in a much different position in the division that has all losing teams.
“I thought [Kyle Allen] did some really good things,” coach Ron Rivera said of Allen’s game last week. “I thought he made some really good decisions, and moved the ball when we had to.”
“Obviously the two things you want back are the two takeaways, but other than that, he did the things that we’re expecting of him … and he put us in position to win the football game. And that much — I think is promising.”
Both teams have new coaches, Ron Rivera for Washington. and first-year coach Mike McCarthy took over in Dallas after years of failing to win the big games under Jason Garrett who took over in 2010.
Washington and Dallas kickoff at 1 p.m. ET at FedEx Field in the D.C. area on FOX.
