Cowboys Country

Washington 41, Cowboys 16: Emotional Roller-Coaster Dips Low

The Dallas Cowboys Lost To The Washington Football Team, 41-16, As An NFL Thanksgiving Emotional Roller-Coaster Dipped Low

Mike Fisher

ARLINGTON - The Dallas Cowboys engaged in a Thanksgiving Week that was alternately terrific, tumultuous, touching and tragic - and then came Thursday here at AT&T Stadium, another chance to buckle in for the emotional roller-coaster ...

That in the end, dipped low.

Washington 41, Cowboys 16 accomplishes a great deal of things for WFT ... And accomplishes all negatives for Dallas. 

On the deeply personal side, there was the inspiration that was to be taken from the Wednesday death of assistant coach Markus Paul, a sad situation that Dallas instead may have found as a sad distraction.

Said Ezekiel Elliott: "Death is tough to experience. Lot of guys on this team are young and haven’t experienced much death in their life. So (I'm) making sure all the guys are all right mentally and emotionally"

And on the WFT side? They jump to 4-7, good for the lead in the NFC East. ... and leaving no doubt about their dominance over Dallas.

READ MORE: Cowboys Coach Markus Paul Passes Away While 'Surrounded By Love'

READ MORE: Cowboys' Lamb Surprises Family with $50K in Home Repairs

Paul's passing marred a week otherwise marked by the "Watermelon Smash'' of last week's victory at Minnesota and the in-the-community generosity of Dallas rookie CeeDee Lamb and other Cowboys (including the Jones' family's annual Thanksgiving push of support for The Salvation Army).

How would the Cowboys respond against a division rival with the same number of wins (three) as Dallas (and everybody else in the NFC Least)?

Poorly.

Washington was more muscular, more explosive and more poised here, in the end scoring 21 unanswered in the final quarter. WFT got two touchdowns came from Antonio Gibson on a monster day (20 carries, 115 yards, three touchdowns) that made him look better than Ezekiel Elliott; Montez Sweat got a late  pick-six that made him and fellow edge-rusher Chase Young look superior to Dallas ends Randy Gregory (two sacks) and DeMarcus Lawrence.

Yes, the Cowboys were injury-plagued; All-Pro offensive lineman Zack Martin exited due to a calf-strain injury, as did the other starting tackle, Cam Erving (knee). And the Dallas secondary had to use safeties at cornerback just to get through the day.

But ...

Even the Cowboys' vaunted receiving corps wasn't good enough, CeeDee Lamb dropping a potential TD throw from QB Dalton and Washington's Terry McLaurin causing Dallas so much trouble that he even tackled Cowboys linebacker Jaylon Smith from behind, post-interception, to stop what was surely going to be a late-game game-turning play.

But the game did indeed turn. Washington's way. And the roller-coaster turned for the Cowboys ... downward.

Published
Mike Fisher
MIKE FISHER

Mike Fisher - as a newspaper beat writer and columnist and on radio and TV, where he is an Emmy winner - has covered the NFL since 1983 and the Dallas Cowboys since 1990, is the author of two best-selling books on the Cowboys.

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