Is Thursday the biggest Skins-Cowboys "heavyweight" bout since Gibbs I?

[bobandweave]

Just now, NoCalMike said:

Dallas O-line as a collective group should be NFL MVP(s) if that was even allowed, that is.  Here is the other question, take away the O-line, or say replace them with just an above averge O-line, and who do you think performs better Dak or Zeke? I say Zeke, because of his speed and open field elusiveness, that he would be the more consistent performer behind a lesser O-line.  Watching the Cowboys games, there have been plenty of games where Dak has looked pretty mediocre for 2 and even 3 quarters, however the Dallas defense has been better than expected so far, and has kept those games close, not to mention their running game helps limit the opportunities their opponents have to get the ball in their hands. Both have performed excellent for rookies, but I think 'Zeke has been the better of the two.

 

Like McFadden showed last year with as good of an Offensive Line that the Cowboys have any RB no matter how horrible they are would do well behind that line. On the other hand remove the line from Elliot and I'm certain he would do worse then he is doing now. I think that's a truth for every RB to ever play the game with that line. Same for Dak, remove the dominating line he would do worse then he is now. The Offensive line helps both of these men tremendously. I think I agree with you in that if the line was gone who would you want more, EZ or Dak and I would probably choose EZ because its easier for a RB to perform well with a crappy Oline then it is for a QB, but does that make EZ MVP? Not to me.

Dak has 2 INTs on the season, sorry had to say that since were talking about mediocre here. Now look at the Eagles game, Dak looked pretty bad in that game for most of it. By the middle of the 3rd quarter the Eagles were winning 20-10, then Dak started heating up and he throws the tying TD pass to get to overtime with 3 minutes to play and then throws the winning TD in overtime. In that span EZ rushed the ball 13 times for 50 yards. They both contributed except EZ didn't score and without scoring they don't win or get into overtime that day. Even when this QB looks like a rookie he's been able to get it going enough for them to win.

4 minutes ago, MartinC said:

Just as an aside we have a street Thanksgiving dinner (its outside - in Phoenix you can pretty much count on the weather). Its our first year in this City and our first Thanksgiving in the US. 

All good until I found out 'we' are planning to eat just as the Redskins/Cowboys game kicks off!!! I am now debating which will be more painful - recording the game to watch after the dinner finishes or a divorce ...

 

You almost had me there, but I was able to avoid spitting coke on my monitor. Well played Sir and welcome back to the good old USA!!!

[Califan007 The Constipated]

14 minutes ago, NoCalMike said:

 

I am getting there man......honest.  I am finally starting to feel like this franchise is back to a place somewhat where a loss isn't devastating, and isn't going to set off a chain of more losses like it has in the past.  Good teams lose, great teams lose.  Those teams also rebound rather quickly.  I think that tie game still has reverberated through and effected of our overall opinion because while it isn't as bad as a loss, it still looks like a blemish on our record considering how much better 7-3 would look on paper instead of 6-3-1.   

Winning on Thanksgiving would be the cherry on top to beating Green Bay on primtime. Hell it might be it's own dessert entirely, but on the flip side, where in season's past I would look at a loss as the beginning of the end, I don't feel like that is the case anymore.

^^^ Yep to all of that...after the Lions loss a very real part of me said "Here we go, here come more losses" lol...but another real part of me said "If we're as good as I want to believe, we'll go on another winning streak."

[Diehard Otis]

2 hours ago, Skinsinparadise said:

Having said that, I think even the snarky national media would have a hard time ignoring the Redskins if they pull this one off.  The media is obsessed with the Cowboys and are trying to manufacture an antagonist to make their story fun -- with them running segments about how they'd fare versus Seattle, etc.    If the Redskins beat Dallas it would serve that purpose.  You do have right now some media types impressed with the Skins but that seems more like the hipster position -- the cool outlier one.  The mainstream position is the Cowboys are unstoppable.  The Giants are the biggest threat.   Kirk is a tease and isn't anything special   While Eli hasn't played great he is great because he's won superbowls.  

 

2 hours ago, NoCalMike said:

Well Stephen A. Smith while beginning to come around on Dallas, has been the one guy so far unwilling to crown them as of yet.  Despite his clowning of the 'Skins, he seems to be level-headed when it comes to Dallas, but again, when it comes to national media you have to remember they largely form opinions based on long term trends and forecasts.  Nothing really changes their opinion on things until you can't deny it any longer.  The 'Skins are on the cusp of changing people's minds, but our history probably makes the media not want to jump onto the ship just yet.

Winning on Thanksgiving changes everything.  Although I'm on record as saying a little more than that.  My take is the psychological boost that such a Win would give the team could propel them into having a MONSTER year.  At that point, I firmly believe that everything is within striking distance.  This Season.

And that would fundamentally reshape the perception of the team.  I agree with the comments above (regarding the Football Press), & such an event would force the national sports press to closely examine the developments in DC that led to us beating The Hated Rival.  And that's when the Contender treatment would begin.  (Now if all of this comes to pass, how would The Team handle being regarded as one of the haves?)

But this is all predicated upon us Beating our Rival.  

So, to answer the @hail2skins question in the original post, I say yes.  It is a huuuuge ballgame, because of the plane it puts our Program on going forward.  

[Spearfeather]

Two things stand out for me in this game.

A Thanksgiving matchup where we both have winning records. ( The last time, 1996  )

This is our last chance at winning the division this year.  We would still need help, and it wouldn't be easy, but a win would make it at least possible. ( Any chance at winning it with a loss, would be remote at best. )

Have to admit .....

 

 

Can't    Wait.

[BatteredFanSyndrome]

The 2012 game was bigger than this in regards to the stakes.  I really want them to win this game just because...Everyone will be watching, literally everyone...We've had to hear about the Cowboys ad nauseam for decades even when they blow, this season the hype is valid and loud Cowboy fans are crawling out from under rocks chanting "we dem boys"...I'm not sure I've ever wanted to win a regular season game so badly.  No matter what happens weeks 13-17, please just win this one.

I really can't fathom how awful it will be to take an L, particularly a bad L.  Rather than giving thanks we'll be cursing at our televisions and this place will explode.  Let us just enjoy thanksgiving and the following day (my birthday) hearing the pundits make excuses for a Cowboys loss.   

 

[ThePackisback]

You guys think the Redskins can get to the Super Bowl this season?

[MartinC]

19 minutes ago, ThePackisback said:

You guys think the Redskins can get to the Super Bowl this season?

I don't. IMO we don't have the defense to get that far.

[ThePackisback]

33 minutes ago, MartinC said:

I don't. IMO we don't have the defense to get that far.

You guys are the only team I can root for since we're out of it.

[Chants]

This is the biggest game of the season so far.  No doubt about that.  It's this time of the year things get really interesting.  

But, no.  This season and this game are not yet to the point of a 1983, "Danny, NO!", NFC Beast type of game.  Neither team has deeply penetrated the post season much at all in the past 10 years, while the 1983 Skins were fresh of a super bowl and the 1983 Cowboys were consistently good year after year.  You had Landry, an icon on one side, and Gibbs, an upstart at the time, on the other.  Not the same vibe at all at present.  Yet.

This game will tell us if we're getting to that point.  It has a lot of potential.  If the Skins win, make the playoffs, and go deep this year, and if the Cowboys lose, but win the division, then, yes, next years games will look like 1983 all over again.

[Koolblue13]

It's certainly not the biggest, but it is pretty big.

Winning this game will go a long way for us. It's basically our biggest hurdle.

And like said before me, this game is for the division, at least to us.

Pretty exciting stuff, that's for sure.

[hail2skins]

4 hours ago, Chants said:

 

But, no.  This season and this game are not yet to the point of a 1983, "Danny, NO!", NFC Beast type of game.  Neither team has deeply penetrated the post season much at all in the past 10 years, while the 1983 Skins were fresh of a super bowl and the 1983 Cowboys were consistently good year after year.  You had Landry, an icon on one side, and Gibbs, an upstart at the time, on the other.  Not the same vibe at all at present.  Yet.

 

I agree that the 1983 game ranks up there as one of the biggest (maybe 1979 too, but lets not discuss that one) but I guess my question was, is this particular game closer to, say, the 1992 game at RFK or the 2005 one at FedEx?

Someone else in this thread brought up the 2007 game in Dallas (they were 8-1, we were 5-4) which I had forgotten about and might actually be a good comp. Unfortunately, when you recall this game, you remember TO running wild down the middle, and the comments of "what if Sean wasn't injured" while a few weeks later, you just wanted Sean to be alive

[SWFLSkins]

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Chuck Sapienza‏@chucksapienza

In Dallas' last 6 games they have 2548 yards of offense. Against same 6 opponents, #Redskins have 2549 yards of offense. 1 yard difference

[clskinsfan]

Everybody in this thread saying the Cowboys are running away with the division. Please keep in mind IF we win this game Dallas could be in trouble. They do not play a team with a losing record the rest of the season. We win this and the division is up for grabs again. We win out and there is a very good chance of a first round bye. 

[TD_washingtonredskins]

2 hours ago, hail2skins said:

I agree that the 1983 game ranks up there as one of the biggest (maybe 1979 too, but lets not discuss that one) but I guess my question was, is this particular game closer to, say, the 1992 game at RFK or the 2005 one at FedEx?

Someone else in this thread brought up the 2007 game in Dallas (they were 8-1, we were 5-4) which I had forgotten about and might actually be a good comp. Unfortunately, when you recall this game, you remember TO running wild down the middle, and the comments of "what if Sean wasn't injured" while a few weeks later, you just wanted Sean to be alive

I think this is somewhere between 1992 and 2005. It's not quite as big as 1992 because that year we were the defending champs while they were ascending. In 2005, both teams (at the time) were pretty mediocre. That's not giving either 2016 team (especially Dallas) enough credit. So, I guess it's a bit closer to 1992 on the spectrum, just without the recent success. 

I was one of the people who brought up 2007 and think it's the closest comparison. The time of year is also at play here. Even in 1992 or 2005, the game was played in mid-December so that stakes were a bit higher/margins a bit slimmer. 2007 was a mid-November game (each team's 10th) that is similarly placed on the schedule.  

[bobandweave]

12 hours ago, ThePackisback said:

You guys think the Redskins can get to the Super Bowl this season?

 

Possible, remote of course but sure its possible. What we would need is to first get in the playoffs, then we would need to face a favorable schedule in it. Doing so likely means we win 3 road games, so give us about a 10% chance today.

http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/standings/playoffrace

Now based on the current standings for playoffs we would be looking at

Game 1 revenge game going and winning a game we should have won already in Detroit in the wild card round. We should have beaten this team already so I think we can do that

Game 2 would see us going back into Dallas, Texas and beating these Cowboys again. Game one we gave that game away, tomorrow if we win then it would show me that yes we can go into Dallas and beat them so our chances would be good that we could do that

Game 3 would see us looking at either going into Seattle assuming they beat the winner of the Giants Falcons game or us going to either New York or Atlanta. We already beat the Giants in NY this year so my belief is strong if we were looking at that we could do it and this would be the best scenario. Atlanta does scare me and so does playing in Seattle but honestly my own personal desire in this crazy scenario would be us going to Seattle and stomping a mud hole into those guys for what they've been able to do against us in recent playoff games but yea that's what we would be looking at this year if we got to the Superbowl this season

Best case we are at Detroit, at Dallas, and at New York. Not a murderers row of opponents or games to get to the dance.

 

 

[bobandweave]

7 hours ago, Chants said:

This season and this game are not yet to the point of a 1983, "Danny, NO!", NFC Beast type of game.  Neither team has deeply penetrated the post season much at all in the past 10 years.

 

Honestly we haven't been to the NFC Championship game since 1991, the second longest drought streak of any team not getting to its conference title game in the league today only behind the Bengals. Been a little longer then 10 years for us

[Chants]

4 hours ago, hail2skins said:

I agree that the 1983 game ranks up there as one of the biggest (maybe 1979 too, but lets not discuss that one) but I guess my question was, is this particular game closer to, say, the 1992 game at RFK or the 2005 one at FedEx?

Someone else in this thread brought up the 2007 game in Dallas (they were 8-1, we were 5-4) which I had forgotten about and might actually be a good comp. Unfortunately, when you recall this game, you remember TO running wild down the middle, and the comments of "what if Sean wasn't injured" while a few weeks later, you just wanted Sean to be alive

Yes, it reminds me of 2005.  

[NoCalMike]

Listening to Cooley this morning I agree with him that it's really the Dallas pass offense you need to try and key in on.  The defense needs to try and jump routes the entire game. They will likely get burned on a few receptions because of it, but it will also give them opportunities to make big plays and get turnovers.  On 3rd & 5+ situations Dak almost *always* throws right to the sticks, or even a yard or two in front of the sticks.  Defenses are playing their coverage loose and it is giving Witten and Beasley way too much room to move and run after the catch.  In Witten's case it is mostly catching-and-falling over the 1st down marker, while Beasley usually runs for 3-4 yards beyond it.  Gotta have the linebacks and even a safety patrolling those routes and stopping those passes right where they are caught.  

This could be a game where Su'a Cravens plays a huge part, as he will likely be patrolling the middle of the field somewhat close to the line, to help with the run, sometimes spy Dak, and try and stop those short throws from becoming big gains.

[TheGreek1973]

Ok I  get the boys are on a 9 game winning streak but 7 points under dogs?  Seriously Vegas thinks that little of us?  Hell the Browns are 7 point dogs to the Giants.  LOL

[RedBeast]

I think it is going to come down to:

1.       No injuries

2.       Minimize errors, flawless execution

3.       Minimal to no penalties

4.       Special Teams

5.       Do not be predictable on Offense or Defense

Of course it will be great if our offense just clicks lick wildfire and gets their D tired early, as well as our defense just breaks up their momentum and has some big plays and harasses their QB...btw? Who is starting on the other side tomorrow?

[Califan007 The Constipated]

17 minutes ago, TheGreek1973 said:

Ok I  get the boys are on a 9 game winning streak but 7 points under dogs?  Seriously Vegas thinks that little of us?  Hell the Browns are 7 point dogs to the Giants.  LOL

The spread went up...too much of the public betting on the Cowboys?

[BRAVEONTHEWARPATH93]

I always say that I don't hate Dallas as much as older fans because they've been just as ****ty as us in my lifetime 

but as soon as the game is like 24 hours away, I get that big game feeling and no other feeling comes close 

I can't wait to crush them 

[hail2skins]

5 hours ago, clskinsfan said:

Everybody in this thread saying the Cowboys are running away with the division. Please keep in mind IF we win this game Dallas could be in trouble. They do not play a team with a losing record the rest of the season. We win this and the division is up for grabs again. We win out and there is a very good chance of a first round bye. 

It would be big to win this game, but we'd still be 1.5 games behind them. Even if the Cowboys only go 3-3 in their last 6, we'd have to run the table to overtake them. Even as well as we've been playing, tough to see that happening. That's where that stupid tie with Cincy screws us. I think the Giants have a better shot at catching them than we do.

[TD_washingtonredskins]

33 minutes ago, hail2skins said:

It would be big to win this game, but we'd still be 1.5 games behind them. Even if the Cowboys only go 3-3 in their last 6, we'd have to run the table to overtake them. Even as well as we've been playing, tough to see that happening. That's where that stupid tie with Cincy screws us. I think the Giants have a better shot at catching them than we do.

Yeah, I love the optimism and of course think the team should play to win every game. But, it would be a gigantic collapse at this point if Dallas didn't win the NFC East. 

2 games up with 6 games to go...if they did end up losing this lead to New York or us, they should be ashamed. 

[NoCalMike]

I don't think it would be as big a collapse as people are saying.  Including tomorrow, they have 3 division games.  I know it is asking a lot to see them lose all 3, however they lost to the Giants in Dallas already, the Eagles blew a chance to be up by 10 points IN Dallas, and the 'Skins blew a chance to be up by over a TD with under 3 minutes to play in their first matchup.

It's not like the Cowboys are blowing their opponents off the field, they are an impressive 9-1, but not a dominant 9-1.  If the 'Skins and Giants keep winning, then it wouldn't take a ton of losses for the Cowboys to fall back into the pack.