As the Washington Redskins get closer to the start of another season, Redskins.com will preview all 16 of the team's regular season games. Today is the Week 13 matchup with the Dallas Cowboys.
*In another primetime appearance, the Redskins will look to finish off the season series with rival Dallas by beating the Cowboys at AT&T Stadium. *
Dallas' Key Additions: Signed DL Stephen Paea (Cleveland), signed CB Nolan Carroll (Philadelphia), signed T Byron Bell (Tennessee), drafted DL Taco Charlton (Michigan), drafted CB Chidobe Awuzie (Colorado)
Dallas' Key Subtractions: QB Tony Romo (retired), G Ronald Leary (signed with Denver), RB Lance Dunbar (signed with Los Angeles Rams), DL Jack Crawford (signed with Atlanta), DL Terrell McClain (signed with Washington), CB Brandon Carr (signed with Baltimore), CB Morris Claiborne (signed with New York Jets), S Barry Church (signed with Jacksonville), S J.J. Wilcox (signed with Tampa Bay).
Following a Thanksgiving Day matchup with the Giants in Week 12, the Redskins won't yet get their extra rest as they'll play for a second consecutive Thursday with a trip to take on the Dallas Cowboys.
For the fifth and final time scheduled for this season, the Redskins will be shown in primetime, as the two teams will kick off at 8:25 p.m. in a game that will be aired on both NBC and NFL Network.
The Redskins have had success in Dallas of late, winning three of their last five trips to Big D despite falling in a wild contest last season. Kirk Cousins was brilliant, completing a season-high 41 passes on 53 attempts for 449 yards and three touchdowns while not throwing an interception. The Redskins gained more than 500 yards as a team for the third time in the 2016 season.
Jordan Reed continued his impressive season with 10 catches for 95 yards and two touchdowns, including arguably his best catch of the season – a ridiculous one-handed grab against the sideline. He also was playing through a shoulder injury that forced him to miss the next week's game.
However, perhaps the most encouraging sign for this season from Washington's second matchup with Dallas was the Redskins continued ability to keep Cowboys running back Ezekiel Elliott in check. Elliott, who led the NFL in rushing with 1,631 yards, was held to less than 100 yards for a second time by Washington as he totaled 97 yards on 20 carries (Elliott gained just 83 yards in the first matchup between the two teams).
With just one divisional game following Washington's trip to Dallas in Week 13, the game against the Cowboys will likely be one with huge playoff implications. The reigning NFC East champion Cowboys have quietly lost some key contributors to last year's team that finished 13-3.
Most notably missing are four members of the Cowboys secondary (Carr, Claiborne, Wilcox, Church) and Cousins showed that he had no problem picking apart the Dallas secondary last season.
The Dallas back end is now much more inexperienced, and while we have a pretty good idea how the Washington passing game will look, we'll need the first 11 weeks to see how the Cowboys' pass defense shapes up.
2017 Season Previews:
