In an annual fashion, the Dallas Cowboys will take the field on Thanksgiving Day. This tradition dates back to 1966, and the Cowboys have played every year on Thanksgiving Day (except for 1975 and 1977), and have won 31 of those games, lost 19, and tied once. This year, the Buffalo Bills will travel to Arlington to face Dallas in this match. This is the first time the Bills have played on Thanksgiving Day since 1994. The Bills are 8-3 on the season while the Cowboys come into the game 6-5 and lead the all-time series between the two teams, 6-4, winning the last three of four games. Dallas is favored to win with 78.5 percent win probability on Thanksgiving afternoon.
As of Tuesday evening, Mitch Morse, Ty Nsekhe, and Robert Foster were all listed as questionable on the Bills’ injury report, as were La’ei Collins, Zach Martin, Connor Williams for the Cowboys. Dallas’ Leighton Vander Esch and Antwaun Woods were listed as doubtful.
Buffalo Bills Notables
The Bills enter Week 13 following their 20-3 win against the Denver Broncos last week and have averaged 352.7 offensive yards and 288.6 defensive yards per week. Josh Allen has completed 206 of 342 passes for 2,360 yards, 15 touchdowns, and an 85.9 rating. Frank Gore leads the team with 137 carries for 541 yards and two touchdowns while John Brown has posted 58 receptions for 856 yards and five touchdowns. Jordan Phillips leads the team with seven sacks and Tre’Davious White has recorded four interceptions this season. Kicker Stephen Hauschka has only missed one extra point, connecting on 24 of 25, and has successfully kicked 13 of 18 field goal attempts.
Offense
Allen is going for his third game in a row with two or more touchdowns passes, a 90-plus rating, and 50 or more rushing yards. In his last three career games against the NFC East, he has posted four touchdowns versus zero interceptions for a 95.4 rating. In the victory last week against Denver, Allen passed for 185 yards with two touchdowns and rushed for an additional 56 yards.
Gore rushed for 65 yards and surpassed Hall of Famer Barry Sanders in Week 12 for third-most rushing yards in league history with 15,289. He remains behind historic greats, Walter Payton and Emmitt Smith.
Rookie Devin Singletary posted his career-high rushing yards last week with 108 and is ranked third among rookie running backs with 490 rushing yards. He is the only rookie running back with two or more rushing touchdowns and a receiving touchdown, as well.
Cole Beasley led the Bills with six catches for 76 yards and a touchdown last week. This is his first year with Buffalo as he spent seven seasons with the Cowboys, so today’s game will be a redemption match, for sure.
John Brown is going for his third game in a row with a receiving touchdown and his sixth game in a row on the road with 70 or more yards.
Defense
In last week’s game against Denver, White recorded four pass deflections and his fourth interception of the season and is one of only two players in the league with four interceptions and two forced fumbles this season.
Shaq Lawson tied his career-high with two sacks in Week 12 and is going for his third game in a row with at least one sack, while rookie Ed Oliver is aiming for the same. Matt Milano also posted career-high numbers last week with three pass deflections and a tackle for loss.
Time will tell if this Buffalo defense will be able to stop the top offense in the NFL with Dak Prescott, Ezekiel Elliott, and Amari Cooper.
Dallas Cowboys Notables
Dallas comes into Week 13 reeling from a loss against the New England Patriots last week. The Cowboys have posted an impressive average of 433.3 offensive yards per week and 318.5 defensive yards. Prescott has thrown 266 of 398 completed passes for 3,433 yards, 21 touchdowns, and 10 interceptions for a 100.8 rating so far this season. Elliott leads the team with 215 carries for 919 yards and seven touchdowns while Cooper leads with 56 receptions for 886 yards and seven touchdowns, as well. Robert Quinn has posted nine-and-a-half sacks on the season while Xavier Woods has two interceptions. Brett Maher has a perfect extra point total this season with 32 of 32 and has connected on 19 of 26 field goal attempts, including a record-breaker earlier this season.
Offense
Prescott has 300-plus yards and two or more touchdown passes in his past two of three home games and has recorded a passing touchdown, rushing touchdown, and 100-plus rating in two of his three Thanksgiving Day starts.
Elliott leads the NFL with 27 games of 125 or more scrimmage yards and has posted a rushing touchdown in the last two of three games. In Elliott’s two career Thanksgiving Day games, he has recorded 236 scrimmage yards and two rushing touchdowns and is going for his third in a row with a rushing touchdown and 120-plus scrimmage yards.
Cooper has recorded 673 receiving yards and five touchdowns in as many home games this season. He had eight catches for 180 yards and two touchdowns on Thanksgiving Day last year against the Washington Redskins. Michael Gallup has recorded a receiving touchdown in his last two of three home games, and Jason Witten holds the all-time Thanksgiving Day career receiving yards record with 853.
Defense
DeMarcus Lawrence recorded a sack in the last meeting and also recorded an interception during the game last year against the Redskins.
Robert Quinn posted a sack and forced fumble in Week 12 and is vying for his third home game in a row with a sack. In the last three meetings against the Bills, he has recorded two sacks and a forced fumble.
In the last meeting between the two teams, Sean Lee posted 15 sacks and is going for his third Thanksgiving Day game with 10 or more tackles.
If the Dallas defensive line can stop Buffalo’s offense from reaching the end zone and Prescott and team continue to produce offensive yardage and points, the predicted Dallas victory should be the real outcome of the Thanksgiving Day match.
Game Information
Venue: AT&T Stadium
Location: Arlington, Texas
Time: 4:30 p.m. ET
TV: CBS
Thanksgiving is coming. 👀#BUFvsDAL | #GoBills pic.twitter.com/Dl87ZBsTMO
— Buffalo Bills (@BuffaloBills) November 26, 2019
Review 5️⃣ storylines for Thursday's matchup #BUFvsDAL
— Dallas Cowboys (@dallascowboys) November 26, 2019
