Cowboys vs. Washington 2017 live results: Score updates and highlights from 'Thursday Night Football'

After playing on Thanksgiving, the Dallas Cowboys and Washington at least got a full week of rest before heading out there on Thursday Night Football. Washington will try to cling to fading playoff hopes when it hosts its bitter NFC East rivals at 8:25 p.m. ET on NBC and NFL Network (live streams at NBC Sports, Amazon Prime, and FuboTV).

Both teams are coming off underwhelming performances on Thanksgiving, but at least Washington eventually got the better of the New York Giants with a 20-10 win. At 5-6 each, the Cowboys and Washington desperately need a win to stay in the NFC Wild Card conversation. The Philadelphia Eagles are well ahead in the division with a 10-1 record, and will clinch the title outright if Dallas beats Washington.

Dak Prescott and the Cowboys still can’t adjust to life without Ezekiel Elliott, losing their last three games to fall out of the playoff picture. Their last loss was particularly humiliating, a 28-6 blowout at home against the Los Angeles Chargers. Dallas has yet to reach 10 points in a game since Elliott started his six-game suspension, getting outscored 92-22 in that span.

It’s been an ell-encompassing collapse, with the only bright spot being the return of left tackle Tyron Smith. Sean Lee is missing another game with his hamstring injury, and the defense has fallen apart without him. The Cowboys really need better play from Prescott if they hope to end this skid soon.

Washington is also dealing with a rash of injuries, but they’ve been somewhat better at handling adversity. Kirk Cousins is doing about all he can while losing weapons left and right — the most devastating one being running back Chris Thompson, who broke his leg two weeks. Washington clearly missed him in the offense last week, but rookie Samaje Perine made up for it with 130 total yards in the Thanksgiving win.

Elsewhere, Jordan Reed and Trent Williams are still questionable to return from multi-week injuries. Reed seems unlikely to play while Williams is a game-time decision.

This might not be the best matchup on paper, but NFC East rivalry games are rarely boring, and there’s an air of desperation that might make this extra spicy. Don’t be surprised if it ends up exceeding expectations, especially with players getting more rest than usual for a Thursday game.

Perine has achieved career highs in back-to-back weeks and seems he has developed a sense of patience as a back, which in turn allows him to be more physical as well. Josh Doctson has become more of a factor in recent weeks, although his statistics are not very impressive on the year.

This stretch, five consecutive games, is the longest drought without a touchdown that Dez Bryant has ever been a part of.
Prior to these five games, the longest Dez had ever gone without scoring was four consecutive games. He did this twice, both times to start the season, in 2010 and 2012.
How painfully ironic is it that Dez Bryant has literally set a career mark for touchdown-less games all while one touchdown away from having caught more than anybody else in the history of America’s Team?
Perhaps this is a perfect microcosm of the 2017 Dallas Cowboys season.

Dak Prescott is having the worst stretch of his career, but it’s hard to put the blame on his shoulders. He’s played games without his left tackle in Tyron Smith, where Adrian Clayborn was able to get to Prescott five times.
Then of course, Ezekiel Elliott has been out serving his suspension, after leading the NFL in rushing last season. In the three games he played before his suspension, the Cowboys were rolling behind his best performances of the season.

Let's block ads! (Why?)