Dallas Cowboys vs. Oakland Raiders

When the schedule maker announced the annual Thanksgiving game in Dallas, the first one played at the Cowboys’ new megaplex, most may have figured they would skip the middle game of the NFL Turkey Day triple-header to peruse the Black Friday advertisements or take a turkey and sweet potato induced nap since it was more of a mismatch than a matchup with the Oakland Raiders coming to town at 4 p.m. on Thursday afternoon.

This also seemed the case just a few weeks ago while the Raiders (3-7) were having a usually dismal season and the Dallas Cowboys (7-3) had finally put it together after struggling through the first part of the season.

Dallas was riding a four-game winning streak and hitting on all cylinders both offensively and defensively and they traveled to Green Bay on November 15 to take on a seemingly skidding Packers team who the week before had lost to a previously winless Tampa Bay Buccaneers team.

That’s when the power went out.

The Dallas Cowboys’ offense hit a snag and was shutout until the waning moments of their 17-7 loss to the Packers and then headed home and did not score any points until Tony Romo hit Patrick Crayton in the endzone for the tying score and Nick Folk added the go-ahead, and game-winning extra point to pull Dallas out from a horrendous defeat and give them a 7-6 win over the hapless Washington Redskins on Sunday.

Romo had just 158 yards with that touchdown and an interception while he is leading a Cowboys’ offense that has just two touchdowns over the past two weeks.

No doubt the Cowboys’ penciled this Thanksgiving game in as a victory over the Raiders, but Oakland has shown that they can rise to the occasion as they did on Sunday with a stunning victory over the surging Cincinnati Bengals at home.

Oakland spotted Cincinnati 14 points and tied the game at 17 with 41 seconds left. On the ensuing kickoff, Jeremi Johnson fumbled and it allowed Sebastian Janikowski to hit the game winning field goal 18 seconds later to give the Oakland Raiders the improbable 20-17 win that stopped Cincinnati’s three-game winning streak.

Bruce Gradkowski showed why he is the best choice, at least for this season, as quarterback of the Raiders as he threw for 183 yards with two touchdowns and an interception but avoiding the big mistake to keep Oakland in the ball game.

This was the second time this season that Oakland has beaten a playoff contender after dispatching Dallas’ divisional rivals, the Philadelphia Eagles 13-9 in Week 6.

Oakland has won the last two games in the series, both played in Dallas.

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