Dallas Cowboys vs. Washington: More bye week than rivalry

As the Dallas Cowboys enter their 60th year in the NFL, let’s recall the rivalry with the pro team in Washington D.C. Rivalry? Try a Bye Week.

Some of the following words in this post may hurt some feelings, and for that, I do not apologize. With the Washington Pro NFL Team pondering an inevitable name change, which is long overdue, the Dallas Cowboys‘ franchise must reexamine the feud between the pair of historic franchises.

The Washington franchise turned 88 a couple of weeks ago. The franchise premiered in 1932. 28 years later, the Dallas Cowboys joined the league and eventually, the world witnessed the birth of America’s Team.

You know, as the month of September crawls closer and closer, the buzz around football coming back to a living room near you is marked down as the most famous unnamed holiday. The excitement is palpable.

Sundays are planned ahead of time. Chips and salsa are purchased and stocked in the cabinets. New NFL gear is added to our digital carts and is followed up with us punching in our credit card numbers. Finally, we wait until the leaves change a little color.

Ah. Football has started. Our mental “DND” notification is sent out and we retract our mental antennas. Essentially, the calendar is blocked off for a good three hours (overtime duties excluded, but billable) so we can bear witness to football therapy.

And to consume copious amounts of healthy calories. Duh. Pass the guac.

As we apply ourselves to this football right, an American tradition, there is one thing I leave off the list. Simply put: I never circle a Dallas Cowboy and Washington game on my calendar. Never. Never as in, like, never.

If anything, it’s marked as a Bye Week. Fortunately, the Cowboys are forced to play Washington twice a year, so it’s double the fun but more than likely doubles the rest, depending on your optics.

Yes, the pro football team in Washington is undergoing a major change. Is this a time to reannounce the long-time, so-called “rivalry” between the two households? Let’s be real here: There was no rivalry even to begin with.

William Shakespeare once famously wrote, “A plague o’ both your houses!” Tragically, he meant a plague on the house of burgundy and the house of gold.

The Dallas Cowboys and Washington have met 120 times. The Cowboys lead the series 73-45-2. Currently, the Cowboys are on a three-win streak with the next meeting scheduled for October 25, 2020.

Surprisingly, Washington owns the Cowboys in the postseason. The pair met in 1972 and 1983. Washington outscored Dallas 57-20 in those two contests combined. Washington did not win a title during those two seasons.

Overall, the Cowboys own five Lombardi Trophies. Meanwhile, Washington is stuck with three. Their last Super Bowl victory was in 1991.

Washington made 24 playoff appearances and won 14 division titles. In contrast, the Dallas Cowboys made 33 playoff appearances and won 23 division titles. Washington has made it to the NFC Conference title game five times. The Dallas Cowboys doubled that, appearing a total of 10 times.

The Dallas Cowboys visit Washington on October 25. On November 26, a Thanksgiving contest, the Cowboys play host. If these two matchups make you yawn, don’t fret. Just do what I do: Pencil these pair of games as Bye Weeks. Enjoy the chips and guac already.