Quarterback Colt McCoy threw three interceptions in his first start of the season, and the Washington Redskins lost 31-23 to the Dallas Cowboys.
Amari Cooper had a 90-yard touchdown catch while finishing with 180 yards receiving and two scores for the Cowboys, who pulled even with Washington atop the NFC East.
Cooper had the most yards receiving for the Cowboys on Thanksgiving, along with the longest catch of his career and Dak Prescott's longest completion in his three seasons. Cooper's other TD was a 40-yarder.
Ezekiel Elliott ran for 121 yards with a score as the Cowboys (6-5) won their third straight game since their first home loss, to Tennessee in the Dallas debut of Cooper following a trade. Dallas beat Washington for the eighth time in nine Thanksgiving games, and second in three seasons.
The Redskins (6-5) lost for the third time in four games in McCoy's first start in four years coming off Alex Smith's season-ending leg injury.
The former Texas Longhorns star's three interceptions offset two touchdown passes. McCoy won his two previous starts at the home of the Cowboys, one for the 2009 Big 12 championship and the other his most recent NFL victory with the Redskins in 2014.
Cooper, the former Oakland receiver, had much more fun in his second home game.
Sports
First, Cooper ran away from Quinton Dunbar after the Washington cornerback slipped on a short pass, turning it into a 40-yard TD for a 17-13 lead. Cooper celebrated by mimicking a free throw, shooting the football through the goal post.
On the 90-yarder, Cooper made the catch just outside the Dallas 30, spun out of the arms of Fabian Moreau and won the race to the pylon against Ha Ha Clinton-Dix, who tried to shove him out of bounds around the 5. It was his longest career catch and the longest completion in Dak Prescott's three seasons.
McCoy looked as if he hadn't started a game in a long time early, throwing into double coverage on his first play and fumbling while trying to scramble on his third, with the Redskins recovering and punting.
But McCoy settled in with a couple of third-down passes to Jordan Reed to keep drives going, then hit Vernon Davis in stride on a 53-yard touchdown — the longest Washington completion of the season — for a 7-7 tie.
The Cowboys were having all the fun before the Redskins pulled even, with Elliott scoring on a 16-yard run and dropping $21 into a giant Salvation Army red kettle behind the end zone. The cash was handed to him by a team photographer.
As a rookie in 2016, Elliott jumped into the kettle on the same part of the field after a touchdown in a 31-26 win over the Redskins. That season's NFL rushing champion, who wears No. 21, was fined for the stunt and later donated $21,000 to the Salvation Army.
After scoring on a scrambling 5-yard run for the third Dallas touchdown in less than eight minutes and a 31-13 lead, Prescott let Elliott help him into another kettle on the other end of the field, drawing the same unsportsmanlike conduct penalty Elliott did two years ago.
Elliott missed the Thanksgiving game last year on his six-game suspension over domestic violence allegations.
Missing Pro Bowler
Redskins defensive end Preston Smith had seven QB pressures before halftime, the most in the NFL in the first half this season. All of them came against Cameron Fleming, who was filling in for Tyron Smith. The five-time Pro Bowler Smith was active but didn't play after saying he experienced a stinger in the previous game against Atlanta. Smith was listed as questionable with a neck injury coming in.
Smith finished with 1.5 of the four sacks of Prescott — all in the first half — and had four QB hits.
Mr. Irrelevant
Washington receiver Trey Quinn, the final pick of this year's draft at the home of the Cowboys and a former player at nearby SMU, set up his own 14-yard touchdown catch for Washington's only lead at 13-10 in the third quarter with a 30-yard punt return to the Dallas 25.
Injuries
Redskins running back Adrian Peterson left briefly in the first quarter with a shoulder injury but returned. Still, he wasn't nearly as effective as he was in Washington's 20-17 win in the first meeting. The four-time All-Pro finished with 35 yards on 12 carries after going for 99 yards at home.
Up Next
The Redskins have the first of two meetings in the final five games against the defending champion Eagles, at Philadelphia on Monday, Dec. 3.
