It was the quietest Dallas week ever. No grand statements from the Washington Redskins’ locker room. Silence from the Dallas Cowboys. Sunday’s meeting at FedEx Field is just another game.
Is the rivalry really over?
The NFL’s one-time top matchup still draws top prime-time ratings, but two decades of mediocrity by Washington and nearly as long by Dallas has drained the drama of the biannual showdown.
Washington fans chanting “We want Dallas” has become a worn clich?. If Redskins fans are so desirous of beating the Cowboys, why will FedEx Field likely be half filled with Dallas backers?
It’s OK to move on. Dallas certainly has. After battling the Redskins in the 1970s and ’80s for NFC supremacy, the Cowboys suddenly worried more about Green Bay and San Francisco in the ’90s. Nowadays, the New York Giants or Philadelphia Eagles are a bigger thorn to Dallas than the perennial NFC East basement-dwelling Redskins.
A rivalry needs playoff implications, regular meetings and each team winning half the games. Otherwise, it’s just another opponent. One reason why Washington and Baltimore aren’t rivals is because they only play every three years in the regular season. It’s a fun game for fans, but business for players. Instead, Baltimore’s rivalry is Pittsburgh because it’s for AFC North supremacy.
This doesn’t mean the rivalry can’t be renewed. Chicago-Green Bay is red hot once more after meeting in last year’s NFC Championship Game. Oakland-Denver has re-ignited now that they’re vying for the AFC West.
Washington-Dallas still sounds good. But it’s a throwback to pre-free agency when players didn’t know each other well. When coaches could invoke a passion against another team. When players like Tashard Choice didn’t make a midseason jump to a rival. Many former Redskins swore they would rather retire than play for the Cowboys and meant it. Today, it’s just another paycheck, different zip code.
Rivalries were once needed to fill the stands. To make sure there was one game everybody wanted to see. Nowadays, TV network contracts essentially pay the NFL’s bills while increasingly more fans watch from home on high-definition televisions.
Fantasy football and cable TV have also diluted rivalries. Fans now use players from many teams for their fantasy lineup as they root for individuals, not helmets. How many Washington fans have Dallas Cowboys running back DeMarco Murray or tight end Jason Witten on their fantasy team rather than Redskins counterparts Roy Helu and Fred Davis? And who doesn’t switch away when Washington falls behind to watch the RedZone Channel?
One day, Dallas and Washington fans will truly become eager for the matchup. But that day isn’t now. It’s just another day.
Examiner columnist Rick Snider has covered local sports since 1978. Read more on Twitter @Snide_Remarks or email [email protected].
