The 4-4 Dallas Cowboys host the 5-3 Buffalo Bills in a matchup of two teams fighting for their playoff lives. The game features two tough defenses and two high powered offenses, so it promises to be a good game all around, but this game also features more story lines than a soap opera.
Home Sweet Home
Bills running back Fred Jackson will feel like this is a home game, because in one sense – it is. He will be playing in what was his old back yard. Jackson grew up in a house that was located in what is now one of the parking lots of Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas. “It will literally be home-field advantage for me,” Jackson said.
“I’m excited,” Jackson said. “I grew up a Cowboys fan. I think it’s every boy’s dream if they live in a place where there’s a professional team, you either want to play for that team or play against them.”
Can’t Go Home Again
Buffalo Bills head coach Chan Gailey got his first NFL head coaching job with the Dallas Cowboys, taking over for Barry Switzer in 1998. Gailey held the job for two years, going 18-14 and although he led them to the playoffs both years, he failed to win a playoff game either year.
Gailey holds one distinction over the various hallowed men who have held the head coaching job in Dallas (ranging from Tom Landry to Jimmy Johnson). Gailey is the only Cowboys coach to make the playoffs every season with the team. The year after Jerry Jones fired him, the Cowboys dropped from a playoff team to a 5-11 fourth place team, so maybe the problem wasn’t the coach.
But Gailey isn’t focused on revenge against his old team, it’s just about getting the Bills to the playoffs. “I’ve worked a lot of places, unfortunately, but it’s one of those deals where you remember your time there and there were some good times and some bad times [in Dallas],” Gailey said.
“But that’s not the focus. The focus is trying to win a game. … We got everything in front of us – we hold our own destiny in our own hands, so we gotta go take care of business.”
Cheerleader Double Agent
Watch the Dallas Cowboys cheerleaders closely whenever Bills wide receiver David Nelson makes a big play. One of them is bound to have conflicted feelings, since Nelson’s longtime girlfriend Kelsi Reich is a Dallas Cowboys cheerleader, and so will be cheering for the other team.
“She works for the Dallas Cowboys and roots for the Dallas Cowboys, but I know she’ll have some inside joy if I do well,” said Nelson.
“So it’s going to be a fun experience and I’m going to definitely be looking and record the TV copy and see if they show her a couple of times to see her reaction. It’s going to be fun. It’s something we’ve been looking forward to for some time and we’ve already been trash talking back and forth a little bit.”
It will be interesting to see if she can maintain her poker face while cheering against her significant other.
Hottest Backs in the Game
The game features two of the hottest running backs in the league right now, both of whom had to overcome the odds just to stay on the field, and both have been extremely effective over the last few games.
The Buffalo Bills drafted C.J. Spiller in the first round of the 2010 draft expecting him to be their back of the future, but Fred Jackson has been so effective that Spiller has largely been moved to play receiver to let him get on the field.
Over the last four games, Jackson has averaged 170 yards from scrimmage – he has 434 rushing yards and 244 receiving yards over the stretch.
Dallas Cowboys rookie running back DeMarco Murray started the year on the bench, but when he got a chance to play, he has made the most of it. Over the last three games, he has rushed for 464 yards and added 45 yards receiving, meaning the Murray has also averaged 170 yards from scrimmage per game.
Whoever wins the running battle will likely walk off with the victory, so there is a lot riding on Jackson and Murray on Sunday.
