IRVING, Texas - For some people, the Giants have jumped into the lead for the Cowboys' biggest rival.
For others, the Eagles are now the frontrunners, simply because of the hatred that comes from Philadelphia.
But for most Cowboys fans, and certainly the former players, it will always be the Redskins.
No matter the current situation - who's hot, who's not or who's winning Super Bowls - the Redskins are still the Cowboys' No. 1 rival.
These other rivalries come and go, but the Redskins have always been there.
The Eagles and Giants have been there as well, but the historic games don't date back as far. They're just not as memorable.
Sure, on a Super Bowl level, the Steelers were a rival. It's the only three-time meeting between the same opponents in the Super Bowl's history, with Pittsburgh claiming a 2-1 lead.
The Packers and Cowboys have had a hot-and-(mostly)-cold rivalry that intensified some in the '90s. Then again, the Cowboys beat Brett Favre and the Pack three straight years in the playoffs. In fact, Favre never won at Texas Stadium, so it really wasn't much of a rivalry at all.
Now, that's not the case with the 49ers. After "the Catch" in 1981 and then the three straight NFC Championship meetings in the '90s, Dallas and San Francisco shared a healthy rivalry. Terrell Owens' trip to the midfield star tried to revive it back in 2000, but it's just not the same.
Nothing is as consistent as Cowboys and Redskins. Obviously, the history speaks for itself. And even though the recent games have lost some luster in significance maybe, the craziness that occurs when these two teams meet up is still second to none.
That's why the Redskins game remains the Cowboys' biggest rivalry.
Is this because Washington comes to town here this weekend? Well, maybe. But it's still true.
It was true when Clint Longley found Drew Pearson behind the secondary for a remarkable comeback in 1974.
It was true when Roger Staubach completed arguably his best comeback in a 1979 thriller to win the NFC East, in what turned out to be his final home game.
It was true when the Redskins stomped on the RFK Stadium stands chanting "We Want Dallas" in the NFC Divisional Playoffs. The next week, they got Dallas and beat them to advance to Super Bowl XVII.
It was true in 1983, when Tom Landry uncharacteristically shouted "No Danny, No" to try to stop Danny White from running a fourth-down play.
It was true in 1988 when a rookie named Michael Irvin caught three Steve Pelluer touchdowns to give the Cowboys just their third win of the season, but the last for Tom Landry.
How about 1989, the Cowboys go 1-15, but of course, that was a big "one." They beat the Redskins on national TV with rookie Steve Walsh at quarterback and the great Paul Palmer at running back.
In 1991, Troy Aikman goes down with an injury, relieved by Steve Beuerlein and the Cowboys stun the Redskins, who entered the game 11-0, but left with a 24-21 loss. Washington went on to win Super Bowl XXVI.
The next year, the Cowboys were the team destined for the Super Bowl, but it took a wild and crazy loss to the Redskins in RFK before they got the ship righted. Many followers will say that 17-10 defeat to Washington changed the entire course of the season for the Cowboys, who won five straight games, including the Super Bowl.
It was true in 1993 when the Redskins waxed the defending champions on opening night. Without Emmitt Smith, the Cowboys were no match, losing 35-16. Things changed dramatically some three months later. The Cowboys returned the favor with a 38-3 pasting of the Skins en route to a second straight Super Bowl.
In 1995, the Cowboys were 4-0 and rolling before losing to the hapless Redskins in RFK. Later that year, Washington stunned Dallas at Texas Stadium, giving the Cowboys two of only four losses that year.
Of course, the Redskins had to crush the Cowboys, 37-10 back in 1996 in the final game at RFK.
In 1999, the Cowboys rallied from 21 points down in the fourth quarter thanks to two Aikman-to-Irvin touchdowns to force overtime. Then, Aikman hooked up with Rocket Ismail, making his Cowboys debut, for a 76-yard game-winning touchdown. That game will always be a personal favorite, considering it was my first with the Cowboys. Fresh out of college and standing right there at FedEx Field, that will always go down as a classic.
The next year, the Cowboys give Dave Campo his first win as a head coach after an 0-2 start by beating Deion and the Redskins on the road. Later that season, Anthony Wright came off the bench after Troy Aikman was decked by LaVar Arrington (and given his final concussion), to lead the Cowboys to a season sweep over the Redskins.
How about 2001, when a real-life horse trotted on the field in pregame warm-ups and stepped on kicker Tim Seder's right foot. No harm done, because Seder kicked three field goals for a 9-7 win.
This rookie named Patrick Crayton caught two huge passes on the final drive against the Redskins, including a game-winning touchdown in the final minute to beat Washington 13-10 back in 2004.
Who could ever forget the final five minutes of the 2005 Monday night game? Yeah, Randy Moss has hurt the Cowboys but what about Santana Moss? The Redskins receiver caught two long touchdown passes in the final few minutes to erase a 13-0 deficit and stun the Cowboys' crowd with a 14-13 win. The loss spoiled the team's Ring of Honor induction for the Triplets - Aikman, Emmitt and Irvin.
One of the wildest endings I've ever seen occurred in 2006, in Tony Romo's second start of his career. The Redskins were about to beat the Cowboys with a long field goal attempt from Shaun Suisham, who promptly missed, giving Dallas another shot. Romo fired a long bomb to Jason Witten, and the Cowboys spiked the ball in time for one field goal attempt by Mike Vanderjagt for the win. Instead, the kicked was blocked, and not only did the Redskins return the ball to midfield, but a personal foul facemask penalty put Washington in range to attempt another kick with no time on the clock. Suisham drilled this one and the Cowboys were stunned, 22-19.
In 2007, Terrell Owens caught not one, but four touchdowns in a 28-23 win over the Redskins, who returned the favor in the season finale, needing a win to get into the playoffs. The only thing the Cowboys were playing for was a 14-2 regular season record. But they weren't too fired up for that one, and lost 27-6 in the pouring rain.
Last year had two more hard-fought battles, seeing the road team escape with victories. But in this rivalry, that's nothing normal.
Home, road, underdog, favorite - makes no difference.
Did I leave any lasting memories out? Of course, I did. Those were just some of my memories, but everyone has their own.
Obviously, I didn't take it back much to the 1970s or '60s, but that's when this all truly began.
There are just too many games and memories to simply discount the rivalry. The Cowboys and Redskins may not be playing for a spot in the playoffs or Super Bowl every season, but they've done it enough in the past to carry on the tradition.
Games against the Eagles and the Giants are big, usually when the game is big.
For the Redskins, it's a big game because . . . it's the Redskins.
For that reason alone, there are no two games bigger each season.
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Nick Eatman - 
