Cowboys, Broncos try to shake slumps

IRVING, Texas -- The Denver Broncos are coming off their worst game of the year. The Dallas Cowboys are coming off their biggest blowout loss in the 13 seasons they've been owned by Jerry Jones.

No wonder both teams will be wearing disguises when they play Thursday.

The teams actually will have on throwback uniforms for their Thanksgiving afternoon game as part of an NFL promotion. Considering that both teams have been skidding lately, it's good to try evoking memories of their pasts.

Denver (5-5) will have orange jerseys, royal blue helmets and socks with vertical orange and blue stripes, vintage 1986. Dallas (2-7) will wear blue-torso, white-sleeved jerseys with stars on the shoulders, a hybrid creation from the 1960s and '94.

"I'm sure the Cowboys' are going to look better than ours," Broncos coach Mike Shanahan said. "Our old ones look pretty poor. I'm not sure our guys are going to come out on the field once they see these jerseys. They haven't seen them yet, just the helmet.

"I've had a few remarks relative to, 'What are these things?' If I brought out the socks, I guarantee you they wouldn't show up."

Denver began this season hoping a revamped defense would make it a Super Bowl contender.

Instead, the Broncos are already talking about every week being like the playoffs because, after losing four of the last six, they need a strong finish to make it to late January.

"We're really not playing that well, but that doesn't mean we're a bad football team," said Broncos receiver Rod Smith, who hopes to play despite a sprained ankle that forced him to miss the final minutes of a 17-10 loss at home to Washington on Sunday. "We just have to find something that gets us going and play with the passion we've played with in the past."

Scoring drops

Denver scored 31 and 38 points the first two weeks, but has averaged 20 points per game since. The Broncos' scoring has dropped each of the last three games since putting up 31 against New England.

Against the Redskins, Denver had season lows in yards, first downs and time of possession. The Broncos used punter Tom Rouen nine times, the most kicks for him in 138 games with Denver. Shanahan called it "one of the worst performances I've ever seen in all my time in the NFL."

"We've had a pretty high standard around here offensively," Shanahan said. "Anything less than 30 points per game is a big disappointment and we haven't done that consistently this year.

"There's a number of reasons, but the bottom line is we have to do it with the people we have and we haven't done that."

Quarterback No. 4

Ditto for Dallas, which is on its fourth starting quarterback and already has eliminated any chance of living up to Jones' prediction of 10 wins.

And, like the Broncos, the Cowboys come into this game with zero momentum.

Since winning consecutive games, Dallas has lost in overtime, choked away a lead against Atlanta, then lost 36-3 to Philadelphia last Sunday. That was the third game this season in which the Cowboys have failed to score a touchdown.

Ryan Leaf, who threw for 311 yards against Denver last season while with San Diego, will get his third and possibly last start Thursday because rookie Quincy Carter is close to recovering from a hamstring injury. Leaf hasn't done much to make coaches think about extending his tenure.

Dallas' problems on offense have wasted a surprisingly strong season from the defense. The Eagles, for example, scored just one offensive touchdown in their lopsided victory, while their defense scored twice on interception returns.

Maybe that's what Dallas needs -- a higher-scoring defense.

"When you're losing, you need to get something positive going, no matter whether you have no chance of getting into the playoffs or if you're like Denver and still have a chance to get in," defensive end Greg Ellis.

"You have to find a spark to finish the season with, something to carry you over to the offseason and next season. It'd be a good time for us to start right now: National audience, Thanksgiving Day game. I don't care what the records are, there's going to be a lot of people watching."

This will be the 34th time the Cowboys play host to a Thanksgiving Day game. They're 21-11-1, with losses in three of the last four.

Denver is 1-4 on Thanksgiving, but never against Dallas. The Broncos last played on the holiday in 1980.