Preview Capsule: Cowboys favored over Bills in Thanksgiving matchup

BUFFALO (8-3) at DALLAS (6-5)

Thursday, 3:30 p.m. CST, CBS

OPENING LINE — Cowboys by 7

RECORD VS. SPREAD — Bills 7-3-1, Cowboys 7-4

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SERIES RECORD — Cowboys lead 8-4

LAST MEETING — Bills beat Cowboys 16-6, Dec. 27, 2015

LAST WEEK — Bills beat Broncos 20-3; Cowboys lost to Patriots 13-9

AP PRO32 RANKING — Bills No. 9, Cowboys No. 11

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BILLS OFFENSE — OVERALL (18), RUSH (5), PASS (24)

BILLS DEFENSE — OVERALL (3), RUSH (15), PASS (3)

COWBOYS OFFENSE — OVERALL (1), RUSH (8), PASS (1)

COWBOYS DEFENSE — OVERALL (6), RUSH (16), PASS (6)

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STREAKS, STATS AND NOTES — Bills making eighth Thanksgiving appearance but first since 1994, 35-21 loss to Detroit. … First Thanksgiving meeting between franchises. … Bills stopped three-game losing streak in series with 2015 victory. … Two of Cowboys’ eight wins in series have been in Super Bowl. … Week after matchup with NFL’s No. 1 defense in Patriots, top-ranked Dallas offense faces league’s third-best defense. … Bills haven’t won nine of first 12 games since 1996, when they were 9-3 in Hall of Fame quarterback Jim Kelly’s final season, finished 10-6. … QB Josh Allen is 2-1 against NFC East opponents with four TD passes, no interceptions, 95.4 passer rating. He has 96.0 rating in past seven games after 69.6 rating in first four. … RB Frank Gore plays first game since becoming third-leading rusher in NFL history with 15,289 yards. Former Cowboys star Emmitt Smith is all-time rushing leader at 18,355. … Rookie RB Devin Singletary coming off career-high 106 yards rushing against Broncos. … WR Cole Beasley facing Cowboys for first time after spending first seven NFL seasons with them. He had 319 catches, 3,271 yards, 23 TDs for Dallas. Beasley led Bills with six catches, 76 yards, TD against Denver. … CB Tre’Davious White tied season high with four pass breakups against Broncos, with fourth interception. … DE Trent Murphy had career-high two sacks against Dallas QB Dak Prescott while with Washington in 2016. … Prescott needs two TD passes to tie career high of 23 from rookie season in 2016. In 13 home games going back to last season, he’s averaging 288 yards passing per game with 31 TDs (26 pass, five rush), nine interceptions, 108 rating. … Dallas RB Ezekiel Elliott needs 33 yards rushing to become fifth in club history with 5,000, joining Smith (17,162), Tony Dorsett (12,036), Don Perkins (6,217) and Calvin Hill (5,009). … WR Amari Cooper coming off first game with no catches since midseason trade to Dallas last year. Now sixth in yards receiving (886, with 673 of that in five home games), tied for fifth in TDs (seven) in NFL. He had eight catches, 180 yards, two TDs in Thanksgiving debut with Cowboys last season, 31-23 win over Washington. … TE Jason Witten, back after year in retirement as broadcaster, has NFL’s most yards receiving on Thanksgiving with 853. … LB Leighton Vander Esch expected to miss second straight game, third overall with neck issue that could sideline him longer. DT Antwaun Woods also out with knee injury. … DE Robert Quinn has at least half-sack in eight of nine games in first Dallas season, tied for eighth in NFL with 9½ sacks. … Fantasy tip: Elliott, who had 126 scrimmage yards in miserable conditions at New England last week, has at least 120 scrimmage yards, rushing touchdown in both of two-time rushing champion’s Thanksgiving games.