ARLINGTON, Texas — Robert Griffin III raised his fists, took a knee for a quick prayer, jumped up and pointed to the sky.
That’s the routine on touchdown passes for the Heisman Trophy winner from Baylor, and he got to do it four times in his impressive return to Texas.
Griffin threw for 311 yards and Washington built a huge halftime lead against Dallas before holding on for a 38-31 victory that conjured memories for some of a rally that helped make Cowboys vs. Redskins on Thanksgiving famous.
“He’s kind of like ‘Cool Hand Luke,’ " Redskins coach Mike Shanahan said. “He doesn’t get too upset about anything."
Griffin made the Cowboys look like an overmatched college team in the second quarter, throwing for three scores in Washington’s first 28-point quarter in 13 years as the Redskins (5-6) built a 28-3 halftime lead.
After Tony Romo threw the longest touchdown of his career — an 85-yarder to Dez Bryant late in the third quarter — Griffin answered by becoming the first Redskins quarterback with four touchdown passes in consecutive games.
And finally, when the Cowboys got within a touchdown and really had people thinking back to Clint Longley’s miracle TD to Drew Pearson in the final seconds of a one-point Dallas victory over Washington on Thanksgiving in 1974, Griffin calmly led the Redskins on a clock-killing drive to a field goal and a 38-28 lead in his first pro game in Texas since his sparkling run at Baylor.
“Anytime you have a guy like him, you never worry about him," said Washington cornerback DeAngelo Hall, who set up a first-half score with an interception. “You worry about the guys around him being able to keep up with the pace."
Romo lost for the first time in six starts on Thanksgiving, despite a career-high 441 yards and three second-half touchdowns. After the long TD to Bryant, who matched his career high from last week with 145 yards receiving, Romo ran in a 2-point conversion after a TD throw to Felix Jones and threw another scoring pass to Bryant to help Dallas close to 35-28 with 8:24 remaining.
“I thought we had a good chance," said Romo, who tied a career high with 62 pass attempts.
Also on Thursday:
Patriots 49
Jets 19
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — Tom Brady threw three touchdown passes and ran for a score as New England embarrassed the New York Jets with a 35-point second quarter. After a scoreless opening quarter, the Patriots (8-3) went on a touchdown spree while taking advantage of several mistakes by the hapless Jets (4-7). New England scored four touchdowns in just over 6 minutes — including three in a 52-second span. Julian Edelman returned a fumble for a touchdown and caught a 56-yard pass for a score before leaving with a head injury.
Texans 34
Lions 31
DETROIT — Houston took advantage of a big mistake by Detroit Lions coach Jim Schwartz. Shayne Graham’s 32-yard field goal with 2:21 left in overtime lifted Houston to a win over Detroit after Schwartz broke an NFL rule on a scoring play. Detroit kicker Jason Hanson had a chance to get Schwartz off the hook, but his 47-yard field goal attempt on the fifth possession of the extra period hit the right upright. Schwartz threw a challenge flag when Houston’s Justin Forsett scored on an 81-yard touchdown run in the third quarter. Replays showed Forsett was down near midfield, but Schwartz negated the automatic review by challenging the play and was called for unsportsmanlike conduct.