ARLINGTON, Texas — Robert Griffin III will always be RG3. That didn’t stop Washington coach Mike Shanahan from trying something a little different after his rookie quarterback was equal parts sparkling and steady in his Texas debut.

“He’s kind of like ‘Cool Hand Luke,”’ Shanahan said. “He doesn’t get too upset about anything.”

The Heisman Trophy winner from Baylor threw for three touchdowns in a dazzling second quarter, then calmly quelled a Dallas rally reminiscent of a comeback that made Cowboys vs. Redskins on Thanksgiving famous, leading Washington to a 38-31 victory Thursday.

Griffin finished with 311 passing yards and four TDs, and made Dallas look like an overmatched college team in building a 28-3 halftime lead thanks to a 28-point second quarter, the first for the Redskins (5-6) in 13 years.

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 TD tosses in consecutive games.

When the Cowboys (5-6) 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 for a 38-28 lead.

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 threw a TD to Felix Jones, ran in the 2-point conversion and threw another scoring pass to Bryant to help Dallas close to 35-28 with 8:24 remaining.

Griffin, who threw just his fourth interception the previous possession, responded by completing three passes for first downs — including a third-and-1 near midfield — and the Redskins ran nearly 5 1/2 minutes off the clock before Kai Forbath’s 48-yard field goal with 3:03 remaining.

Dallas drove to a field goal with 23 seconds left, but DeAngelo Hall easily picked up the onside kick and ran untouched before sliding down short of the goal line, clinching Romo’s third loss in three career 400-yard games. It also was the Cowboys’ first loss to the Redskins in seven games on Thanksgiving.

Romo’s first interception in four games gave the Redskins a chance to get one more score before halftime when Hall returned it to the Dallas 33 with 30 seconds left. Out of timeouts at the Dallas 6 with 10 seconds left, the Redskins trusted Griffin to try to get a touchdown, and Santana Moss kept both feet in while falling out of bounds for a 28- 3 lead with 5 seconds left.

Griffin completed 12 straight passes from the middle of the first quarter to the middle of the third and finished 20 of 28.

Alfred Morris had 113 yards on 24 carries and one of Washington’s second-quarter scores.

Texans 34, Lions 31

DETROIT (AP) — Justin Forsett scooted up the middle and lunged forward while a couple of Detroit defenders closed in to stop him. His knee hit the ground, but the Houston running back hopped up quickly and took off toward the end zone.

Forsett had nothing to lose by getting up and running — and unbelievably, the 81-yard scoring play stood. The officials missed the call, giving the Texans a touchdown, and Detroit coach Jim Schwartz inadvertently wiped out any chance of a replay review by throwing his challenge flag when he wasn’t allowed to.

That was all Houston needed to start a second-half comeback, and the Texans went on to beat the Lions 34- 31 in overtime Thursday.

AFC South-leading Houston (10-1) has won five straight — two in a row in OT — and if a handful of teams lose, the Texans could be in the playoffs by the end of this weekend.

The Lions led 24-14 in the third quarter when Forsett scored on his long run. Replays clearly showed Forsett’s knee touching the ground around his own 25 — Detroit players even slowed up, assuming the play was over.

Forsett got up and ran all the way to the endzone.

Scoring plays are reviewed automatically — but if a coach throws a challenge flag like Schwartz did, the review is negated and an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty is assessed. So the touchdown stood despite obvious evidence it shouldn’t have.

Detroit (4-7) still led 24-21 after Forsett’s touchdown, and the Lions went up 31-24 on Joique Bell’s 23-yard TD run with 13:31 left in the fourth.

Houston rallied, tying it at 31 on Foster’s 1-yard run with 1:55 to play. That touchdown capped a 15-play, 97-yard drive that included a conversion on fourth-and-7.

Texans kicker Shayne Graham missed from 51 yards in overtime, and Detroit’s Jason Hanson hit the right upright from 47. Graham finally connected from 32 to win it.

Detroit extended its losing streak in its annual Thanksgiving showcase to nine.

Hanson’s miss came on third down after the Lions had lost 3 yards on a second-down run. The Lions sent the veteran kicker onto the field instead of trying to move the ball a bit closer.

The Lions were hoping a three-game homestand would help revive their playoff hopes, but they lost against Green Bay last weekend and couldn’t hold on against the Texans.