ARLINGTON, Texas -- After losing to the Carolina Panthers last year on Thanksgiving, there was a heavy scent of defeat inside the Dallas Cowboys locker room.

The loss was the team's eighth in 11 games and, more importantly, Tony Romo suffered a broken left collarbone for the second time in the season and would not play another snap in 2015.

On Thursday, the mood inside the locker room after the Cowboys' 31-26 win against the Washington Redskins was completely different.

The Cowboys, celebrating a Dak Prescott TD run on Thursday, have made quite a turnaround since last Thanksgiving. EPA/LARRY W. SMITH

"We're smiling," cornerback Brandon Carr said.

The Cowboys entered Thursday with a two-game Thanksgiving losing streak. The last time the Cowboys lost three in a row on Thanksgiving was a four-game run of defeats from 1986-89. Last year the Cowboys trailed the Panthers 23-3 at halftime. The year before, they trailed 23-7 to the Philadelphia Eagles at halftime.

"It's a huge swing," right guard Zack Martin said. "Last year was ugly. I don't know if we've ever, since I've been here, got beat like that [33-14 to the Panthers]. To come in here, short week and just focus and prepare the right way and get a big win, that's huge for us."

The Cowboys extended their winning streak to 10 by beating Washington. They will lead the NFC East by at least two games when December begins. The Cowboys haven't clinched a playoff spot yet, but in their history they have never won 10 games in a year and not made the postseason.

Since their last Super Bowl season in 1995, the Cowboys have had just six seasons with at least 10 wins. They won 12 games in 2014. They won 11 in 2009. They won 13 in 2007.

"It's cool," Dez Bryant said of the 10-game winning streak, downplaying the significance. "We've got to keep it moving. We can't get comfortable. You get comfortable, you going to fall apart. You don't want to be comfortable. It's still a long season. We have to keep each other lifted. We have to make sure everybody's mind is right, including mine."

In a way, last year's feeling at Thanksgiving and their 4-12 finish to the season is still part of the Cowboys' psyche.

"The thing about sports is you get another year to wipe the slate clean," Carr said. "The guys, we kept that taste in our mouths, kept the feeling from last year and just let it burn, let it fuel our fire through the offseason. And even right now we're in a good spot, 10-1, but you look around this locker room, guys are still holding their heads down, still grinding.

"There's bigger stakes at hand. We've got to keep moving forward. The games get bigger and bigger as we continue to win. We're just getting more and more excited, but there's more and more confidence in ourselves in our ability to close games and win in any situation."