2023 NFL Week 17: Detroit Lions vs. Dallas Cowboys

[Maveric]

The way these Cowboys have regressed the last couple of weeks would lead one to have a kneejerk reaction to the extremely negative for this game. Jared Goff can't carry a team to a title, but with this offense he wouldn't have to. Montgomery and Gibbs can make the case for being the most dynamic one/two punch at running back in the league. Sam LaPorta is a force at tight end. Amon-Ra St. Brown might be the best wide receiver in the league not named Jefferson or Lamb. An offense that stacked is a problem.
Two reasons this isn't a lock for a Lions win. First, their defense is even more hit or miss than ours. They have only held opponents under 20 4 times this season, while giving up over 30 on three different occasions.
Second, this Cowboys team is just different at home. The players can't explain it. The experts can't explain it. I sure as hell don't have a non smart assed theory. But there it is.
This is going to be a slugfest. There will be some turnovers, but there will also be a lot of points. The over/under's at 53.5, which is actually a little low to me, but the 6.5 point line is almost right. I say Dallas defends their turf in what could be their final home game of the year, call it 33-27 Cowboys.

 

[Maveric]

 

[Maveric]

 

[Maveric]

 

[bbgun]

 

[Aggiepride]

The way these Cowboys have regressed the last couple of weeks would lead one to have a kneejerk reaction to the extremely negative for this game. Jared Goff can't carry a team to a title, but with this offense he wouldn't have to. Montgomery and Gibbs can make the case for being the most dynamic one/two punch at running back in the league. Sam LaPorta is a force at tight end. Amon-Ra St. Brown might be the best wide receiver in the league not named Jefferson or Lamb. An offense that stacked is a problem.
Two reasons this isn't a lock for a Lions win. First, their defense is even more hit or miss than ours. They have only held opponents under 20 4 times this season, while giving up over 30 on three different occasions.
Second, this Cowboys team is just different at home. The players can't explain it. The experts can't explain it. I sure as hell don't have a non smart assed theory. But there it is.
This is going to be a slugfest. There will be some turnovers, but there will also be a lot of points. The over/under's at 53.5, which is actually a little low to me, but the 6.5 point line is almost right. I say Dallas defends their turf in what could be their final home game of the year, call it 33-27 Cowboys.

Dak can't carry a team to the title either, but with the talent he has around him, he doesn't have to.

Even though the Cowboys are at home, I'm taking the Lions. Dan Campbell is a good HC and the Lions are on a high, while the Cowboys are desperate to stop the bleeding. Campbell will want to put a dagger in the Cowboys.

If the Cowboys lose this game, they'll be limping into the playoffs with self-doubt, no matter what Jerry says about having resolve.

Unrelated to your post.

I saw that the Niners just signed Joseph Day. Honestly, I don't know if Joseph Day is any good, but I'm impressed with John Lynch not being afraid to constantly be improving the roster.

 

[Aggiepride]

By the way, if I'm right, then I wouldn't necessarily be all that confident that beating the Redskins is a given. It just depends on how many Redskins have already purchased their tickets to Cancun and don't want to risk spending their offseason rehabbing and how much they want Rivera back.

 

[Aggiepride]

Before the draft, it was rumored the Cowboys had their eyes on LaPorta. It seemed surprising because LaPorta wasn't considered one of the top guys in the rankings that I saw. He was seen more as a second or 3rd rounder.

But we see that the Cowboys had him graded right. I wonder how much not getting to him and then losing out on Kincaid messed with their plans and then the bullshitted us that they wanted Mazi.

Usually, with a rookie DT, the problem is strength. With Mazi, strength was supposed to be his strength. Hopefully he'll come on because Hankins is a UFA.

 

[Dodger12]

Dak can't carry a team to the title either, but with the talent he has around him, he doesn't have to.

Rush is a career backup and Lance isn't ready yet. So yes.................Dak has to carry the team. I'm assuming that's the talent you were referring to since it's the position that matters the most to the success of any franchise.

 

[Dodger12]

Dak can't carry a team to the title either, but with the talent he has around him, he doesn't have to.

By the way, if I'm right, then I wouldn't necessarily be all that confident that beating the Redskins is a given.

Yes....so much talent that you can't even feel good about beating a hapless 4 win team. Do you even hear yourself?

 

[Aggiepride]

The way these Cowboys have regressed the last couple of weeks would lead one to have a kneejerk reaction to the extremely negative for this game. Jared Goff can't carry a team to a title, but with this offense he wouldn't have to. Montgomery and Gibbs can make the case for being the most dynamic one/two punch at running back in the league. Sam LaPorta is a force at tight end. Amon-Ra St. Brown might be the best wide receiver in the league not named Jefferson or Lamb. An offense that stacked is a problem.
Two reasons this isn't a lock for a Lions win. First, their defense is even more hit or miss than ours. They have only held opponents under 20 4 times this season, while giving up over 30 on three different occasions.
Second, this Cowboys team is just different at home. The players can't explain it. The experts can't explain it. I sure as hell don't have a non smart assed theory. But there it is.
This is going to be a slugfest. There will be some turnovers, but there will also be a lot of points. The over/under's at 53.5, which is actually a little low to me, but the 6.5 point line is almost right. I say Dallas defends their turf in what could be their final home game of the year, call it 33-27 Cowboys.

Could one possible reason for the Cowboys just being different at home be because...

In Week 4 we played the Patriots. As it turns out, the Patriots are one of the worst teams in the NFL.

In Week 8 we played the Rams. They were hurting.They had injuries. Players like Kupp are a difference maker. Matthew Stafford getting hurt at the end of the first half and leaving the game in the third quarter didn't help their cause. I'm not sure Brett Rypien is even better than Rush. Get the lead, and boom, our pass rushers get to tee off.

In week 10 we played the Giants. Tommy DeVito had been put into emergency action the week before. The Cowboys game was his first official start. Anyone who has followed any football knows the 3rd string undrafted free agent QB is not getting much work even in the preseason, let alone the regular season. Basically, we beat Ben DeNucci. DeVito has looked respectable since then, but, again, it was his very first game.

In Week 12 we played the Redskins (sorry, I'm not referring to them by their new idiotic name). Look, "Division games are always tough," except they aren't. Who thinks Sam Howell is really their QB of the future and they aren't going to be looking for another QB? Then add in that they got rid of their best pass rushers. Of course we were going to beat them! They were still trying to figure out their defense without Chase Young and Sweat.

Then, in week 13, we played the Seahawks. It was a good tough game, but we didn't look like world beaters. If we had played them in Seattle it could have gone the other way.

In week 14 we beat the Eagles and we did so in solid fashion.

Oh, I forgot. In week 2 we beat the Jets with Zack Wilson, which screws up my argument that it's possible to find good QBs in the modern era. There's always an outlier or 2. Unfortunately, for the Jets, they seem to constantly draft them.

SO WHERE ARE PEOPLE GETTING THIS: "We're just a different team at home. I can't explain it" from?

Now don't get me wrong. We probably would have won several of those games even if the other team had been at full strength, but they wouldn't have been beat downs.

Plus, it seems to me that McCarthy enjoys running up the score.

It's easily explained.

 

[Aggiepride]

Rush is a career backup and Lance isn't ready yet. So yes.................Dak has to carry the team. I'm assuming that's the talent you were referring to since it's the position that matters the most to the success of any franchise.

No, I was referring to talent such as CeeDee, Micah etc etc.

Backup QBs almost don't count since they aren't on the field helping the QB win.

I still do not understand the Trey Lance trade. If they are telling the truth that Dak is their man, then Lance will be gone after next year.

If I'm Trey Lance I'm thinking that I'm still young enough to try to compete for a starting job. backup jobs are for guys like Cooper Rush.

I still say it was a dumb trade. I wonder what the Titans wanted for Henry and if that 4th could have been packaged.

 

[Maveric]

True enough point. However, put both defenses side by side, not worrying about opponents, and despite their shortcomings at the end of the day the Cowboys are still better of the two.

 

[Aggiepride]

Yes....so much talent that you can't even feel good about beating a hapless 4 win team. Do you even hear yourself?

Yes, I do. If the Cowboys also lose to the Lions, don't you think they will be reeling psychologically and doubting themselves? Much of success at anything in life is mindset. But it's hard to be positive if you're losing or things just don't go your way time after time.

Now, I did write that it depends on the psychology of the Redskins as well. I know for a fact that this is the time of year that NFL players pack it in. I know for a fact they don't want to spend the offseason rehabbing. They don't say it publicly, but it's common sense.

But it just depends on the make up of their team. Some players are so competitive that they don't care about making "business decisions". They don't care that they might be hurting their chances at a big new contract someplace.

They might be thinking "this is our SB". BUT, based on what I was told once by an NFL player (Buffalo Bill) it's more likely that the Redskins have checked out and ready to party in Cancun.

I did mention that.

 

[dbair1967]

Yep. No pass rush whatsoever.

Of course it doesn't help that teams can just gang rape our pass rushers and never get called for holding, but whatever.

 

[dbair1967]

Before the draft, it was rumored the Cowboys had their eyes on LaPorta. It seemed surprising because LaPorta wasn't considered one of the top guys in the rankings that I saw. He was seen more as a second or 3rd rounder.

But we see that the Cowboys had him graded right. I wonder how much not getting to him and then losing out on Kincaid messed with their plans and then the bullshitted us that they wanted Mazi.

Usually, with a rookie DT, the problem is strength. With Mazi, strength was supposed to be his strength. Hopefully he'll come on because Hankins is a UFA.

McClay addressed this a couple times. He said the decision was never about Kincaid. It came down to Mazi Smith or the OL the Falcons took (Matthew Bergeron, who has been really good for them. Started all 14 games at LG and has only 4 penalties (incl NO holding calls) and is one of the higher graded rookie OL this year. He said they picked Mazi over Bergeron because they had invested so many 1st rd pick resources into the OL over the years (and had done so the previous yr with Tyler too) and had not drafted an interior DL with a premium pick in a long time)

The Cowboys did love LaPorta though and I remember the Zoner-tard reactions on draft day when that news came out before we went on the clock. They were pissing their panties left and right over the thought of taking him in the 1st or 2nd rd.

I think Mazi will be fine down the road. Rookie DT's rarely come in and have high impacts from day one. He needs to work on his 1st step a little and maybe learn a little more about leverage (although that was a strength at Michigan, but he was used differently there)

 

[touchdown]

Playoff Probability %s going into week 17

Playoff probability for all 32 teams (including the Vikings) heading into Week 17

After back-to-back setbacks, where do the Minnesota Vikings' playoff chances rank with the rest of the NFL?

sports.yahoo.com

 

[dbair1967]

No, I was referring to talent such as CeeDee, Micah etc etc.

Backup QBs almost don't count since they aren't on the field helping the QB win.

I still do not understand the Trey Lance trade. If they are telling the truth that Dak is their man, then Lance will be gone after next year.

If I'm Trey Lance I'm thinking that I'm still young enough to try to compete for a starting job. backup jobs are for guys like Cooper Rush.

I still say it was a dumb trade. I wonder what the Titans wanted for Henry and if that 4th could have been packaged.

The Lance trade was about upgrading the backup QB spot and potentially having someone that might develop into a potential starter down the road, whether here or somewhere else. They control his rights for another two seasons after this one. If he shows well in camp and preseason/s, they have a potential valuable trade piece down the road. Or maybe he ends up playing for us. You never know about injuries in this league.

I do think in the back of their minds they did this as a potential hedging their bet on Prescott, who regardless of what they say publicly I think they still had some doubts about after last season (especially late in the season when he played so poorly at Tenn, Washington and then San Fran), and especially for the amount of money it was going to take to keep him.

Cooper Rush is what he is. He has a less than mediocre arm and will always be limited if he plays. His cap charge next yr is nearly 3 million with little dead money, so they could potentially cut or trade him next yr in camp/preseason if Lance shows he is ready.

 

[dbair1967]

Could one possible reason for the Cowboys just being different at home be because...

In Week 4 we played the Patriots. As it turns out, the Patriots are one of the worst teams in the NFL.

In Week 8 we played the Rams. They were hurting.They had injuries. Players like Kupp are a difference maker. Matthew Stafford getting hurt at the end of the first half and leaving the game in the third quarter didn't help their cause. I'm not sure Brett Rypien is even better than Rush. Get the lead, and boom, our pass rushers get to tee off.

In week 10 we played the Giants. Tommy DeVito had been put into emergency action the week before. The Cowboys game was his first official start. Anyone who has followed any football knows the 3rd string undrafted free agent QB is not getting much work even in the preseason, let alone the regular season. Basically, we beat Ben DeNucci. DeVito has looked respectable since then, but, again, it was his very first game.

In Week 12 we played the Redskins (sorry, I'm not referring to them by their new idiotic name). Look, "Division games are always tough," except they aren't. Who thinks Sam Howell is really their QB of the future and they aren't going to be looking for another QB? Then add in that they got rid of their best pass rushers. Of course we were going to beat them! They were still trying to figure out their defense without Chase Young and Sweat.

Then, in week 13, we played the Seahawks. It was a good tough game, but we didn't look like world beaters. If we had played them in Seattle it could have gone the other way.

In week 14 we beat the Eagles and we did so in solid fashion.

Oh, I forgot. In week 2 we beat the Jets with Zack Wilson, which screws up my argument that it's possible to find good QBs in the modern era. There's always an outlier or 2. Unfortunately, for the Jets, they seem to constantly draft them.

SO WHERE ARE PEOPLE GETTING THIS: "We're just a different team at home. I can't explain it" from?

Now don't get me wrong. We probably would have won several of those games even if the other team had been at full strength, but they wouldn't have been beat downs.

Plus, it seems to me that McCarthy enjoys running up the score.

It's easily explained.

Eh. I hate it when people spin it this way. If it was so easy to beat teams badly like we did, why didn't other teams beat those teams the same way? Almost all those teams had their worst losses vs us. No team in NFL history had that many lopsided home wins and plenty of those teams also played easy schedules over the years.

There is something different. Maybe its all mental with them (which wouldn't surprise me, they have been a mentally soft team for 2+ decades)

 

[Scot]

The Niners had their three game losing streak, Philly had their three game losing streak, and I’m sad to say that we are about to have our three game losing streak this weekend vs the Lions.

We still can’t stop the run and it’s not going to get any better or easier vs the Lion.