Stephen A. gives CREDIT to Cowboys after Week 13 win 👏 + Chiefs in a WORLD of trouble?! | First Take

Stephen A. gives CREDIT to Cowboys after Week 13 win 👏 + Chiefs in a WORLD of trouble?! | First Take

All right, let’s get right into it. Go into that Dallas Cowboys game. They outlasted the AFC champions from Kansas City on Thursday 31-28 in a game where the Cowboys offense was the differencemaker. Dak Prescott went for 320 yards, two touchdowns, while receivers CD Lamb and George Pickkins were too much for a short-handed Chief secondary. After the game, it was pandemonium in the Cowboys locker room. Turkey legs and all. How about those last four days? How about those last four days? The heartbeat of this football team is different. I’m going to say that again. The heartbeat of you men, this team is different. And I am so proud. I will fight with you guys anytime, any place. Man, what a week it has been for the Dallas Cowboys. Stephen A, what kind of statement did you see from Dallas last night? Well, I thought it was a profound statement. They going up against Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs. Just give credit where credit is due. Just after beating the Philadelphia Eagles, they didn’t rest on their laurels. They showed up on Thanksgiving Day and showed out. Accumulated 457 yards of offense. That’s a season high allowed by the Kansas City Chiefs scoring 31 points. That tied for a season high allowed by the Kansas City Chiefs. We know they had 10 penalties. We know they had like five pass interference calls and all of this other stuff. We get that part. But in the end, Dallas is just reminding us that their offense is prolific. It is Super Bowl caliber. It is led by Dak Prescott. These brothers and Pickkins and CD Lamb are no joke. We knew that CD Lamb wasn’t going to have another game like he had Sunday against against Philadelphia. He wasn’t going to drop passes this go round. He bowled out. We give them their respect. Where it’s due. We give RC his respect where it’s due. went up to the board looking like orange crush, you know, with the orange suit and all of that and told us all, you know, what was going to happen. I thought that the Chiefs could still get him, but in the end, the Dallas Cowboys deserve a lot of credit on this day. But having said that, I just like to caution RC and everybody else. It’s important to bring this up. Dak Prescott wins games in September. He wins games in October. He wins games in se in dece in November. And in December, my god, he wins like 72% of his games. And then January arrives. And that is when and that is when everything comes tumbling down. You understand? Winning 33% of his games, 4-8 overall in the month of January, two and five in playoff competition. So you go ahead and you have your moment. And Cowboy Nation, have your moment. I like the fact that you’re no longer on the curb. You have ascended and you’re continuing to ascend and ascend and ascend and ultimately you gonna be on that roof that I’ve been talking about and we going to see and that’s all I got to say. Floor is yours. All right. Uh so let’s focus on this game though. I get where we’re going like way ahead in the future. Cam, from last night, what did you see from the Dallas Cowboys that impressed you? I think the thing about Dallas yesterday that is abundantly clear is Dallas Cowboys matches up versus any team in the NFL. Yes, I said it. Any team in the NFL, the Dallas Cowboys is a good matchup against. Now, with saying that, when you start to say what’s different about this team than years before, it’s George Pickkins. George Pickkins and CD Lamb was really what Amari Cooper and CD Lamb was supposed to be. The whole dynamic and the lineage of how Dallas have won in years past has been what? The offensive line protecting the quarterback and the run game. Well, this is what makes it extremely different because this team is extremely explosive. What uh what George Pickkins brings to that dynamic now alleviates the stress load from a guy like CD Lamb. And who would have ever thought that in lateg game situations, how many times this year have we seen Dak look to George rather than Dak looking to CD? I think it was a definite statement win. And when you look at the the the crystal ball, so to speak, of what’s been transpiring over these last couple of weeks, nobody, and I mean nobody, would have been able to say, “Hey, Dallas is going to beat both of the following teams that was in the Super Bowl last year.” Oh my goodness. And that’s something that they need to keep building on. They feel like a different team by week. Yeah. the the statement that Dallas made is if and when they get into the playoffs, they are true NFC championship contenders. Right now, the Dallas Cowboys have an MVP candidate in Dak Prescott. He’s ascending to be a top tier quarterback with the way that he’s operating. And they have a coach of the year candidate in my opinion in Brian Shenheimer. I know we’re going to talk about the McVeys and the Rabbels and the McDonald’s. The leader of men that Brian Shottimer has shown himself to be over the last month has been unparalleled in 2025. The way that this offense has ascended schematically since he took over the head coaching position and play calling position has been excellent. And defensively, now that you’ve added the pieces through Jerry Jones, by the way, making that decision, they have enough defense to go out and win games. and the way they’ve executed down the stretch, being down to both of the Super Bowl participants at home in the in consecutive weeks and finding a way to win. Those are teams that are built through grit, through execution, and preparation. And that’s what a head coach has been charged to do. And Dak Prescott is being one of the best leaders on the field. The remaining schedule here, well, it’s really it’s really very touching to see you. It’s really very touching to see you give Jerry Jones credit, RC. I mean, I know that’s Ray. I know that’s hard for you. Uh, but it’s nice to see you do that. So, congratulations on that part. Let me tell you what’s hard for me to give Matt Eaflu some credit, the defensive coordinator for the Dallas Cowboys, because they look like straight trash and hot garbage for the first six weeks or so. They don’t look like that now. That defense looks that defense looks real with oversh Quinnon Williams there. I mean, I got to give credit where credit is due. No doubt about it. This is the best we’ve seen the Dallas Cowboys look in years. I mean, in years. They look that formidable. But again, with expectations comes pressure. And usually when that happens is when we see the very worst. So we shall see. So before we get to January, like the remaining schedule at the Lions home against the Vikings, Chargers, at the Commanders, at the Giants, you said if and when they make the playoffs, and I I’m focusing on that when part. Are they legitimate threats when they get in there or is this just like the byproduct of what Stephen is saying? Like good regular season team, a team that fails when they get to No, they’re they’re legitimate threats because I believe the quarterback is different. We always point to Dak Prescott underperforming in the most important moments. Well, there’s been no more important moments, at least in his career thus far, than the last two weeks or the leadership he had to show when one of their brothers was lost. And so I believe that Dak Prescott is now a different man, which makes this team different. And Cam made one of the most important points of the first 10 minutes. George Pickkins makes this team different. When you slide the coverage to CD Lamb, George Pickkins wins one-on- ones. When you slide the coverage to George Pickkins, CD Lamb wins one-on- ones. And with that, Brian Shenheimer still calls runs like to Malik Davis makes the explosive play for the touchdown. And so when they do get in the playoffs with the way Quinnon Williams and Overshon have elevated this defense, they are absolutely true threats to be NFC champions. Cam, how do you see it? I think I think what we’ve seen uh Matt IFloo and uh what Jerry Jones has has necessarily figured out and it’s good that they figured it out this way. It’s not about X’s and O’s. It’s about Jimmy’s and Joe’s. It’s not to say that Matt IFloo has done anything or has implemented anything that’s different. You know, we’ve said this since the beginning of the season is the Dallas Cowboys doesn’t need a dominant defense. They need a competent defense. And what we’ve seen coach Matt Ibraflute do is execute in a way where okay, do we want to stop the run? Absolutely. Do we want to keep giving our offense opportunities in many different forms, ways, and shapes? Absolutely. And if they keep doing that, yes, they do have NFC championship written all over them because of the explosiveness of their offense. I mean, we were we were talking yesterday, Stephen A, I wanted to reference a point that you made about the Chiefs going against that red zone defense. They were able to capitalize there. Like how do you see this now knowing what we know about this Dallas Cowboys team where the defense has gone from week one to where we are now? How viable of a threat are they in your eyes in the postseason? Well, they’re a big time threat. Listen, I do I think they’re going to fold like a cheap tent when it counts. Yeah, absolutely. I I expect it. I’m anticipating it. I’m looking forward to it. Okay, that’s what I expect. All right. But the point is is that I’m saying that from an historical perspective. There is no evidence looking at this present- day Dallas Cowboy team to justify feeling that way. Dak Prescott looks sensational. He’s baller yesterday and he is, as far as I’m concerned, a top two league MVP candidate right now. That’s how I feel about him. I think that Brian Shottenheimimer is a top three or four coach of the year candidate. Uh Jerry Jones plucking him out of obscurity even though he was on the squad, even though he he was coaching the offense and what have you, you know, he wasn’t the play caller. That was McCarthy and all of this other stuff. But Brian Shottenheimimer has really showed out and he’s really shown that he he is the leader in this on in this locker room for this team and major major props to him. I said weeks ago, I really really like him and I really think that Derek Jones did a great great job selecting him as the head coach. He seems like the right man for the job for the Dallas Cowboys for years and years to come. Having said that, obviously Pickkins is the big acquisition because you can’t key on CD Lamb the way you once did without Pickkins making you pay or vice versa. So, we see what it is. But then we said their defense was going to collapse. All right, because Micah Parsons was going to be gone and you couldn’t get pressure on a quarterback. Well, now they’ve got somebody that’s get that’s contributing and getting a lot of pressure on opposing quarterbacks and Quinton Williams, Logan Wilson can’t be dismissed. Obviously, oversh Detroit does not look great. They look very, very, very vulnerable, right? And because of that, if the D I walked in here thinking that Dallas would win two of the three. Kansas City, Philadelphia, Detroit, they’d win two of those three games. They were going to lose one. I don’t know if I could see them losing to Detroit the way that Detroit is looking. And if they beat Detroit, RC, Ryan Clark, the pivot was correct. They can run the table. And if that happens, if that happens, look out because now we’ve got something here. All right. Now, the only flip side to that is that if you’re the wild card spot, if you don’t capture the Eagles because you don’t play them again, well, then that means you got to go on the road. If you have to go on the road, that’s kind of different than playing at Jerry World, which is where that collapse that I talk about appears imminent. But that’s a story for but the the thing is though you probably go on the road to the winner of the NFC South at least in the wild card round which is an extremely winnable game for the Dallas that Yeah. for for the Dallas Cowboys. And then when you get opportunities against the best of the best you just have to go find a way to win. And so for me the Dallas Cowboys are focusing week to week and the most important thing right now is beating the Detroit line. Yeah, I was a little surprised in looking at that graphic of all the teams where everybody stands in the NFC. ESPN analytics only giving the Cowboys a 19% chance to make the postseason, but as you pointed out, they win that Chiefs game. They could potentially run the table. Well, that’s because but that’s because they tied with Green Bay, they lost to Carolina. Okay. You know, you you you’ve got you lost to Chicago. So, you got two teams ahead of you that you’ve lost to. All right. So, they would get the tiebreaker. So, we got to pay attention to that as it pertains to Quinn and Williams bringing this up. 19 quarterback pressures, seven quarterback hits, and one and a half sacks in his three games with the Cowboys. And they’ve won all three games. I don’t think that’s an accident. All right, let’s look at the other side of this matchup because as we’re talking about the arrow going upwards for the Dallas Cowboys, it feels a little different for the Kansas City Chiefs. Here is what Patrick Mahomes had to say following the loss. At the end of the day, you just got to win got to win every game now. I mean, and and hope that’s enough. So, I mean, we’re going to play a lot of good football teams. um coming up. Um and if we’re going to make the playoffs, we’re going to have to win win win them all. And uh that’s got to be the mindset when we step into the building um when we get back. We can beat anybody, but I mean, we’ve shown that we can lose to anybody. Um and so we got to be more consistent. Tough road ahead for Kansas City. With the loss, the Chiefs see their playoff chances drop from 63% to 46% according to ESPN analytics. Kansas City has reached the least the AFC Championship game and every season with Mahomes as the starting quarterback. Stephen A, how much trouble is this Chiefs team in? They’re in a world of trouble. There’s no doubt. And I think that Patrick Holmes said it best. They have to win every game. They can’t afford to lose another game. Yep. It’s just that simple. They can’t They can’t afford to lose in the game. They knew they lose another game, they’re done. Now, here’s what I will say. The Chiefs have some elite defenses to go up against in the Texans and the Broncos. The Chargers ain’t shabby either. Tennessee and Vegas, that’s a given. But those three games against the Texans, the Chargers, and the Broncos, uh, that offense of the Chiefs got they they they got a bonafide defense to go up against. Yes, sir. The flip side to it, the flip side to it is that none of them are what I would label a prolific offense and be like the Dallas Cowboys for example. So, because of that, they’re still winnable games for the Chiefs and I could see them winning for the next five. My issue is I think they need to win all five games. All five games. that they can’t afford a single loss. If the Chiefs lose one more game, I don’t think they make the playoffs. You saw the schedule there, Cam. It’s Texans, Chargers, Titans, Broncos, and Raiders. Some of those harder games are at Arrowhead. So, that might be the saving grace here. Do you see it the same way? Do you think they’re in this world of trouble? Uh, I don’t think that they’re in the world of trouble. I think they’re they’re sensitive to playing at a more expedited rate for them to win. Uh all that to say, the best thing that the Kansas City Chiefs have going for themselves is they have the most got to have it pressured quarterback this game has seen since Tom Brady. It’s almost like when the going gets tough, insert a Patrick Mahomes. It’s like, oh, we gotta win this. Okay, insert Patrick Mahomes. Hey, this is a must-have type of game type of down type of situation. Insert Patrick Mahomes. This is where we will start to see the greatness of him. And knowing that he has to win all of the games in order for them to have a opportunity to make it to the playoffs. And even if they do, they still need some help. These are the reasons why people say and witness the greatness of Patrick Mahomes. said he will not let the Kansas City Chiefs down. The question is how much trouble they’re in. Um, you’re kind of young, Courtney, but they’re in as much trouble as Kurt Russell was in in Little China, right? Big trouble in Little China was the name of the movie. You should look it up. I’m unfamiliar with that one, but that’s what I want to watch on my way down to Yes, that’s actually very good. And in keeping with the the the movie themes or the TV themes, y’all remember like the first season of Stranger Things, like before everybody got bouted when Eleven was just carrying Lucas and Dustin and Mike. That’s who Patrick Mahomes is right now. He’s like Eleven in the first season where he’s trying to do everything he can and he just walking out every single game with his nose bloody because he’s straining like hell to move stuff and protect all these people while they find will. Patrick Mahomes has been playing like Cam says it at a got to have it level the entire season from week one when they lost to the Chargers and he’s running over people looking like Cam Newton on the sideline. Patrick Mahomes been playing got to have it football. Last week against the Colts he’s playing got to have it football against the Broncos when they lose and he’s outdoed by Bo Nicks late in the game. He’s playing got to have it football. Patrick Mahomes has been the player with a sense of urgency the entire season. It’s everybody else that has to raise their level of pit. I want to is how much of it’s the defense because remember remember Stephen A we talked so much about those one-sore games 11 and0 last year and one scorecore games they’re one and six in one score games this year. That’s true that that’s true but the problem is is that even though even though the defense hasn’t been exceptional they’ve been good enough. You’ve given Patrick Mahome Mahomes the ball on several occasions in one score games and they came up short. We can’t ignore that. Okay. They were 12-0 last year. They got like a one and six or something like that this year. Okay, so that’s a problem. That’s number one. Number two, Cam and RC. You got to remember the Chiefs have already lost to the Bills and the Jaguars. So the tiebreaker goes to those two teams, right? So, you know, you you you’re looking at you already lost to them and they’re expected to be wild card teams in all likelihood, right? You got a game coming up against the Texans. Now, they got the Colts first, but you got a game coming up against the Texans. You got to win that game. You got the Chargers ahead of you. You got to win that game. These are the It’s like it’s right there for Kansas City to win, but it’s also right there for them to lose. There’s some control of their own destiny, but it’s for that very, very, very last postseason spot because you got the division winners and then you’ve got two wild card teams that they’ve already lost to. So, the tiebreaker will go to them. And then you got the Chargers and the Texans, at least at this particular moment in time, that are ahead of them. and they’re both on Kansas City schedule. That’s why Patch Mahomes said, “We can’t lose a game. We can’t lose another game because the team that you lose to in all likelihood will be one of the teams you’re battling for for that last wild card playoff spot. They can’t afford to lose a game.” Cam, do you think that the AFC being as open as it is? Like there’s no dominant team this year the way it’s been before. Does that help or hurt Kansas City? Oh, it helps them for sure. I think the thing when when when watching Kansas City play in each of the last three or five games is these are the three things that we are not used to seeing in a collective effort in games. It’s penalties, it’s mishaps, and it’s turnovers. Those that that is a death wish for any type of team to try to have at least one way to win or to have ways to win. we’ve seen uh uh the Kansas City Chiefs have those blemishes on their efforts to try to win. So now if they eliminate that, if you start to get back to the Kansas City Chiefs game uh team that play complimentary football in all three phases, if you start to give guys opportunities, it’s not just going to be on on Travis Kelce. It’s not just going to be on Patrick Mahomes. It’s not just going to be on the defense. These guys have opportunities that they’re are not capitalizing on. And in order for them to move forward, especially going up against the Texans, we know what they’re capable of doing obviously, but it’s going to take a collective effort that we’ve always seen the Kansas City Chiefs display. Stephen A, that is uncharacteristic of what we know this Kansas City team to be. Final word here. How do you see it? I I just think that, you know, listen, I got my eye on the Texans. Um, I’m looking at a defense that’s top two in points allowed, number one in yards allowed, number three uh in rush yards, in rush yards allowed, top five in pass yards. These brothers are something to behold. I’m just saying I’m watching their defense right now and I’m saying, you know what, you Kansas City, you going to beat them. CJ Strider is coming back. You you gonna beat them. You gonna beat them. I’m looking at everybody else on the schedule. But that Texans game is what I’m watching out for right there because Texans obviously in third place in the South behind Indie and Jacksonville and they’re trying to creep up. Make no mistake about it. That’s going to be an incredibly incredibly pivotal game a week from this Sunday. But first, obviously, they got to handle their business against the Colts.

On First Take, Stephen A. Smith, Ryan Clark and Cam Newton react to the Dallas Cowboys’ 31-28 win over the Kansas City Chiefs on Thanksgiving Day.

0:00 What statement did the Cowboys make on Thanksgiving?
3:00 Cam Newton says George Pickens and CeeDee Lamb are difference-makers for the Cowboys
8:00 Do you believe the 6-5-1 Cowboys will make the playoffs?
13:00 How much trouble are the 6-6 Chiefs in now?
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