Dan O. thinks the Dallas Cowboys could win the NFC East IF they beat the Lions 👀 | First Take

Dan O. thinks the Dallas Cowboys could win the NFC East IF they beat the Lions 👀 | First Take

Let’s get right to it. Week 14 tonight. A showdown in the NFC between the Cowboys and the Lions in Detroit. Dallas has obviously won three straight. Meanwhile, the Lions have lost three out of their last five. Both teams trying to improve their position in the playoff picture. Speaking of, the Cowboys currently have an 18% chance to make the postseason. And with a loss, the number would drop to 8% according to ESPN analytics. With a win, that number jumps to 34%. The Lions currently have a 43% chance to make the postseason. With a win, that number increases to 56. With a loss, it drops to 21%. It just feels like a must-win for both teams. There’s a little percentage there you could play with. But would your perception change more on the Cowboys or the Lions with a win tonight? Nina, why don’t you go first? It’s the Cowboys for me. Um, don’t have questions about this offense. I think we all know what they’re capable of and how high the ceiling is. The defense is what I want to see perform tonight. for me to really take this team seriously, not just as a playoff team, but as a potential Super Bowl contender in a wide open NFL. The defense looks vastly improved with Quinn and Williams. We’ve seen them get interior pressure. They’ve been better against the run. Since Quinn Williams has joined the team, they’re holding teams to under four yards per carry. That’s great. That was the Raiders, one of the worst run games in football. The Eagles, who I think we now agree is one of the worst offenses in football and can’t really run the ball consistently. And then Kansas City actually moved the ball on them and ran the ball well in that. So, I want to see you’re going up against Jir Gibbs, Detroit Lions. They’ve got some injuries on offense. Fine. If they can stop this Lions offense the way they have over the last few weeks, yeah, as Dan puts on his tie, then I’m a believer. But for me, the juryy’s still a little bit out on this defense because I do worry about the secondary. Pass rush looks good. Run defense looks good. Let’s see it tonight. RC, let him finish. Go ahead. You go next. It’s so distracting. Also too though, why is the the tail part of the tie so long when you do it? I think he’s nervous. You need to get like a You a boy scout when you I was Eagle Scout. Ah, that’s why you can’t really tie a tie. Well, you don’t tie it for fashion. You tie it for function. Makes total sense. Makes total sense. Yeah. Um, so Lions are cowboy. So for me it’s the Cowboys because if the Cowboys win tonight, it takes everything from specula speculation to a reality. It’s exactly what Mina said. We look at this offense and we know what their ceiling is and defensively you’ve improved, but we’re thinking about the last two teams you’ve played. And the Kansas City Chiefs and the Philadelphia Eagles aren’t the two teams that played in the Super Bowl last year. When you have the offense that the Dallas Cowboys have, you expect to be able to put up points on them. And also defensively, you can find ways to stop them enough to win. If you go and beat Detroit tonight, if you can stop Jir Gibbs and David Montgomery in the run game, if you find a way to go win, you look at the back half of this schedule and it says that the Dallas Cowboys not only can be a playoff team, but the Dallas Cowboys have a unique opportunity to come back and win the NFC East. And if they do that in a wideopen NFC where we just watched the Los Angeles Rams lose to the Carolina Panthers, this is a team that can make a run. Maybe they do the Stephen A thing, right? Maybe they build us up and they on a two foot on on a two-floor building and they jump off and they fall off the building and it’s the the cliff and not the curb. But this gives them an opportunity to be true contenders if they win tonight. And if the Lions win, you know what we’ll say? We say the Cowboys were fools gold and the Lions beat a team that they should have beaten. All right, it’s the Cowboys. But I want to get at you about something cuz I was watching the other day. I think it was yesterday or the day before and you made the comment quo. Can you play this comment cuz this is an embarrassing moment for you. Play it quu and you call him. I reserve the right to change my mind. If the Cowboys win Thursday and the Eagles lose Monday night, I’ll be there with you. Monday Night Football Monday Night Countdown. I’ll be there in LA. If the Eagles lose Monday night and the Cowboys win Thursday, all bets are off. Well, that’s one I’d say. But no, no, no. The first thing I said was I don’t think it’s going to happen. And I said the Eagles, I got the Eagles holding on to win a division because I think the Dallas guy pretty much has to run the table in order to win the division. And I’m not sure that they’re going to do that. Just so you guys know, Stephen A reserves the right to pick the division winner after all the games are played. Whoever is going to win more games, he’s going to pick that team. If this team loses this week and this team wins this week, maybe I’ll change my of course, then we have more information and less games to be played. Well, let me say this. How many games are the Eagles ahead of the Dallas Cowboys right now? Uh, two. Two games, right? So, if the Eagles lose Monday, let me finish. If the Eagles lose Monday night and the Cowboys win tonight, right, the Eagles would still be a game ahead. I’m saying even a game ahead, I’m still picking the Cowboys to win the division if the Cowboys, the Eagles lose. So, again, the point that I’m trying to make. So, you’re actually your actual point is not accurate. You called up for the sound trying to embarrass Admittedly that you thought it was going to be an embarrassing moment for me and it is not. It is not. She just did it. So you are really stepping out on a limb there. Right now what you going to call it stepping out on the limb is one too. If you are right about that Dan, you know what I will do? I will never use the f word again unless I say fudge in life. I’m talking as long as I see in life. I don’t mean you can’t use it on the show anyway. But I’m just saying he says fudge. You know what I’m saying? He says fudge all the time. I’ll start using honestly though. You know how corny today? Dan is actually correct. He’s not correct. Heart say you are changing. What? You are changing. Hey Dan Lesley. Hey Dan. What’s happening at 11:00 today? I was trying to I was looking at the rundown and all of a sudden the show goes from a five person show. Yeah. At 11 o’clock the show changes. Yeah. Four person. You remember You remember like it was a dude. He used to take tough stances, right? He would he would say things that other people wouldn’t say. He wouldn’t wait for the rest of the information. He’d give you the information before the information was given to you. Are you going to take this? And now they’re bullying now. And now they are bullying you right now. Your show, you know, now it’s like it’s juggling. 67 67. No, he doesn’t. He just wants to hug. Maybe maybe I’ll agree. May I don’t want people to make fun of me in my social mentions because I was wrong on a pick. So We’re going to I’m going to go talk about I’m going to go talk about my feelings at 11:00. My feelings actually actually be talking about some other issue. You know what I’m saying? And you’re an MVP becomes very real for Dak Prescott. Oh, you’re saying you’re saying Dallas? Yeah. Did I say Detroit? I meant Okay, I meant Dallas. See, embarrassing, but I meant Dallas. Um I I would have Dak as probably third in the MVP right now behind Drake May at one and Stafford two. But I think if Dak goes on the road tonight, if they win, it’ll be because the pass game and he lights Detroit, Detroit’s defense up, it would be that three-game stretch of, wow, you you beat Philadelphia with a massive comeback, you you have the ball late against Kansas City and get it done, and then you go on the road versus a very good football team in Detroit. Then then this this conversation of Dak Prescott really becomes a you know almost lateral one two three of Drake Stafford and Dak as an MVP candidate. So absolutely the division the playoffs become real and so does MVP. To me it’s the Lions for me personally because the fact is is that we didn’t expect much from the Cowboys this year anyway the minute Michael Parsons was traded. Now, they defied those odds, particularly since they acquired Quinnon Williams, obviously, and he’s changed a lot of things for their defense in Oversh being back in the lineup. We got that part, but the offense was expected to be prolific. The defense was expected to be trash. They’ve surprised us by not being that. Now, they’re in the mix because we’ve seen them beat the two the Super Bowl participants in back-to-back games in a four-day span. We got that part. Are we forgetting what our expectations were for the Detroit Lions, who won the division, who was in the conference championship game a couple of years ago. We saw Dan Campbell get too aggressive going forward on fourth down. Saw that a couple of years ago last year. You’re battling for the division. Crown Minnesota comes in there 14-2 and you you skate them and then obviously you get to the playoffs, but you wet the bed against the Commanders primarily due to injuries because you had about 13 dudes on IR. We heard all of this. We come into this season, Gibbs is still there. Montgomery is still there. Maras Brown is still there. Jameson Williams was there. Leaport is out because of obviously back surgery and all of that stuff. But you’re looking at them and you’re saying, “What’s up? What is going on with the Lions?” You’re getting the impression you’ve missed your window of opportunity because Green Bay is not going away in the years to come. Seattle’s not going away. LA’s not going away. Philadelphia somehow someway, even if they’re sliding, somehow you get the impression they’ll resurrect themselves next season. That kind of thing. what Dallas is, what is Dallas going to look like next year when you got a full season, when you got Williams and overone in the boards and you’re looking at the Detroit Lions and you’re saying to yourself, this is your opportunity. You’re on the outside looking in. You don’t win tonight. You’re already on the outside looking in. You lose tonight, that really really endangers your So tonight, but but but tonight changes your view of the Detroit Lions if they win. I’m saying to you, if they win, if they win tonight, they’re at least in the playoffs. They’re in the mix and they still got a chance. It’s over if they don’t. It’s over if they don’t. For either team, it feels like it’s over. Yeah. But with Dallas, we we really didn’t expect it because you were in too much of a hole to begin with before the trading deadline moves. With the Detroit Lions, this wasn’t supposed to happen. You weren’t supposed to be on the outside looking in with seven teams ahead of you record-wise. We didn’t expect that. And the window of opportunity. We were talking about Dan Campbell, how he resurrected this franchise, how he changed the culture, etc., etc. Now you’re looking at them, you’re saying, “What is up? This could be it for them.” But if the Dallas Cowboys win tonight, Brian Shottenheimer also is in the coach of the year conversation, right? You look at what Kyle Shanahan is doing in San Francisco, what Mike Vreyel’s done in New England, and I think for Brian Shottenheimer, this is a coach where Jerry Jones sitting next to him is like, I’m taking a risk like like nobody wants this guy to be their head coach. I’m I’m choosing him. And there’s been no coach that’s had to handle some of the things that have happened on the field, but also off the field in the way that Brian Shenheimer has done that in the way that he has led this team. And also, when you go schematically to the X’s and O’s of what this offense is, he’s shown you that last year, even though he was the offensive coordinator in title, that that was Mike McCarthy. And he’s moved forward and made George Pickkins at times the number one target or the priority over CD Lamb. when the schematics and when the scheme of the defense called for it. And so for me when I look at Brian at Brian Shanheimer if they win tonight, we have to have a different conversation about Dak as Dan said, but also him as well. Okay. So the perception would change it sounds like more for Dallas. For you it would be the Lions. Dan Campbell is at home tonight. The Lions are at home. Dan Campbell has not lost consecutive games since 2022. They’re very good following a loss by the way. 0 for seven on fourth downs over the last two games. Dan Campbell. Dan Campbell. Yeah. Uh fourth down not been his thing lately. So we’ll see what happens maybe tonight at home against the Cowboys. It’s a must-win game for both. Let’s do picks though. Not perception picks. Who you like tonight, Mina? It’s for me it’s Dallas because of all the injuries in Detroit. I and I just worry about that offensive line watching them over the last few weeks. I do think they’re going to be able to run the ball on Dallas. I think they’re going to challenge them. I think Gibbs has a big night. I hope by the way Dan Campbell does go for it on fourth down. Haters be damned because he’s going to have to in this game. I just think those injuries on offense plus what we’ve seen from this Dallas offense is just too much to overcome. Yeah. I also think it’s Dallas as well for obviously many of the reasons that Mina mentioned, but when you watch this team defensively, Kelvin Shepard’s Detroit Lions, to me, it’s slightly too predictable. You know exactly what you’re going to get. And you can watch Matt Yeah. And you can watch Matt Laflur last week and him understanding whether it’s fourth down, third down, the exact formation to get into, the motions that will indicate what he’s seeing. And I expect Brian Shottimer to take advantage of that. And on the back end, they just don’t match up well with the wide receiver core of the Dallas Cowboys. And I think Quinnon Williams and that improved interior rush of the Dallas Cowboys is going to affect Jared G up the middle. I like Dallas as well. You can’t cover George and CD one-on-one. George is the best one-on-one receiver in the NFL right now. I think the likelihood or the best way that Detroit does win is G G G G G G G G G G G G G G G G G G G G Gibbs becomes CMC. It is a 30 to 35 touch game for Jir Gibbs and he has I mean I honestly would say 250 or so yards of allpurpose offense. That’s the best way for Detroit to win. He can do that too though. He can do that, but I think it’s the only way they can win tonight. I got to go with the Cowboys for all the reasons y’all mentioned. I think it’s the only We got to sweep. I think I’m going to switch. Um, wow. Um, good thing is they don’t put the banner up on this first. There’s no gravity. Shout out to the first take producers for that. Yeah, right. Maybe I’ll go and here we get killed over. If the Cowboys do win tonight, it would be their third consecutive win in 11 days. Fourth overall, fourth consecutive win obviously with the bye in between.

On First Take, Stephen A. Smith, Mina Kimes, Dan Orlovsky and Ryan Clark join Shae Cornette to discuss the Dallas Cowboys vs. the Detroit Lions and the significance of the game for both teams!

0:00 Dallas Cowboys vs. Detroit Lions
0:45 Is this game more important for the Cowboys or the Lions?
3:45 Looking back on Stephen A.’s comments
4:24 Dan O. and Ryan Clark call out Stephen A.
6:38 Could Dak Prescott be a part of the MVP conversation?
7:30 Stephen A. weighs in on who this game is more important for
9:55 Ryan Clark’s thoughts
11:25 Who will win, Cowboys or Lions?

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