NFL Week 14 picks: Why we like Browns, Bengals and Eagles
Lorenzo Reyes is back with his best bets for Week 14 games. He explains why he likes Browns, Bengals and Eagles.
The Dallas Cowboys surge into playoff contention just slammed into a wall, as a three-game win streak gave way to a 44-30 loss to the Detroit Lions that put their playoff chances scarcely above zero.
On the bright side, their kicker was great, which isn’t always the happiest of bright sides. On the downside, the defense reverted to early-season form, which is the worst possible downside.
Jadeveon Clowney never played, CeeDee Lamb left the game just as Dallas was trying to get back in it and Dallas now gets ready to host Minnesota. Here’s how the next 10 days kick off.
Dallas Cowboys kicker Brandon Aubrey
Dallas’ best player, their kicker Brandon Aubrey, was perfect (which is good) too many times (which is bad) and made a tackle (worst of all).
The Cowboys’ first three scores were all Aubrey field goals and so it went from there. By the end, he had field goals of 57, 42, 55, a 63-yarder that looked routine and 29 yards. The two shorter ones made him 18-18 on field goals under 50 yards, and the three longer ones made him 9-of-11 on those over 50. So he’s 27-29 this season.
For his career, he’s 6-of-8 on 60-plus yarders, the best in league history. No one else has made more than four.
Jerry Jones
The Dallas Cowboys owner didn’t immediately weigh in on the loss to the Detroit Lions, but before the game he helped break the news that tackle Jadeveon Clowney was going to be held out because of a hamstring injury.
“That hurts,” Jones told the radio station 105.3 FM The Fan. “He’s been playing outstanding the last few games.”
He did offer some good news on that radio show when asked if Dallas can keep its defensive tackle trio of Quinnen Williams, Osa Odighizuwa and Kenny Clark together.
That seems unlikely because of the salary cap, but when told that, Jones replied: “That’s not right. We can. We can build from that.”
No details were offered on how that could work, but Jones believes in himself.
Dak Prescott
Dallas quarterback Dak Prescott acknowledged after the game that Dallas is in deep trouble with the loss to Detroit.
“At this point, I don’t know if I can say we control our own destiny,” Prescott said after the loss. “I know it was not a stretch saying that before, but I’m pretty sure if we won out, we were going to have a pretty damn good record only having five losses and one tie… we’re going to need some things to happen for us, I don’t think it’s in our control at this point. But what we can do is control the way that we approach this (next) game (against Minnesota).”
Against the Lions Prescott went 31-of-47 with two interceptions against just one touchdown for 376 yards and took five sacks. At one point, he and receiver George Pickens, who never got on the same page all game, exchanged words on the sidelines.
CeeDee Lamb injury update
Dallas’ star receiver CeeDee Lamb hit the ground hard Thursday in the third quarter against the Detroit Lions and got up clutching his arm. His arm turned out not to be the problem.
Lamb was diagnosed with a concussion, of course, ruling him out of the rest of Thursday’s game. He’s now into protocol, which more likely than not means he’ll miss next week’s game against Minnesota, though two extra days of rest could help.
Lamb was having a huge night before his injury with 121 yards on six catches, with eight targets.
Dallas Cowboys vs. Detroit Lions; did the Cowboys win?
The Cowboys did not win. They lost to the Detroit Lions 44-30.
Dallas Cowboys playoff chances
With the loss, Dallas dropped from the 18-24% range of making the playoffs to the 7-8% range. If Dallas wins out, an absolute must, they would finish with a 10-6-1 record which at this point seems unlikely to qualify for the postseason in the NFC.
The Cowboys will need both Green Bay and Detroit to implode, which seems unlikely.
Dallas Cowboys next game
The Cowboys have yet another prime time game when they host the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday Night Football. Kickoff from AT&T Stadium is set for 6:20 p.m. MT/7:20 PM CT on NBC.
Dallas Cowboys remaining schedule
The Cowboys have four remaining regular-season games.
15 Sun, Dec. 14 Minnesota, 6:20 p.m. MT/7:20 p.m. CT, NBC
16. Sun. Dec. 21 Los Angeles Chargers, 11 a.m. MT/noon CT FOX
17. Thu. Dec. 25 at Washington, 11 a.m. MT/noon CT, Netflix
18. TBD at New York Giants, TBD
Dallas Cowboys record
The Cowboys are 6-6-1 with four games to play after the loss to the Lions.
Bret Bloomquist can be reached at bbloomquist@elpasotimes.com; @BrMTbloomquist on X.