Cowboys Pregame Three Thoughts for Wk 17

With two games to play, Dallas has one last massive test against big, tough Detroit

There is a good chance that you have never known a good Detroit Lions team. I don’t mean decent, by the way. I mean legitimately good.

For instance, you have a double-digit-win Cowboys team playing at home and the Lions are coming for a visit and you are actually wondering if Dallas can play well enough to get a win tonight. That has probably never happened for most readers.

Unless you are old enough to have spent time watching their one playoff win since the NFL-AFL merger – in 1991, when they destroyed the dynasty Cowboys at the Silverdome with Barry Sanders running wild and giving Tony Casillas and friends a highlight they wish everyone would stop showing.

I will guess many of us just can’t get past the oddity of it all. But, face it. Detroit is good. And you underestimate them at your own peril.

I know you don’t mind me showing you that run, right? I figure if every person who reads my stuff doesn’t know exactly the run I am talking about from 1991, then it is my job to educate and entertain. Let’s do both here:

I am not trying to say it is the greatest run in NFL history, but I am also not willing to rule that out. The response from both 75-Tony Casillas and 51-Ken Norton, Jr, is part of the greatness. They looked like JV high schoolers and we know they are both much better than that, so Barry must have had a way with making other pros look bad.

Anyway, back to the 2023 Detroit Lions now that we are done with that.

The credit must go in a lot of directions, but allow me to offer you some bias. As Dan Campbell’s chief apologist in these parts (aside from his family and countless friends from Glen Rose, Dallas, College Station, and everywhere in between) I will tell you this is a special coach. He has always had a way about him, but when he finally had a chance to coach a team his way, it was clear he knew what he was doing.

Disclosure: He used to do a weekly radio show with BaD Radio on the Ticket when he was a tight end for Bill Parcells and the Dallas Cowboys once upon a time (2003-2005). I don’t mind saying, I love this man. He is a friend and one of those guys who taught me a lot about this great game. He also is someone that probably could have pulled $100 million out of his alma mater if he wanted to return to coach his Aggies. I don’t see it ever happening, but if you are wondering who their dream hire was last month, it was this guy. I guarantee it.

Regardless, it will be weird as heck to see him run into this stadium with his very capable team itching to make a point to a national audience tonight and I promise he would love for his team to take out the Cowboys 15-game home winning streak on Jimmy Johnson night.

These are my Cowboys PreGame Three Thoughts: