Money rated pick on Sunday’s early game now posted on this site!
The last time the Dallas Cowboys won a Super Bowl Bill Clinton was serving in his first term as President of the United States. Apollo 13 and Casino were the biggest draws at the box office and television viewers were watching ER and Seinfeld. Mariah Carey and Michael Jackson were the top individual artists and Hottie & the Blowfish among the top bands.
Since the Dallas Cowboys last won a Super Bowl the New England Patriots have won six. The Kansas City Chiefs and Denver Broncos have each collected three Vince Lombardi Trophies and the Pittsburgh Steelers and Baltimore Ravens collected two titles. The Rams franchise won one in St. Louis and another in Los Angeles since Dallas beat the Steelers to cap the 1995 season.
Yep, it's been a long time since the Cowboys ruled the NFL roost.
When team owner Jerry Jones and head coach Jimmy Johnson got into an ego war while the Cowboys were set up for years of dominance, only once did the Cowboys use the assembled talent to win it all after their breakup. Ever since Dallas has been looking to live up to their seasonal high praise preseason clippings.
“Is this the year the Cowboys win the Super Bowl,” is a headline often seen before a season starts. Been that way for nearly 30 years, and the answer has always been, no.
This year is no exception. Jones has stuck with a quarterback that has as much success in the postseason as a blind squirrel searching for nuts after a snowstorm. In his seven postseason games, Dak Prescott has lost five of them and never led the Cowboys out of the Divisional round.
Yet, we note that Prescott has guided Dallas to the postseason five times which means his regular season results are better than his postseason record. And, checking my calendar, I note we are in the regular season.
On Sunday, the Cowboys host another team that has an even less impressive postseason history but huge expectations this season, the Detroit Lions. The Lions are one of the few NFL teams that has never even participated in a Super Bowl, let alone win one. Last year, they took the San Francisco 49ers to the finish line in a game that bent the 49ers way but could have landed the Lions in their first Roman Numeral game.
This year, with Jared Goff guiding a talent rich offense and a Lions defense bolstered by draft picks acquired by the Lions when they shipped Matthew Stafford to the Los Angeles Rams for both selections and Goff, Detroit is among the NFC favorites to advance to Super Bowl LIX.
So, what do we have squaring off in Dallas on Sunday?
A Lions team chasing the undefeated Minnesota Vikings in the NFC North Division race and looking forward to following up this game with a head-to-head meeting next week against their primary division competition. And the Cowboys, surprisingly also looking up at a division leader in their NFC East Division race. Surprising, because it is not the Philadelphia Eagles they are chasing, but rather the quick rising Washington Commanders.
By the time this game kicks off on Sunday afternoon, the Cowboys will know whether they have a chance to catch the Commanders in the standings. Washington plays one of the early games in Baltimore against the heavily favored Ravens.
The Lions know they need this win to stay close to the Vikings, who have a bye after winning last week in London over the New York Jets to advance the only unbeaten mark in the NFC to 5-0.
The Lions have lost four straight times in Dallas, last beating the Cowboys on their home field in 2011. Still, given their high accolades and expectations this season, Detroit is favored for this Sunday's meeting by a field goal.
I don’t think the point spread is coming into play here … because this is a perfect spot for the Cowboys to beat the Lions a fifth straight time in Dallas.
Qoxhi Picks: Dallas Cowboys (+3) over Detroit Lions