The Cowboys Invade Mo-Town

This the 13th week of the NFL season finds Dallas playing for it's 12th win in Detroit. Detroit started off the year 6-2 and looked like they would prove me right when I told a few friends before the season started that Detroit would surprise a lot of people this year and make the playoffs. Well, since then, Detroit are losers of 4 straight, to drop to 6-6, including losing to Arizona by 10 points and Minnesota by a whopping 32 points. Detroit is not playing very well right now and probably have lost their best offensive threat, WR Roy Williams, for the year too. So QB Jon Kitna's guaranty, before the season started, of 10 wins is in serious jeopardy. To reach 10 wins, Detroit would have to win out and with playing Dallas, @ San Diego, KC and ending the year @ Green Bay, I really don't see 10 wins in their future. In fact I might only see 1 more win, period (when they play KC at home).

Guaranteeing 10 wins is not the only thing Jon Kitna has shot his mouth off about though. Last season, Dallas and Detroit ended their seasons by playing each other in their respective 16th game on New Year's Eve. Before playing that game, Dallas was 9-6 and had already secured a playoff spot. Detroit on the other hand was 2-13 and, overall, not a very good team. So it was thought Dallas would get an easy victory and cruise into the playoffs with a little momentum despite losing 2 of it's last three games to that point. However, Dallas gave up 362 yards to the Lions, committed 4 turnovers and lost a very ugly game 39-31. The week following that game, Kitna went on a Seattle radio station and said some disparaging things about Dallas' defense singling out LB Bradie James and CB Terrance Newman. Kitna said that #56 (Bradie James) looked lost and while they weren't afraid to throw on Terrance Newman's side of the field. Kitna said a lot more but those were the two things that got the Cowboys fired up this week. And while Kitna may have been right in what he said (Dallas gave up 306 passing yards and 4 TDs to Kitna and the Lions last year), that doesn't mean he was right in saying what he said...especially if your team finishes off the year 3-13.

So, fast forward to today. The Cowboys have the #2 offense in the NFL (#3 in passing, #7 in rushing) and the Lions have #31 defense in the league. The Cowboys clinched a playoff spot, and could be due for a letdown after winning six consecutive games. The Lions have actually played pretty well at home, where they are 4-2, but a loss today could seriously hurt their wild card chances. Even with Roy Williams out, Kitna still has a few weapons to throw to and, if Dallas doesn't get pressure on him (like last year) he will move the ball down the field. However, Kitna's offensive line doesn't give him great protection and with the extra motivation the Dallas' defense has today (because of the Kitna's comments above) I think Dallas will be able to get to Kitna early and often. And since Detroit doesn't really run the ball effectively, I expect Kitna to throw in the neighborhood of 50 passes today and I think Dallas should have 4-6 sacks by the end of the game.

I expect Detroit to score some points...just not as many as Dallas though. In the end, unless Dallas gets silly and makes all kinds of mistakes, Dallas will roll on to it's 12th win and the NFC East crown. Between Dallas and Detroit, the only team really capable of beating Dallas, is Dallas. My prediction: Dallas 34, Detroit 17.