The Detroit Lions are coming to the Metroplex Saturday night with 11 wins and just four losses.
Let’s say that again with a little different wording: the Detroit Lions are coming to Dallas Saturday night to play the Cowboys and they have 11 wins IN THE SAME SEASON.
We joke. But Texas native Dan Campbell has turned the laughers and the snickers that joked when he got hired (looking at you, Colin Cowherd) into the ones that look foolish. Campbell returns to Texas tonight (Dan Campbell brings rolling Lions home to Texas, seeking end to Cowboys’ 15-game home winning streak) with a chance to leave with win No. 12 this year, and depending upon what happens in the next eight days, the Lions could – could – even end up as the NFC’s number one seed in the playoffs.
The NFC’s best record and the first-round bye that comes with it may or may not be out of reach. But one thing no one can argue: the Lions are already the NFC North division champions, the franchise definitely has competed better under Campbell’s tenure than any coach since Wayne Fontes in the early 1990s (Campbell is 19-7 as the Lions’ head man), and who’s out there to challenge them immediately?
The Packers – maybe, possibly – a year from now? OK. Chicago? They’re not even sure if the quarterback they drafted in 2021 is their starter, let alone a franchise quarterback. The Minnesota Vikings? Quarterback Kirk Cousins is a free agent after this season, and the Vikings have holes in various places.
Detroit suddenly looks like at least the team to beat in the next two to three years in their division, if not more.
And don’t count the Lions out for that No. 1 seed, although Campbell, himself a former Cowboy, says they’re realistically aiming to claim No. 2.
“We checked the box on one thing and now it’s to the next one and so at this point, now, we’re fighting for the two seed,” Campbell said. “If you’re able to get to the one, so be it. But right now, what we know we can achieve on our own is the two and that’s no easy task.”
The Dallas Cowboys (10-5) may actually need the No. 1 seed and the home field more than any team. The Cowboys are 3-5 on the road this season.
They can’t seem to lose at home, though, and that’s not good news for Detroit. Dallas is on a 15-game winning streak at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, where they haven’t lost since 2021.
The Cowboys and Philadelphia Eagles are battling it out for the NFC East division title, each with a win over the other this season. But Dallas needs to likely win out (beating Detroit at home tonight and then beating Washington on the road) and hope that the Eagles drop a game – either at home against Arizona on Sunday (good luck with that) or at the New York Giants next weekend.
At halftime tonight, the Cowboys will have a special guest: former coach Jimmy Johnson, who led them to Super Bowl wins in the 1992 and 1993 seasons. Johnson will be inducted in the franchise’s Ring of Honor.
The game is part of “ABC’s Monday Night Football” package, which means former Cowboys quarterback Troy Aikman will be on hand for the honor.
