Cowboys Passing Game Should DOMINATE Injured Lions Defense | Another HUGE George Pickens Game?

Summary

Locked On Cowboys Podcast – Episode Summary

Episode Title: Cowboys Passing Game Should DOMINATE Injured Lions Defense | Another HUGE George Pickens Game?
Date: December 3, 2025
Hosts: Marcus Mosher and Landon McCool
Episode Focus: Preview of the Cowboys-Lions Thursday Night Football matchup, with deep analysis on key injuries, matchups, and playoff implications.

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Episode Overview

This episode digs into the high-stakes Cowboys vs. Lions showdown for Week 14, highlighting why this could be the Cowboys’ biggest game of the season. Marcus and Landon analyze both teams’ strengths, injuries, and schematics, laying out how the Cowboys’ high-powered passing attack matches up against the Lions’ depleted defense. The duo further delves into Detroit’s offensive troubles and how Dallas should approach defending them before finishing with predictions and playoff scenarios.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Stakes and Expectations (01:39 – 03:24)

• Nerves vs. Hope:
  Marcus opens by expressing cautious optimism about the Cowboys' momentum, warning, “It just…feels like something special is happening here, which means they'll probably get blown out by 30 and our hopes will be all crushed.” (02:03)
  Landon reminds listeners, “It's always gonna be the same until it isn't. Until the day that it isn't. So, you know, this could be the year that it isn't.” (02:51)

• Game Context:
  Both agree this is probably the Cowboys’ hardest game left on the schedule (03:20). Recent battles between Dallas and Detroit are described as “monumental,” making for a dramatic narrative given each team’s trajectory—Dallas rising, Detroit reeling from injuries.

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2. Cowboys Offense vs. Injured Lions Defense (04:36 – 11:32)

• Detroit’s Injury Woes:

  • Notable Lions defenders out: corner Teron Arnold (shoulder, out for the year), safety Kirby Joseph, and injuries up front.
  • Marcus: “Their outside corners are Amik Robertson…DJ Reed who can play in the slot and on the outside. This is a major advantage for the Cowboys offense.” (04:36)

• Big Size/Athleticism Advantage:

  • Landon: “No matter whether…you're gonna get a DJ Reed or a Robertson on CeeDee Lamb or George Pickens and, you know, not only the size advantage but the athleticism advantage is going to be pretty serious.” (06:39)

• Neutralizing Lions’ Pass Rush:

  • Marcus: “This feels like to me a game where you're chipping Aiden Hutchinson on almost every snap. You're putting two guys on him…” (07:10)
  • Landon agrees Hutchinson is dangerous but easier to isolate with other Lions d-linemen underperforming.

• Run Game and Game Script:

  • Marcus stresses importance of running on early downs to avoid ‘obvious passing situations’ (09:00), but acknowledges the Lions' interior defenders are tough.
  • Landon: “The Cowboys need to be able to run the football...but I think this very much opens up the opportunity for you to open up the run game by throwing the football.” (09:34)

• Strategic Takeaway:

  • Both foresee Dallas “attacking them through the air, loosen[ing] things up, and then just control[ling] the clock” once ahead (11:10–11:32).
  • “You're going to win this game by throwing the football because you have such strong advantages there.” – Landon McCool (11:10)

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3. Lions Offense: Key Absences & Defensive Approach (14:09 – 22:20)

• Main Offensive Weapons Out:

  • Amon-Ra St. Brown (ankle) and Sam LaPorta (back) are expected to miss, severely limiting Detroit’s playmaking (14:09).

• Cover 3 is Key:

  • Landon reveals Detroit struggles mightily versus Cover 3, both in pass efficiency and run success:
    “If you play against, if you play Cover 3, Detroit has their lowest success rate. They have their lowest EPA per dropback...and they're 2 yards per carry lighter before contact in the run game.” (14:48)

• Cowboys Defensive Line Matchup:

  • “Where they’re really struggling right now…is in the middle, interior.” (16:58)
  • Confidence in Dallas’ defensive tackles to disrupt the Lions’ depleted interior offensive line.

• Athletic Linebackers Needed:

  • Marcus highlights the need for Dallas to “put your best athletes on the field, let them… just kind of run to the football,” especially with Jameer Gibbs as a dangerous screen and space back (17:57).

• Discussion on Trick Plays:

  • Marcus expects ‘kitchen sink’ efforts from Detroit, with multiple trick plays expected given the must-win urgency for the Lions (18:56):
    “I expect multiple trick plays. This one.” (19:26)
  • Landon emphasizes Detroit is out of “a lot of great options for beating Cover 3” and could be left “playing left handed” against Dallas (19:32–20:19).

• Offensive Limitations and Game Flow:

  • Both discuss that Detroit’s offense hasn’t found its previous years’ groove—even when healthy.
  • On Dan Campbell, Marcus says: “He’s going to continue to be aggressive…on third and eight don’t give up seven yards because it automatically means they're going for it on fourth down.” (21:11)

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4. Predictions and Playoff Stakes (22:20 – 29:47)

• Game Predictions:

  • Landon: “I think the Cowboys are going to win this game…I think probably 28 to 24.” (24:44)

  • Cautions, “If Detroit gets huge chunks to Dallas on the…run game, and then it opens up things for the play-action game, it could be a really long day for Dallas as well.” (26:26)

  • Marcus “picks” the Lions for tradition, but stresses it’ll be a high-scoring, close contest (28:08).

• Extra Motivation & Revenge Factor:

  • Landon: “I don't think that everyone forgot about what happened last year when Detroit came in here and ran up the score…there are some people in that locker room that are dogs and they do not like the way things went down last year…The opportunity to put Detroit out of the playoffs at home in Detroit…that’s a nice opportunity for them.” (28:12)

• Final Matchup Recap:

  • Marcus underlines game-defining matchups: “Cowboys wide receivers against this Lions secondary and the Cowboys defensive tackles against this beat up Lions offensive line should be enough to at least keep this game close if not win it.” (28:47)

• Playoff Math:

  • The playoff context is clear: “Right now the Cowboys have a 23 percent chance of making the playoffs according to The Athletic. They lose, that number drops down to 9%. But if they win, Landon—back up to 41%.” (29:21)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “It's always gonna be the same until it isn't. Until the day that it isn't. So, you know, this could be the year that it isn't.” — Landon McCool (02:51)

• “There’s a massive size advantage here.” — Marcus Mosher, regarding Cowboys wide receivers vs. Lions DBs (06:12)

• “If you block Aiden Hutchinson, this Lions team has a hard time rushing the passer.” — Marcus Mosher (07:10)

• “You’re going to win this game by throwing the football because you have such strong advantages there.” — Landon McCool (11:10)

• “If you play against, if you play Cover 3, Detroit has their lowest success rate…lowest EPA per dropback…” — Landon McCool (14:48)

• “This is it to me. I think this is going to be one of those games where…I expect multiple trick plays.” — Marcus Mosher (19:19–19:26)

• “If the Cowboys can survive the first quarter and whether it's a, you know, one score game or they have a lead or it's tied, I think they're gonna be okay.” — Marcus Mosher (27:38)

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• Opening optimism & stakes: 01:39 – 03:24
• Cowboys offense vs. Lions D: 04:36 – 11:32
• Lions depleted offense & Dallas defense approach: 14:09 – 22:20
• Predictions & playoff scenarios: 22:20 – 29:47

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Tone & Style

Friendly, analytical, and conversational, with a mix of cautious optimism and dry humor, especially regarding the Cowboys’ long history of dashed hopes. The hosts blend objective analysis with fan sensibility, frequently referencing recent performance, advanced stats, and emotional narrative.

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Summary — For the Uninitiated

This episode breaks down why the Cowboys match up exceptionally well against a Lions team gutted by injuries, especially on defense, setting up Dallas’ passing game for a potential explosion. The hosts argue the game hinges on whether Dallas can block Aiden Hutchinson and exploit the secondary—and whether their own defense can prevent explosive runs from Jameer Gibbs. With huge playoff implications on the line, both expect an aggressive, closely contested matchup and ultimately (with Landon predicting a 28–24 win), a chance for Dallas to cash in on a battered rival—and maybe even settle an old score from last season.

Transcript

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[Marcus Moer]

The Dallas Cowboys will play their biggest game of the season in week 14. We'll tell you how they're going to get the W next.

[Locked On Podcast Network Announcer]

You are Locked on Cowboys, your daily Dallas Cowboys podcast, part of the Locked on podcast network. Your team every day.

[Marcus Moer]

Welcome back to the Locked on Cowboys podcast, part of the Lockdown podcast network, your team every day. We'd like to thank you for making us the number one sports podcast network. And today's episode is brought to you by FanDuel. Right now, new customers can bet just $5, and if your bet wins, you'll get $300 in bonus bets to use across the app. Welcome back. I am your host, Marcus Moer. He is Lena McCool. And on today's show, we are previewing the Cowboys Lions game on Thursday Night Football. We're going to talk about how the Cowboys can stop Jir Gibbs. We'll give our predictions, we'll talk about this Cowboys offense. But before we do that, Landon, I gotta say you. I mean, we've been doing a lot of podcasts together. You know that I generally don't get my hopes up with this team. Starting to feel it, buddy. Like, it just, oh, wow. It's one of these games where I feel like they can compete. I feel like they can win. And if you win this one, I. I don't know how the rest of the NFC playoff picture is going to shake out, but it'll feel like something special is happening. Here, which means they'll probably get blown out by 30 and our hopes will be all crushed.

[Landon McCool]

Listen, I, I, and I'm obviously a pretty famous hope merchant around here for sure, but I'll just say this. It's, it's always gonna be the same until it isn't. Until the day that it isn't. So, you know, this could be the year that it isn't. Who knows? But yes, and listen, I think you're, you're, we don't need to take several steps ahead to be excited about what's going on. I think if we just look at the game that's in front of us, this is probably the most difficult of the, of the remaining games the Cowboys.

[Marcus Moer]

Have, this is the hardest game the rest of the way, I think, by far.

[Landon McCool]

I think also if you just kind of contextualize it in the, in the last couple of years, like the, the, the kind of monumental battles these two teams have had, you know, one going the Cowboys way early on and then obviously being absolutely crushed like a bug underneath a boot on last season when they dropped 40 points on you. I, I think that there's a lot of kind of things surrounding this game that, you know, just between these two teams in the last few years, you add in the context of the playoff and, and, and just the way that this team has kind of turned things around for this season and for, for Detroit, it feels like it's going the opposite direction. Right. Like they have all these injury issues and obviously we'll talk about that, but it's, it's kind of turned their season sour. They, they had a tough loss on Thursday, which is kind of the opposite situation for the Cowboys. So, yeah, it does feel like you could go into Detroit and steal a game that, that maybe early in the season felt like it would be impossible for the Cowboys to win. Now I feel like you look at all the kind of key elements and again, we'll talk about it. I, I, I, I think the Cowboys maybe should be favorites to win this game.

[Marcus Moer]

They're not. Right now in FanDuel, they are three point underdogs. But let's talk about the Cowboys offense because this has been a unit that's been their bread and butter all season long. They scored, excuse me, 31 points against the Chiefs last Thursday. They put up 24 against Philadelphia. You look at this Detroit defense, it's not the unit that it was a year ago. They've had a bunch of injuries and I'll go through a couple of them right now. Teron Arnold, Their best corner, he's not going to be playing in this game. He actually just had shoulder surgery so he's out for the year. Kirby Joseph, he's not going to play in this game. He just got back to practice. He had a DNP on Tuesday. Seems like they're going to hold him out. Their defensive line, they've had a bunch of injuries there. Aiden Hutchinson still playing at a really high level, but this is a team that plays a ton of man coverage and without Tarrion Arnold, their outside corners are Amik Robertson. Rock you Sin DJ Reed who can play in the slot and on the outside. This is a major advantage for the Cowboys offense.

[Landon McCool]

Yeah. And DJ Reed himself also just coming back from an injury I think maybe two weeks ago. Like I think last week may have been his first week back if I'm not mistaken. So yeah, I mean again like a beat up secondary, you know, you mentioned it, you know, a man coverage team that has lost, you know, one of their main man cover guys and then you add in the injury to Joseph, he's, he's, you know, not going to be out there. So yeah, a beat up group that relies heavily on being able to bully wide receivers at the line of scrimmage. They don't quite have the same bullies that they had last year. So it's going to be interesting to see how they play it.

[Marcus Moer]

And that's what I wanted to mention. Amik Robertson, who I mean I know well from covering the Raiders, he is maybe 5 foot 8, he's 180 pounds. DJ Reed is another 5 foot 9, barely 180 pound corner. Those are their two starters. Their biggest corner is Rocky Sin who's been in the league for a while now. He's 6 foot 195. And that's where you would think with CD Lamb and George Pickens. Like yeah, these guys are aggressive in their physical but there's a massive size advantage here.

[Landon McCool]

Yeah, no matter whether, I mean look, they can, you know, I, I imagine they might think about doing something like Rockieson and Branch will double team Pickens. Right. And then they'll, they'll, you know, do some combination stuff. But at some point, I mean no matter what, you're gonna get a DJ Reed or you know, a Robertson on CD Lamb on George Pickens and you know, not only the size advantage but the athleticism advantage is going to be pretty serious. So it certainly is a path to victory for the Cowboys to find a way to throw the ball if they can block things up.

[Marcus Moer]

And that's going to be the key in this one because they, they have Aiden Hutchinson who played really well the last time they played him and outside of that, it's just a bunch of guys now they do have Ty Williams who was a first round pick. He's more of a run stopper. They've got some other guys that you might recognize their names including Derek Barnes, Muhammad who was on the Cowboys a couple years ago. This feels like to me a game where you're chipping Aiden Hutchinson on almost every snap. You're putting two guys on them, you're, you know, you're sending out Tyler Smith, you know, to block him on the edge like we've seen before where he kind of peels around. If you block Aiden Hutchinson, this Lions team has a hard time rushing the passer before.

[Landon McCool]

Yeah. And, and even Aiden himself is, is not quite had the, the last few weeks that, that you know, he had earlier in the season. He's, I think he's had something like, like three sacks in the last five games or something like that. So, and I think it's because that he's getting a lot of attention now. Right. So yeah, I do think that Obviously he's an incre3 defensive end in the league type player, but you know, he's only one person and, and there isn't a lot of other help for him along that line. I think McNeil is, is back, but I don't think he's being, he's not quite the same player as he was last year. I think he's still beat up from his injury and, and they're not getting, you know, elite production from Davenport on the opposite side. So it's not hard to kind of to, to, you know, get some attention his way and, and, and block it up and, and then again, like you mentioned, they play so much man coverage on the back end, they lose their top man cover guy. It's just, you know, you're chipping away at those edges that they have on defense and, and you kind of taking away a lot of what makes made that defense special at certain points this year. And, and last year.

[Marcus Moer]

One of the things I'm going to be interested in seeing is that Green Bay had almost no success running on early downs against the Lions on Thanksgiving. Can the Cowboys do it? I, I, I mean, Javonte Williams has been incredible this year. Their offensive line's a lot healthier than what Green Bay was. So if you can run the ball in early downs and get yourself into favorable down the distances where it's Second and five, second and four. And now you can use the play action. You know, you don't have to be in these obvious passing situations. The Cowboys run game is going to be massive if they want to win this game.

[Landon McCool]

Yeah, absolutely. And, and look, I mean, we. They've got DJ Reader, who's one of my favorite draft prospects of all time. You know, they've got Williams, like we've talked about, a big guy from Ohio State, the rookie. They've got bodies inside. And we've already mentioned McNeil. Right. You know, stopping the run is something that these guys can do. Jack Campbell and Anzalone are two incredible linebackers at coming downhill and, and stopping the run as well. So they certainly have the horses to do it. The Cowboys need to be able to run the football. Right. They need to be able to stay balanced. But I think this, this very much opens up the opportunity for you to open up the run game by throwing the football, get out there and, you know, throw the football on early downs, loosen things up a little bit, maybe score some points. Right. And then at that point, once you've gotten that going, you've gotten those safeties, push back a little bit, maybe you get a little bit better opportunity to run the football and kind of balance things out a little bit and try to run some clock down. Because I think, you know, it's going to be important to not only score points, but to control the clock as well.

[Marcus Moer]

This is not the most talented Detroit defense that we've seen over the last couple years, but they are very aggressive in a good way. Like, they play hard, they rally to the football. We shouldn't expect anything less from a Dan Campbell team, but I think the way that you beat them is by blocking it up and Maybe doing more 7 man protections and letting Pickens and CD try to make plays down the field. It's a lot like Kansas City where, you know, they're, they're pretty good. Everybody's a pretty good tackler. They're going to try to keep everything in front of you, but if you can beat them over the top, that's how you create explosive plays. That's how you can win this game.

[Landon McCool]

Yeah, I agree. I, I think it's. You're going to win this game by throwing the football because you have such strong advantages there. But, but you, you still need to find a way to get into situations where you can run the football as well. And again, I think this is an opportunity where attack them through the air, loosen things up, and then just control the clock. After you get some points, try to play a little bit of Keep away from the Detroit offense.

[Marcus Moer]

I have no doubt that the Cowboys offense is going to score points, but will their defense get enough stops to win? We'll get to that. This episode is brought to you by Aura Frames. The holidays are officially here, which means gift hunting season is on. And if you want something meaningful, personal and guaranteed to get a reaction, Aura Frames is the gift that delivers every single time. It's not just something that you wrap, it's a way to share memories. Because Aura isn't your average picture frame, you can preload the frame with photos before you even gift it. So when they plug it in, the memories are already there. No apps to figure out, no setup headaches, just instant smiles. I got one from my mom. She absolutely loves it. She's able to see pictures of her grandkids all day long. So effortless to upload the pictures. You can also do 30 second videos. It's so nice and it's the perfect gift for the holidays. And for a limited time, save on the perfect gift by visiting Aura frames and dot com to get 35 off or as best selling Carver mat frames named number one by wire cutter by using promo code locked on at checkout that is a U R A frames.com promo code locked on. This deal is exclusive to lockdown listeners and the frames sell out incredibly fast, so order yours today so it's in for the holidays. And make sure you support the show by mentioning us at checkout. Terms and conditions apply.

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[Marcus Moer]

Welcome back to the Lock on Cowboys podcast. We'd like to thank you for making us your first listen of the day. We'd also like to thank you for making us the number one podcast network. Let's talk about this Lions offense because as of this recording, it doesn't seem like Aman Ross St. Brown is going to play. He suffered an ankle injury against Green Bay. He did not practice on Monday, did not practice on Tuesday. It feels like even if, even if he plays, he's going to be more of a decoy or just a possession receiver. We know Sam Laporta's out with a back injury. How do the Cowboys slow down what's left of this Lions offense?

[Landon McCool]

I know this is going to be crazy to say and, and, and, and trust me, when I saw the numbers, I thought it was insane as well. You're going to play a lot of COVID three and you're going to have a lot of success against this team. It's nuts. If you look at, you know, if you split up the, the, and look at the success rates and epa, it's you, you do it by, by coverage type. And, and you look at the success that they have in cover three, which again is obviously the most prevalent coverage in all of football, but specifically what the Cowboys were playing to a, to a disgusting degree early in the season with, with very poor success. But, but Detroit itself has not had a lot of success, which is very interesting. Right? If you play against, if you play cover three, Detroit has their lowest success rate. They have their lowest EPA per drop back, they have their lowest EPA per snap and they're 2 yards per carry lighter before contact in the run game. So which, that part makes sense, right? You've got an extra guy down in the box. You know, you're applying more to the, to the run game, but the fact that they are also not able to throw very well the football against cover three. Now you also add in the fact that they'd have no Sam LaPorta that we talked about St. Brown potentially not playing in this game. They're also down their second tight end, if I'm not mistaken.

[Marcus Moer]

He has a, actually a throat injury which is very rare. It doesn't seem like he's gonna play. Yep.

[Landon McCool]

Yeah, so, so they are, they are running out of a lot of great options for beating cover three. Right. And so I think the gameplay for the Cowboys is very simple. I think at this point it's just about executing it. It's. You're gonna play a lot of zone coverage in the back end. You're not going to need to blitz. You don't want to blitz golf necessarily. He's very. He's good against the blitz. Maybe even more successful than. Than not. Right. One of those rare quarterbacks like Dak that is very much going to punish the blitz.

[Marcus Moer]

And part of it is they throw so many screens that that's the way to beat the blitz. And they've got guys even in this game with Jameer Gibbs and Jameson Williams that are really good in the screen game. You want to try to just pressure with your front four and then just.

[Landon McCool]

Rally to the football, which again, like plays right into what the Cowboys have. Right. Because the. The truth of the matter is they've got two very good offensive tackles on the outside. But where they're really struggling right now, especially with the grand opening, grand closing nature of Ragnarok's announcement. They're really struggling in the middle interior. Glasgow has not been what they needed at center the way they thought he was going to be. He's banged up and he's banged up as well. We don't even know. I think he is going to play, but we don't know. Right. And even if he does, even when he was healthy, he wasn't playing well. Considering that. What the Cowboys have a defensive tackle right now. We've obviously all been talking about that. I think the Cowboys are going to be able to play a very straightforward game plan and as long as they can execute and they should be able to limit big, hopefully the big plays in the passing game. Now the question is, can you limit the explosives in the run game? And I think that will be kind of the. One of the major deciding factors of this, of this game.

[Marcus Moer]

This is a big linebacker game. Like if Kenneth Murray and Logan Wilson struggle, honestly, I. I don't know if this could be a Logan Wilson game. Like he's just. You get him matched up in space against Jameer Gibbs and you've got no chance. I honestly wonder Landon, like maybe their best bet in this game is just to play Shamar James and demarvi and overshone. And you know, we've had our criticism of James where a lot of his tackles are coming 7, 8, 9 yards down the field, but I'm worried about those guys even be able to get Sideline to sideline. So maybe you put your best athletes on the field, let them, you know, just kind of run to the football. This is very much a first down game to me. Like if the Cowboys can win on first down and get Detroit to second and nine and third and eight, they're going to be just fine because Jared Goff has not been a quarterback that has succeeded throwing the ball down the field on those downs. But you cannot get, you cannot give up 7, 8, 9 yards on first down consistently if you want to stop this offense. And what one more thing. This is Detroit season like, yeah, even more so than Dallas. Like if you lose this game because they've got a much harder schedule, you lose this game, it's probably over for the Lions. They play the Rams next week and then I think it's the Steelers the week after that, the Bears. I believe in week 18. Like this is it to me. I think this is going to be one of those games where he almost said Ben Johnson where Dan Campbell empty is a kitchen sick. I, I expect multiple trick plays. This one.

[Landon McCool]

Yeah, I mean look, especially if they're going to be down St. Brown, they're going to be, you know, the comp.

[Marcus Moer]

Generate offense.

[Landon McCool]

They have to find a way to generate offense and it can't just be to the run game because like I said, Cowboys could just run a five man front. They take away a lot of, you know, the, the, the kind of clean reads for their duo blocks and for, you know, some of the zone read stuff and they could work it out but it's going to make it, you know, it's like playing left handed to a certain degree and then you take away their explosive plays. It's like what do they have on offense to generate big plays? Right. They are going to have to find a way to get their running backs loose like they have, you know, previously, previously in the season. And then like you said, without the, the kind of, you know, offensive weaponry on the outside. Because, because that's the other thing. Like it's not even just that they're missing St. Brown, they're missing Robertson or the Khalifa, what's his name?

[Marcus Moer]

Robertson.

[Landon McCool]

Raymond. I'm sorry, Clement.

[Marcus Moer]

I really like their third receiver who does a lot of. He's like their version of Kavante Turpin on offense.

[Landon McCool]

What's going to be interesting is to see how they deal with Jameson Williams. Like, like how they actually deploy him because I, you know, if it was Ben Johnson, I think he would know better than to try to just, you know, Put him into the St. Brown spot and then hope it works because he can't do that because he's not efficient like that. But I'm wondering if Dan Campbell does do that, like just because he's got to be got to find a way to get playmakers the ball in their hands.

[Marcus Moer]

I wouldn't be surprised, I wouldn't be surprised if it's Gibbs that's playing more out of the slot just to try to get him with the ball, you know, over the middle of the field matched up against linebackers.

[Landon McCool]

It's a precision spot, though. It's hard to, I mean, you got to run difficult routes, especially against zone coverage in the middle of the field. It's not exactly an easy run for a running back to do, even for Gibbs.

[Marcus Moer]

And we should mention, even when this Lions team has been healthier on offense, when they had Sam LaPorta, we, when they had Monroe St. Brown, it hasn't quite been the same as it's been in previous years. Now Dan Campbell's going to continue to be aggressive and that's one of the things that's going to be really important here where on third and eight don't give up seven yards because it's automatically means they're going for it on fourth down. You almost have to play third and eight third n like it's third and four to try to get the them out of these situations so they punt the ball. I'm, I'm fascinated by this game. I still think Detroit's going to score a bunch of points, but I'm hoping it's like it was last week against Kansas City where you have four stops in a row or two quarters in a row where you don't score. And that's the difference in these games where, you know, the Cowboys are able to score two touchdowns and swing a game. You know, when Detroit has three or four possessions that don't go their way.

[Landon McCool]

I think both of these offenses are going to have the ability to be explosive in this game. I think the difference is, is that Dallas can do it without being extremely risky, whereas I think Detroit's going to have to take a lot of risks and some of these matchups are going to be problematic for the, for the Lions as the game goes on.

[Marcus Moer]

All right, let's make predictions for this awesome Thursday night matchup between the Dallas Cowboys and the Detroit Lions. We'll get to that next. This episode is brought to you by FanDuel. NFL Sundays move fast. One big play and suddenly everything feels different. That's why? Live betting with FanDuel is so exciting? You're not just watching the game, you're reacting to it in real time. And with FanDuel, you can place bets as the action unfolds. Every drive, every momentum swing, every highlight moment. And live betting is the best when the game starts to shift. I mean, you guys know this. When a receiver starts to get hot like George Pickens, or when a defense gets multiple stops in a row, or with that momentum flips after a turnover, FanDuel lets you jump into the moment with live spreads and money lines that adjust instantly, player props that update as guys heat up, and you can bet next touchdown scores, drive results, totals and more. It just keeps you locked in to every single snap, every drive, in every possibility. So if you want to be right in the middle of the action this football season, visit FanDuel.com and place your live bets all season long. FanDuel the game moves fast and so can you.

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[Marcus Moer]

Welcome back to the Locked on Cowboys podcast. We'd like to thank you for making us your first listen of the day. For your second listen, check out the Locked On NFL podcast. Two shows every single day. One in the morning with Tyler Roland, one in the afternoon with Tony Wiggins. Available wherever you get your podcasts. All right, biggest game of the season for the Cowboys, week 14 at Detroit. They are three point underdogs in a game that has a point total of 53 and a half. Right now on FanDuel, who do you think wins?

[Landon McCool]

I, I think the Cowboys are going to win this game. I, I mean I, I, I don't know that I felt that way beginning of the week, right? I, I, because I would definitely remember, you know, looking at scenarios like, okay, what, what, what do they still have to do if they lose this game? Is it still possible? Like, you know, and it's obviously extremely dicey if the Cowboys lose this game. It's just, you know, you got to start stacking NFC wins at certain point if you want to even be considered some of the tiebreakers and otherwise you got to hope for a complete Eagles collapse. But as I started to dig into the numbers a little bit, I went and rebat watched that Green Bay game. You know, I just think that there are advantages that the Cowboys are going to be able to press on Detroit that I don't know that Detroit's going to be able to press the same buttons effectively. And I think that, that the key is like kind of how we ended the last segment right where I do think that, that Detroit can be as explosive and score the points that they need to, you know, to keep up with the Cowboys. But I don't know that they can do it without being extremely risky and putting the football at risk because eventually they're going to need to try to find a way to, to create explosives. In the past game and right now the interior of their offensive line and the, the wide receivers they have aren't exactly conducive to having to throw the football to score points in a lot of ways for Jared Goff, especially the way he plays. So I, I'm picking the Cowboys to win. I, I think probably 28 to 24. It, it, it really. Yeah it's. There's so many different ways this, this game could go like and it all kind of starts I think like you said how the Cowboys handled the, the Detroit run game. If they can shut it down early and cause problems, man this, this game could go to sleep very quickly. If Detroit gets huge chunks then to Dallas on the in the run game and then it opens up things for the play action game. It could be a really long day for Dallas as well.

[Marcus Moer]

It's just a fascinating game. So this is the Lions third straight home game but they've also, they've had some interesting games in the last month. So they had that game in Philly where they scored nine points. They lost 16, nine. Then they played against the Giants a game that went to overtime with Jameis Winston was being court was the quarterback and honestly Giants probably should have won that game and, and then they had the game last week against Green Bay. I, I wonder what kind of juice this Lions team is going to have after those that four game stretch where I know the Cowboys have played a lot of games in a short amount of time. So have Detroit. But they, they did have a buy more recently. So maybe they're going to be a little bit fresher in this game. They also are a lot healthier going into this one. Yeah, this is a, you know how this is there's a lot of these games that are first quarter games. Like you can just tell within the first quarter how it's going to go. And honestly, I thought last week, you know, it started out really bad for the Cowboys, but they were able to settle things down. Yeah, pretty good. By the end of the first quarter where you felt like, okay, everything went wrong for the Cowboys and yet they're still in this game. I think if the Cowboys can survive the first quarter and whether it's a, you know, one score game or they have a lead or it's tied, I think they're gonna be okay. I'll pick the Lions just because, wink, wink. Because I always pick the Lions.

[Landon McCool]

Thank you. Yeah, thank you.

[Marcus Moer]

But I do think this one's gonna be very, very high scoring.

[Landon McCool]

I think one more thing I just want to add in here before we go too, is that I don't think that everyone forgot about what happened last year when Detroit came in here and ran up the score and was definitely trying to rub it in Dallas's face. Like Dallas doesn't get viewed as a team that goes on revenge. Dallas is usually viewed as the team that is revenged upon. But I guarantee you that there are some people in that locker room that are dogs and they do not like the way things were went down last year and the opportunity to put Detroit out of the playoffs at home in Detroit, I think that that, that's a, that's a nice opportunity for them.

[Marcus Moer]

Should be fun. And again, the Cowboys have very favorable matchups on both sides of the ball. I think if the Lions were healthy it would be a different story. But the Cowboys wide receivers against this lion secondary and the Cowboys defensive tackles against this beat up Lions offensive line should be enough to at least keep this game close if not win it. One last thing, if the Cowboy Right now The Cowboys have a 23 chance of making the playoffs according to the athletic they lose, that number drops down to 9%. But if they win Landon back up to 41% which is quite the number. So we'll see. That is it for today's show. We want to thank you for making Locon Cowboys your first listen every single day. Download the podcast wherever you get your podcast. We are free and available on all platforms. Follow Landon on Twitter @mccoolbcb I'm @marcus Moer and we'll see you right back here on Thursday.

[Locked On Podcast Network Announcer]

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[Glenn Smith]

It's Glenn Smith, former Cowboys assistant coach and now analyst on the Cowboys Squad show. Expand your daily Cowboys obsession with an hour long deep dive as I team up with the best voices covering your favorite team after every game and every Thursday on Locked On Cowboys Squad up wherever wherever. You get your podcast live and on YouTube part of the Locked On Podcast network. Your team every day.