2025: Cowboys @ Lions Week 14 TNF Preview
After both teams played on Thanksgiving, Detroit (7-5) will host Dallas (6-5-1) on Thursday Night Football. As it stands, both teams are on the outside looking in, battling for the #8 spot in the NFC.
Dallas is one of, if not the hottest, teams in the NFL right now. They took down the reigning Super Bowl Champion Eagles in a sloppy, gritty 21-point comeback to get back to .500, and then, in a quick turnaround of only 4 days, beat the Chiefs on Thanksgiving.
The Lions, on the other hand, are in a bit of a rough patch this season. After losing to Philadelphia, Detroit narrowly won in a shootout vs. the Jameis Winston-led Giants, and then lost to the Packers on Thanksgiving. Detroit has also been getting beaten up.
The Lions’ injury report is full of starters – offensively, Amon-Ra St. Brown, Taylor Decker, and Penei Sewell all didn’t practice Tuesday. Defensively, the Lions had safety Brian Branch limited in practice, safety Kerby Joseph held out, and CB Terrion Arnold moved to IR! Expect Dallas to have almost everyone available – Tyler Guyton and Jadeveon Clowney were the only players who haven’t practiced this week.
Regardless of the stakes of the game, this should be the best TNF game we’ve seen all season. Both teams played last Thursday, giving them a whole week of rest going into the game. Players have time to recover/get healthy, and coaches have time to prepare.
Detroit is favored by 3, meaning that in a neutral site, the line would be close to even, but I’d expect that line to move in the Cowboys’ favor. Be sure to get your bets in early when injury designations start showing up for so many Lions on Wednesday.
Keys to the Game:
Cowboys Defense: Contain Gibbs: You have to trust your defensive line to win at the line of scrimmage. We’ve seen what some of these 5-man defensive fronts can do, and especially if you can get Clowney to play, our run defense should be pretty solid. Gibbs has been on a tear this season, and Campbell will lean on him if St. Brown can’t go.
Cowboys Offense: Target Arnold’s replacement. With CB Terrion Arnold out, Dak should be peppering his replacement with targets. Whether CeeDee Lamb or George Pickens is lined up against him, you’ve got a mismatch.
Lions Defense: Pray your guys are good to go, because Lamb and Pickens are going to feast on some second-string defensive backs.
Lions Offense: Block extra guys and let Jameson Williams run deep; he’ll beat any of our DBs if you’ve got the time.
My take: Both teams are going to be hungry, amidst very up-and-down seasons. I believe the Cowboys will win this game, but it is a serious test for our revamped defense. Dan Campbell is a smart and gutsy coach, so Schottenheimer better have some serious tricks up his sleeve. We have been disappointing on 4th downs this year, and that’s the Lions’ game. Go in there, steal a few possessions, let Dak cook, and we can leave Motown with a W.
Cowboys by three on Thursday Night.
Run. The. Damn. Table.
Go Cowboys!