The Dallas Cowboys and Tennessee Titans are desperately chasing division titles as the regular season winds to a close.; How both teams will approach obtaining those division titles will be vastly different as they prepare to face each other on Thursday Night Football. Dallas (11-4) still has some hope of a second straight NFC East title with the Cowboys needing to win their final two games with Philadelphia losing both of their remaining games. The only way the Titans (7-8) can win a third consecutive AFC South title is by beating the Jaguars in Jacksonville in Week 18. Whether Tennessee wins or loses against Dallas is inconsequential. Surviving Thursday night as healthy as possible is Tennessee’s top priority so if coach Mike Vrabel wants to rest as many of his Titans as possible, that’s just fine with the Cowboys.
Dallas has won five of their last six, including a 10-point comeback last week for a 40-34 win to keep Philadelphia from clinching home-field advantage throughout the postseason in the NFC. The Cowboys have already secured a postseason berth. Mike McCarthy has successfully accomplished what no Dallas Cowboys head coach has done in nearly 30 years…lead the team to back to back playoff appearances and double digit wins. McCarthy and the Cowboys still have a slim chance at a division title and even the number one seed in the NFC. For that reason, the Cowboys will be playing to win.
The banged-up Titans lead the NFL for a second straight year in having used 82 different players, including 27 different starters on defense, and a season-high 10 rookies last week. They’ll be without veteran quarterback Ryan Tannehill again with rookie Malik Willis getting his second consecutive start and fourth this season. The Titans will also likely be without All-Pro running back Derrick Henry, who is currently second in the NFL with 1,429 rushing yards and tied for second with 13 rushing touchdowns. Henry appeared on the injury report this week with a hip injury, and being listed as doubtful. With Tennessee having nothing to play for, it is a virtual certainty that he will be watching from the sidelines on Thursday night. Henry needs only 71 yards and two TDs rushing to become the first player in NFL history with at least 1,500 yards rushing and 15 rushing TDs in three seasons in his career. Henry did it in 2019 and 2020. He should get an opportunity to achieve those goals in the regular season finale against Jacksonville. The Cowboys will probably hold out Tony Pollard in this one but Ezekiel Elliott should start and rookie RB Malik Davis should also contribute.
The Cowboys defense will certainly be relieved to not have to worry about Henry and vaunted Titans running game. The Cowboys defense may want to focus on the pass rush. They have only recorded one sack in the past three games and have dropped to third in the NFL after leading the league in sacks for most of the season. The only sack in that stretch was by Micah Parsons, who is currently fifth in the league with 13. The Cowboys pass rush has been neutralized recently as opposing teams have changed their approach and are getting the ball out quickly. Malik Willis is a duel threat quarterback who can hurt the Cowboys with his legs. I would expect the Titans to follow the blueprint of quick passes, play action, screen passes, and involving the quarterback in the running game which has proved successful for other teams.
The Cowboys banged up defense has regressed from their early season dominance but the offense has come alive since the return of Dak Prescott. The Cowboys offense has been especially potent in the final quarter and the team has outscored their opponents 127-61 in the fourth quarter. The Titans are averaging a mere 2.4 points in the final 15 minutes this season where they’ve been outscored 71-37. They were shut out in their most recent game. It didn’t help that the Titans turned the ball over on three of their final four possessions. Dallas on the other hand leads the NFL with 30 total takeaways. I expect that the Dallas Cowboys will come through with a relatively easy victory against the Titan’s reserves and that defense gets to the quarterback and forces multiple turnovers.
Final Prediction: Dallas Cowboys 35 Tennessee Titans 14
*Photo by Joe Glorioso https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/legalcode
**All Data and statistics obtained and verified through https://www.pro-football-reference.com/
We’ll I’m a big Cowboys fan, but I have to be honest, as long as we hav Dak we will never make it to the superbowl, I’m just being real, he is at best a mediocre quarterback we need to find a elite quarterback so we have a fighting chance. My opinion.
Well, if I said it once I’ll say that thousand times if you don’t get rid of Dak Prescott, Dallas will not be in any Super Bowls anytime soon we need a great quarterback, not a mediocre, quarterback even though the defense looked bad Jack should be able to pick up the slack which he can’t so it’s time to part ways with him so we can move on and when I Super Bowl