With The Exception Of Last Year, The Cowboys Have Recently Owned The Lions

Week 14 gets started with a bang. And the Thursday night Prime Video contest between the 6-5-1 Cowboys and 7-5 Lions could challenge the all-time streaming record of 24.3 million viewers.

America's Team faces the team that recently has become America's infatuation — the long-downtrodden Lions, morphing in the blink of an eye from also-ran to running the show. And with the Cowboys recently moving in one direction as the Lions stumblebum into third place in the NFC North, the stakes are very, very high.

The recent history between the franchises has favored Dallas, with one notable exception. Last October, the Lions blew the Cowboys out in Dallas, 47-9. It carried, at the time, echoes of the 44-0 embarrassment the Landry Cowboys endured at the claws of the '85 Bears: A rousing statement game en route to a Super Bowl win.

Said Cowboys owner/G.M. Jerry Jones earlier this week on 105.3 The Fan in Dallas regarding the beatdown that happened on his 2024 birthday: “I can’t get that 40 points that they hung on us out of my mind right here at home,”

The Cowboys can return the favor tonight, because Dak Prescott and company should be able to pass at will against the Detroit secondary — even if Jared Goff and company are able to do the same to Dallas. It could indeed be a high-scoring, exciting game.

Before the most recent game, the Cowboys had beaten the Lions six straight times. In 2023, 2022, 2019, 2018, 2016, and the 2014 NFC wild-card playoffs, Dallas won.

Tonight, it's not a playoff game but it has a clear playoff feel. The winner will remain viable. The loser will be digging out of a hole over the final four weeks of the season.