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You’ve likely heard of the hit television series Lost before. The program chronicles a plane flight that ended up on an island and people trying to survive so that they all can hopefully return to civilization, or something like that.
I watched the first few seasons one summer and was admittedly hooked, unfortunately the show lost some steam for me personally. While I didn’t get to it myself there is a scene from the show that is one of the more seminal moments in television history.
As mentioned the plot of the show is for the survivors to escape the island. Their leader, Jack Shepard, is talking to one of the other main characters in what viewers believe to be a flashback. Through their conversation it is revealed that it is a scene not from the past, but the future. Jack says that they have to go back which signifies that they do escape the island at some point. Talk about primetime drama.
We haven’t exactly traveled time or anything over the last year, but the Cowboys find themselves in a similar situation to Jack. They have to go back. They are back. They have to re-visit the wounds from a year ago in the house of the Atlanta Falcons.
You know what happened in 2017. We don’t need to re-hash it. We just have to go back so to speak. Very rarely in life do you get a chance to right a wrong like the Cowboys have the opportunity to do in a sense. Here are five bold predictions for how they’ll do that.
Dak Prescott will set a career high in rush yards, eclipsing 100 for the first time
The two best rushing performances of Dak Prescott’s career happened earlier this season (Jacksonville and New York). Both of those games were at home, so I’ll ask the class, do you know where Dak’s best rushing performance on the road so far through two and a half years came?
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Atlanta.
Prescott ran for 42 yards during what novelists will one day refer to as The Chaz Green Game, and he did so in a futile effort. We’ve seen him take some strides in the last month even in the losses to Washington and Tennessee, and it seems like the Cowboys are ready to fully trust him. They’re going to have to if they want him at his best.
The Falcons surrendered over 200 yards on the ground in total when they lost to the Cleveland Browns last week. It’s conceivable that they could get gashed not only by Ezekiel Elliott, but by Dak Shepard himself.
Leighton Vander Esch records another interception
Last week’s bold predictions here at BTB went fairly well. We hit on three of them, including Leighton Vander Esch landing the first interception of his career (who can you celebrate with a new t-shirt by the way).
Vander Esch earned NFC Defensive Player of the Week honors for his performance in Philadelphia, and he’s finding his groove at the right time. What makes things all the more fun is that he’s got a dancing partner in Jaylon Smith. Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan is clearly aware that they’re going to be an issue. He discussed them on NFL Total Access after Thursday Night Football.
They’re athletic and they’re both long. Both those guys have really good top end speed, but they’re able to run in coverage. They’re very physical when it comes to the run game and they chase sideline to sideline really well which is a good fit for what they do within their scheme. I’ve been impressed with both of them.
The Cowboys are playing the last two NFC Champions in consecutive weeks. It’s only right that their star-in-the-making linebacker continues to announce himself to the world. Right? Right? That makes sense, right?
Amari Cooper has the most yards of all Alabama receivers
One of last week’s bold predictions was also that Amari Cooper would outshine Golden Tate, and he certainly did. Did you know that the Eagles lost to the Cowboys, by the way?
This week is a game that Nick Saban would certainly like which makes it fitting that it’s at the home of the SEC Championship Game. Amari Cooper, Julio Jones, and Calvin Ridley all went to Alabama. Jason Garrett discussed them in small, medium, and large context this week. Seriously.
This Falcons defense is bad. Really bad. Obviously the Cowboys offense hasn’t been on fire this season, but they’re trending upwards to a degree while the Falcons defense continues to be bad. That’s good.
Amari Cooper has really impressed both individually and with how he’s helped those around him since joining the Cowboys. He doesn’t have an Alabama receiver opposite of him like the Atlanta ones do, but he will be the one with the most yardage in this game.
Roll Tide.
Michael Gallup will have a catch that covers half the field
In the Cowboys last three games their rookie wide receiver has had catches of 49, 21, and 25 yards. Told you Amari Cooper was helping everyone.
It’s kind of not terrible that Gallup has started to come on during the arrival of Cooper. Obviously those things are somewhat tied together, but many around here have believed for a long time that Gallup is something special. The perfect storm here is working to his benefit.
This was one of the plays that won the game for the Cowboys. Huge conversion off the Gallup screen after the sack on first down and Philly's timeout after second. The touchdown doesn't happen if not for this. pic.twitter.com/63nvUZ1n4k
— RJ Ochoa (@rjochoa) November 12, 2018
We’ve seen Michael Gallup make big plays in different ways over the last three games. Allow me to say it again... this Falcons defense is bad. Gallup is in line to have one of the better games of his young career.
I’ll also give you a not-so-bold prediction on top of this one. There will be “gallop” jokes after the catch in question. Lots of them.
The Dallas Cowboys win the game by three points
We’ve seen some great games during the week before Thanksgiving in the Jason Garrett era. That hasn’t really been the case over the last couple of years, but early on you could always count on drama in that particular window.
One of the more intense games leading up to Turkey Day came in 2013 when the Cowboys were on the road against the New York Giants. That was the game that, like many others, culminated in a last-second Tony Romo drive and Dan Bailey field goal that gave the good guys the win, 24-21.
Just like they did for that game the Cowboys enter this one with five losses on the season. That particular game was also the last time that Dallas played at the eventual home of the season in question’s Super Bowl during the regular season, the home team’s quarterback had also played in a different Super Bowl against Tom Brady two years prior just like now, so there are some fun bits of cosmic energy lining up here.
There is no math or science to this prediction, simply gut feel. We asked what you think the Cowboys record will be after Thanksgiving and the majority believe 6-5. To get there they have to get to 5-5 which means they win this game.
Let’s party.