Reid Kerr

This is the weirdest week of the regular season. In some places it’s the biggest game of the year, in others, it’s a week 18 preseason game. I’ll take a look at the matchups that matter in a second, but first, a little bit of history.

Quick explanation, I had a gig last Saturday night, so I wound up putting on the Cowboys-Lions game after midnight, and I watched every moment of Jimmy Johnson’s induction into the Cowboys Ring of Honor.

I’m not a Cowboys fan, but I cut my teeth covering the Cowboys in the 90’s as a young radio sportstalk host. I covered the end of the Johnson era, leading into the Switzer years. But before that, I was a college kid and huge NFL fan watching that Cowboys team get built. For people too young to recall, let me spell it out for you.

Once upon a time, the Cowboys were a joke, and not a particular funny one.

The Tom Landry era (Wikipedia it, kids) had petered out at 3-13, and some Arkansas bumpkin had bought the team, traded the only player anyone knew, and hired a college coach that went 1-15.

But then, things started to change. A year at 7-9 and close to the playoffs, then 11-5 and a playoff loss. They were turning the thing around, as Jimmy’s eventual book would be titled.

And in 1992, things got absolutely crazy. They went 13-3 and won the NFC East title. Everybody got a Cowboys jersey for Christmas. We started using the phrase “The Triplets.” An injured Bill Bates threw a pep rally at his ranch before the playoff win over the Eagles, and the place was wall-to-wall Cowboys fans from all over the state. The next week was the 49ers, and the guarantee, and the line that would become a part of Cowboys lore forever.

It was honestly an amazing time, like all of Texas (except for Houston) had become one huge college town, and they had loved their team from scrappy underdogs all the way to the biggest game in the world. Cowboys gear was everywhere you looked. I was working at a baseball card and comic shop, and our owner, the late great Joe Frank Metcalf, drove from Carthage to Dallas one morning and bought all the Cowboys t-shirts and hats he could find from any store, vendor, or dude on the side of the road. We sold out as fast as he could unload the truck.

That Cowboys run was special, for about two years. Things are different now, everywhere. Fans are jaded, and the Cowboys haven’t won a Super Bowl since January of 1996. And to Cowboys fans, that’s a travesty, but you know who else hasn’t won a Super Bowl since then? Most teams. You don’t think Cardinals fans would sell their children to have won three Super Bowls in four years, even if it meant falling off the radar? The Cardinals were actually in a Super Bowl, and no one remembers it.

Last Saturday night, it was 1992 again. The players who electrified an entire state were on the field, laughing and celebrating one more time together as their coach finally got his spot in the Ring of Honor. And fans were taken back to when that was their team, the little engine that could, putting the shine back on the star.

Pro sports don’t really engage much in nostalgia, because there’s no money in the past. They want you thinking that right now is the greatest time ever, so you can see headlines like “Brock Purdy sets 49ers record for passing yards” and not laugh your head off at the inevitable comparisons.

But for one night, in a nationally televised game, the NFL showed us the joy of remembering those moments. And everyone waited for Jimmy Johnson’s final line, one more time.

Time for my picks. Last week, I went a perfect 6-0, but still 3-3 against the Vegas spread. In my defense, I thought the Panthers would rally to score at least one point. Lesson learned there. I’m now 66-38 on the season, and 50-47-4 against Vegas overall. As a public service, remember a lot of teams will be resting starters, so this week is guaranteed to produce weird results. As always, these are for the purposes of comedic discussion only. No wagering.

Dallas (-13) at Washington: That 13-point spread in this game says a lot about what people think of the Cowboys, and also about Ron Rivera’s employment status come Monday.

Pick: Cowboys to win and cover, winning by 14 or more points.

Houston (-1.5) at Indianapolis: Somehow, this Week 18 game for a playoff spot is the first time this entire season the Texans aren’t playing at noon on a Sunday.

Pick: Texans to win and cover, winning by two or more points.

Denver (+3) at Las Vegas: Has any quarterback ever had a borderline Hall of Fame career while also being run out of town twice? I thought that only happened to wide receivers.

Pick: Raiders to win and cover, winning by four or more points.

Minnesota (+3.5) at Detroit: My prediction on this one, look for the Lions to declare every single player on the roster eligible on every play until the refs get it correct.

Pick: Vikings to win it outright.

Atlanta (+3) at New Orleans: This game is basically “Beat up on your hated rival, and pray Tampa Bay’s starters get on the wrong bus on the way to play Carolina.”

Pick: Saints to win and cover, winning by four or more points.

Buffalo (-3) at Miami: The way everybody says “The Bills are the team no one wants to play in the playoffs” implies there is a list somewhere of teams everyone wants to play in the playoffs. And right now, Miami might be close to the top of it.

Pick: Dolphins to win it outright.

I’ll also take the Browns over the Bengals, Seahawks over the Cardinals, and Michigan over Washington. Good luck everybody.

Reid Kerr doesn’t have time, so let’s just pretend he made a long-winded social media post about changing things in the new year, and then he just never mentioned it again. You can always tweet questions, comments, and angry messages to him at @reidaboutit.FS