Saturday, 4 a.m.
Dallas had Roger Staubach. Tampa Bay had Josh Freeman.
Dallas had Emmitt Smith. Tampa Bay had Lars Tate.
Dallas had Michael Irvin. Tampa Bay had Alvin Harper (who it got from Dallas).
So, yeah, Dallas has a better history. No doubt about it.
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But here’s the thing, History will have nothing to do with Sunday night’s game.
Fans confuse this all the time. Just because Dallas was a terror in the days of 14-game seasons and black-and-white television doesn’t mean anything. How much Cooper Rush (America’s quarterback?) can take advantage of the Bucs’ secondary does.
Oh, be honest, Dallas is coming off a solid win over Carolina. Carolina isn’t very good, but the Panthers have been playing well lately. That’ll get your attention.
But a good team does away with an opponent such as Dallas. Sure, there are players such as CeeDee Lamb who can hurt you. But Tampa Bay is coming off a solid win in San Diego. Dallas isn’t as good as San Diego. So if the Bucs can run at all, and if they protect the ball, they should win.
Prediction: Tampa Bay 30, Dallas 23.
In other NFL games:
Pittsburgh 24, Baltimore 20.
Philadelphia 27, Washington 14.
Atlanta 24, N.Y. Giants 13.
Carolina 16, Arizona 13.
Green Bay 31, New Orleans 21.
And in college football:
SMU 18, Penn State 17.
Texas 27, Clemson 23.
Ohio State 28, Tennessee 20.
San Jose State 21, USF 17.
West Virginia 20, Memphis 14.