Cowboys schedule: Predicting the outcome of all 4 remaining games

Week 17: Detroit Lions @ Dallas Cowboys

Saturday, December 30, 7:15 PM ET

Dan Campbell and the Detroit Lions make their way to Detroit just before the New Year, and by this point, we may have an absolute battle to the finish line in terms of these teams battling it out for playoff seed positioning.

The Detroit Lions already have four losses, so jockeying for positioning with Dallas could be tough, but it's also possible that each of these two teams has four losses going into this matchup. Thankfully for the Cowboys, this one is being played at home.

The Lions have been getting reckless with the ball a little bit as of late. They have also been susceptible defensively ever since their bye week five weeks ago. Over the last five games, Detroit is averaging 29.8 points allowed per game. That type of inefficiency defensively is simply not going to cut it, especially against the No. 1 scoring team in the NFL.

I think this is a "relatively" easy game for Dallas with the way Detroit is currently playing. Could the Lions show something over the next couple of weeks to change that opinion? Absolutely, but I'm not banking on it at this point in time. I think the Cowboys will win this one by 10 points and make sure the rest of the NFC knows that they are for real with back-to-back convincing wins over quality teams like Miami and Detroit, on top of that win against the Philadelphia Eagles.

If the Cowboys can go 2-1 in this particular leg of the gauntlet, I think they'll be in outstanding shape for the final week of the seaosn.

Prediction: Cowboys win 34-24