Dallas Cowboys 'Lifetime of Regret!’? Fish Top 10 Predictions at Cardinals

Micah Parsons’ speech to the Dallas Cowboys - “Is the price of discipline worth a lifetime of regret?” - especially resonates this week as part of Mike Fisher’s Top 10 Predictions at Arizona.

Dallas Cowboys leader Micah Parsons said something to his teammates back in training camp in Oxnard that especially resonates here in Week 3 … and it’s a pivot point in Fish’s 10 Predictions for Dallas at Arizona on Sunday …

1 - That Parsons presentation to teammates can essentially be boiled down to 10 words: “Is the price of discipline worth a lifetime of regret?”

That’s deep-thought stuff from this young man, and this week? The “discipline” is mental.

The anger over the season-ended injury to Trevon Diggs? The sadness? The challenge is to funnel it in the way Diggs would wish: With a focus on the Cardinals … so there are no regrets.

Micah and Diggs of Cowboys

2 - This Cowboys defense wants to be “historically” great. So far? Mission accomplished, as Dallas is outscoring their first two opponents, 70-10. The +60 margin of victory is the highest margin of victory through the first two games in franchise history since 1968.

The Cardinals are  in awful shape. This is a no-TD-allowed game waiting to happen. And coordinator Dan Quinn’s guys will be “pissed off” if that mission goes unaccomplished here.

3 - Sunday will be quarterback Dak Prescott's 100th game played. Prescott is fresh off completing 31-of-38 passes for 255 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions vs. the Jets. Dallas is one of five teams in 2023 without a turnover through two games.

Keep up that level of ball protection and maybe, as Dak quipped, it won’t take “another 100 games” to achieve his Super Bowl goal.

4 - Maybe Week 3 will mark Michael Gallup’s “turn.” But how can there be complaints about an aerial game featuring CeeDee Lamb?

We’ve written a great deal about how the “Texas Coast Offense” is in part about yards after the catch. And?

Impressively, through the first two games, Lamb has accumulated 137 of his 220 receiving yards when running after the catch.

Dak, McCarthy and Lamb of Cowboys

CeeDee, by the way, has cleared 100 yards and/or scored a touchdown in 11 of his last 14 games. … meaning critics should quit “waiting for him to arrive.” He’s already here.

5 - The Dallas defense looks to get after journeyman backup Josh Dobbs, who’s been thrust into the starting job in place of the rehabbing Kyler Murray. Dobbs’ biggest problem? His go-to weapon is tight end Zach Ertz, who is averaging a paltry 4.3 yards per target. That’s no way to beat Dallas.

6 - Concerns about Dallas’ offense in the red zone? Even team owner Jerry Jones has given voice to that. But …

Dak Prescott leads the league in red-zone pass attempts. Tony Pollard leads the league in carries inside the opposition’s 10. Jake Ferguson leads the league in targets inside the 10.

That many bites of the apple suggests that at some point, these fellas are gonna feast.

7 - Speaking of Pollard, after he totaled a career-high 32 touches in last Sunday’s 30-10 crushing of the Jets, I think we’re done with the “bell cow” question.

Said coach Mike McCarthy: “He has incredible endurance, he’s built for it.”

Having said that: I bet by the fourth quarter of this game, Hunter Luepke and Deuce Vaughn will get the chance to tack on numbers in a blowout.

My only problem with this prediction? The Dallas offensive line is limping its way into Arizona, with Tyron Smith, Zack Martin and Tyler Biadasz all ailing. Game-time decision stuff there as each of them is "questionable.''

8 - I saw somebody on national TV say, “Well, DaRon Bland is no household name.” Hey, I know it’s “America’s Team” and all … but no. All 53 guys are not going to be “household names.”

Or, in the case of the young playmaker Bland, maybe it’s better to say … “yet.”

9 - Why any offense ever puts a single blocker on Parsons cannot be explained. But if the Cards do it? And maybe even if they full-time double-team him? That “Dallas CrawlBoy” sack act probably still happens.

Micah parsons cowboys crawl 

10 - I believe the Cowboys will find themselves inspired instead of depressed in the wake of the Diggs loss. “Complacency”? McCarthy has warned against it all week … 

Fish Score Prediction: Cowboys 37, Cardinals 6

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