This is For The Win’s daily newsletter, The Morning Win. Did a friend recommend or forward this to you? If so, subscribe here. Have feedback? Leave your questions, comments and concerns through this brief reader survey! Now, here’s Mike Sykes.
Good morning, folks! Thanks so much for reading the Morning Win today! We appreciate you.
I woke up this morning from a turkey-induced stupor trying to figure out what I wanted to write about today for this column. And I’ll get to something serious in a second — we’ll talk about the top of the NFC. But I couldn’t stop thinking about Dak Prescott eating turkey legs while dismantling the Commanders.
The dude threw for four touchdowns in a 45-10 route that was honestly close for a while in the third quarter before Dallas blew the roof off of this one.
You know how every MVP has a moment during the season where you realize “yeah, that guy is definitely going to win MVP this year?” Dak Prescott had his yesterday.
No, it wasn’t a single one of the four touchdown passes he threw. It was the moment he picked up a turkey leg and chewed it in the Commander’s face.
Look at this, man. This is a man without a care in the world. This is what he thinks of you, Washington.
Magic Johnson has to do something about this. Y’all can’t keep going out like this, Washington. Dak is out here treating y’all like you’re not a real football team. It’s not right.
Speaking of Dak, he’s now leading the league with 23 touchdown passes and a 107.3 passer rating. Those are definitely MVP numbers. If he wants that, he’ll have to earn it the rest of the way. The Cowboys’ schedule is tough.
If he treats the MVP trophy like he did that turkey leg then Cowboys fans will be happy at the end of the season, for sure.
Speaking of…
The NFC is still close
- Eagles (9-1, No. 1 seed)
- 49ers (8-3, No. 2 seed)
- Lions (8-3, No. 3 seed)
- Cowboys (8-3, No. 5 seed)
With all due respect to the Saints, who are technically the No. 4 seed in the conference as the division leader in the NFC South, this is not a conversation that involves New Orleans.
The Eagles are 9-1, but the Cowboys, 49ers and even the Lions are trailing at 8-3 just waiting on Philadelphia to slip up a little bit. If they do, that No. 1 seed is in play.
The Eagles are still in a good position at 9-1 with an easy schedule coming up finally. But it’s going to get tight, folks. We might be in for a photo finish.
DK Metcalf is so petty
This dude actually learned sign language just so he could trash talk opponents without getting flagged.
My guy Charles has more here:
“Did you notice the motions Seattle Seahawks receiver DK Metcalf made in Week 11 after scoring a touchdown over the Los Angeles Rams?
They were deliberate, because … he was speaking American Sign Language.
As Metcalf told Rich Eisen around the 30-second mark of the video below, he starting taking ASL classes on his off days because he was tired of getting flagged by officials. And sure enough, fans figured out that Metcalf signed, “44, my son,” after scoring because he was telling No. 44 on the Rams — cornerback Ahkello Witherspoon — that he had burned the defensive back.”
Learning how to sign is always a good thing. But to do it for this reason? It’s the best. We should probably expect nothing less from the dude who created the most disrespectful celebration in college football, though.
and six years ago today, dk metcalf set this whole thing in motion https://t.co/OgoAaVVcys pic.twitter.com/cniPS6BsLw
— Brian Floyd (@BrianMFloyd) November 24, 2023
Never change, DK Metcalf. Never change.
Photo Friday: DaRon Bland making NFL history
DaRon Bland broke the NFL record for pick-sixes in a single season with his 5th this year against the Commanders. This was the moment he did it.
Don’t just look at Bland go — look at the Cowboy’s sideline. They realize they’re watching history.
That’s a moment, folks.
READ MORE: Jim Nantz’s call on Bland’s pick-six is so perfect
Our most thankful readers
On Wednesday I asked you all to share what you’re thankful for with us and we got some really good responses. I wanted to share a couple of them here.
First, here’s one from a lifelong Patriots fan that I thought was really touching:
“Being a lifelong Patriots fan, born in 1959, I never had any high hopes of them winning a Super Bowl. I drove 550 miles round trip from Central Maine to Foxboro in the 80’s for more than 40 consecutive games.5 years of that I held season tickets. I got married, work got in the way, so I gave them up. After getting their 6th ring, I jokingly told my wife ,”I’ll be glad when they suck again so they’ll play mostly Sundays at 1:00 pm. Too many prime time games”. Be careful what you wish for. At my age, there’s a good chance I’ll never see another ring. I’m thankful for all the rings they have won.”
Here’s another from a fan who was really happy about a lot of things, but the complete answer was a bit too long so I had to cut it short (I’m sorry! I still loved it!) But this reader said they were most thankful for Notre Dame’s win over USC.
“Notre Dame destroying USC! The Fighting Irish’s seasons are always full of ups and downs, and even though we couldn’t finish the job against Ohio State, ruining the Trojans’ playoff hopes just put a smile on my face, even though Notre Dame would strangely lose to Clemson three weeks later.”
The same reader also gave us this really cool anecdote about learning to love the NBA and discovering Nikola Jokic.
“Nikola Jokic and the world finally getting to see his mastery. Again, I hadn’t watched much NBA until last season, but I just saw this one dude stuffing the stat sheet every night and going “who is this guy?” The Finals MVP with stud point guard Jamal Murray gave us lots of highlights throughout the playoffs as they ran the table in an underdog story. It was awesome.”
Thank you for your submissions, folks! I appreciate you. This was awesome. I love how much you all love sports, man. This is the stuff that keeps us going here at FTW.
I’d actually love to keep this going beyond Thanksgiving, so if you’d be interested in us maybe sharing your favorite sports story or what you’re thankful for, you still can submit that here! We’ll get some in for a section next week if we get enough.
Quick hits: The Egg Bowl was the weirdest thing ever … How to watch Friday Night Football … and more
— Were you confused about Mississippi State’s Greg Knox riding out to the Egg Bowl on an ATV? Me too. Don’t worry. Cory Woodruff explained it for us.
— Here’s Charles Curtis with a friendly Black Friday reminder that you don’t need Amazon Prime to watch the Dolphins-Jets game tonight.
— Here’s the College GameDay schedule for the weekend, folks! We’re in for a great one.
— Fans roasted Jack Harlow for his performance at halftime on Thanksgiving. I’m thankful for that. Here’s Robert Zeglinski with more.
— Speaking of halftime performances, Dolly Parton >>>>> Here’s more from Cory Woodruff.
That’s a wrap, folks! Thanks so much for reading the Morning Win. We’re thankful for YOU. Have a fantastic weekend. Peace.
-Sykes ✌️