MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE? Q&A BUILDS ON COWBOYS SUPER BOWL ODDS PODCAST

With Mission Impossible: The Final Reckoning upon us, Dawson and Newbear hopped into a discussion about the Dallas Cowboys Super Bowl odds against the incomparable action series.

Their idea—which you can watch below—was simple:

If films I, II, and III represent the dynastic run of the 90s, how do Ghost Protocol, Rogue Nation, Fallout, and Dead Reckoning apply to this year’s version of America’s Team?

And who will take star turns on the gridiron like Tom Cruise, Ving Rhames, and Simon Pegg in 2025?

(Getty Images/Greg Crisp) 

As that thrilling podcast captured all of that and more, the energy spilled over after the cameras stopped rolling.

Newbear: I was flabbergasted when we got into the podcast by this little admission of yours. You’ve never watched any of the Mission: Impossible movies?

Dawson: Tom Cruise is the most overacted actor of all-time and it’s asinine that he’s so old now but still pretending to be a badass. I can’t suspend disbelief enough to believe in him as the hero. The only thing worse is John Wick.

Newbear: But you watch every Dallas Cowboys game on the edge of your seat and for fifteen years it’s played perhaps the leading role in your professional life. I’m over here being the optimistic one as usual, leaning more toward Michael Irvin’s 12-5 prediction…but you’re not feeling this team right now. Why?

Dawson: In Dallas, it’s almost a competition: who can be more cynical about the Cowboys?  And I think those are the smart people—the others are suckers. I want to beat the drum of the for-profit business the Jones family is way more interested in than actual on-field competition. It’s important that people see what the Cowboys are doing and how foolish it would be to believe anything else. I want to watch then win every week—I want everyone to watch and I want them to win every single game. At the same time, we need to passionately deliver truth-in-message to the fans. AT&T is always a party, and people are having a good time wanting to cheer on a Cowboys victory. What I like is how they do it in Europe where the fans show up and chant (for) what they want (from ownership). I love passion, and I think what’s happened with sports over the last 30 years is that the TV money has totally detached teams from their fanbases. Owners are drunk on the money of pro sports, and that keeps them from being able to get back to what it was in the beginning: competition. Specifically, kicking that Eagles ass.

Newbear: So they have the defending-champion Eagles right off the bat, Week 1 in Philadelphia on Thursday night—those bright NBC lights with the whole world watching. The Eagles will be hanging a banner and basking in that bling off their Super Bowl rings and most of the experts will be predicting a walkover dub for the home team. Why can’t Dallas go into Philly Week 1 and shut everyone up? Do you expect zero Super Bowl hangover from the Eagles in this new era where the preseason ramp up means less than ever—I mean…why can’t it be another odd year in Philly?

Dawson: Sure, if Saquon Barkley gets hurt in training camp or something like that. Look, the Eagles have lost enough players that maybe they’re not the same juggernaut. Jalen Hurts is back to being the most overrated quarterback in the NFL. People seem to forget that 2023 wasn’t great for him—a lot of those same people acknowledged Dak as the better quarterback at the time. Yeah, they won the Super Bowl…but Saquon took so much pressure off the passing game. You had Kellen more feeding that beast, but now they’re changing offensive coordinators—

Newbear: So what would a Cowboys win in Week 1 signify (to you) then?

Dawson: Great question. If Dallas goes into Philly and wins Week 1, to me that just means the Eagles are becoming average way more than the Cowboys are ascending to their level. And once again we’ll be looking at a different leader in the NFC East, which has been the case with a yo-yo effect for the better part of two decades.

Newbear: Opening on a Thursday night equals a long week heading home and welcoming the New York Football Giants for Week 2. Then it’s the Chicago Bears, Green Bay Packers, New York Jets, and the Carolina Panthers. I’m looking at Week 1-6 thinking the Cowboys not only can but should—and maybe even have to—be at least 4-2. Beat the Eagles out the gate and that ups the ante to 5-1. If something like that happens and they’re heading into Week 6 with the Washington Commanders coming to Arlington, does your opinion change or do you simply expect this team to fall apart no matter what?

Dawson: It depends on how they (would) win those games. Four of those opponents are so bad that if it’s a bunch of 23-20 or 20-17 nailbiters and ugly 17-13 slugfests, then I still think they are who they are. I need to see that the offense has been fixed and can actually be explosive and that they can stop the run. By November, if they have a healthy combination of Diggs, Bland, and Revel, then they should be able to compete with anyone in the passing game. So I’m way more interested in whether that (defensive) front has adjusted to what (defensive coordinator) Matt Eberflus wants them to do and if that Jekyll-and-Hyde is gone. If you can beat the Packers and you’re sitting there at 4-2 or 5-1, especially considering how Green Bay ran all over you in the 2023 playoffs…then yes, I will flip and ride as Cowboy Gavin through the streets on my majestic steed.

Newbear: If the opposite happens and they stumble out the gate. If it’s embarrassing and you can see how much they still have to improve to get to the Eagles level or they come home licking their wounds and drop one to the lowly Giants. If they’re something like 2-4 looking up at the rest of that schedule ahead—

Dawson: That’s actually the best-case scenario. At 2-4, I’m thinking, “Sweet!” Now you have a chance at a Top 10 and maybe even a Top 5 pick opportunity to get the next QB. If you’re struggling that much, then Dak is likely playing like he did in the first half of last year before the injury—and maybe he’s injured again. Pickens hasn’t taken the pressure off the running game, no one in that running back room has taken the reins, and it gets ugly fast.

Newbear: How would that make you feel about 2026 and beyond?

Dawson: Back-to-back seasons inside the Top-12 with the NFL Draft? As long as you don’t break down and become an absolute dog of a franchise, there’s just such a huge difference between the Top 10 and the Top 25 or the end of the first round. When I look back at the likes of Taco Charlton, Mazi Smith, Tyler Guyton, and Byron Jones, the Cowboys picks in the 20s usually don’t work out at all. When you talk about them from 9 to 19 or higher, they almost never miss.

Newbear: I’m still way more optimistic, and way more importantly, I wanna live in a world where Cowboys Nation gets to see you having to go get your little girl a pony.