The Pulse: The Cowboys' huge gamble (2024)

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Good morning! Watch out for the rim today.

While You Were Sleeping: Road wins are so hot right now

When a team returns home after winning its previous playoff series, it gets to enjoy the feeling of uniting an entire city.

Both the Minnesota Timberwolves and New York Rangers had that aura around them, heading into their respective conference finals series, which started last night.

Both situations backfired:

• The Florida Panthers went into Madison Square Garden and took a 1-0 series lead over the Rangers with a 3-0 win. Sergei Bobrovsky was a wall, and the Rangers managed just 23 shots. Narrative = flipped, just like that.
  
• The Dallas Mavericks, meanwhile, used a combined 63 points from Luka Dončić and Kyrie Irving to sneak past the Timberwolves 108-105 in front of a frothy crowd. Anthony Edwards — the Timberwolves dynamo labeled as the NBA’s next great American superstar — had just 19 points.

I can’t help but think of the Slovenian section of the Mavericks fan base, who wakes up in the middle of the night to watch native son Dončić’s games. Tim Cato wrote a wonderful (and often hilarious) story about the slow trust-building between Slovenian Mavs fans and Dallas players not named Luka. I hope they’re happy this morning.

Timberwolves fans are sure to feel salty this morning, though, after this Karl-Anthony Towns putback — which would’ve tied the game with 1:41 left — got called for an offensive goaltending:

what do yall think? pic.twitter.com/iS80x0pvoq

— MavsHighlights (@MavsHighlights) May 23, 2024

Dončić scored on the next possession and the game was essentially over.

Report Cards: Is stalling Dak Prescott a good move?

All NFL teams have started organized team activities (OTAs). Your social media feeds are littered with banal practice drills edited to look important. There’s also a lot of: “Look! New player is wearing new jersey!”

And yet reports from the ground are instructive, as offseason additions start showing how they can fit with new teams. Today in a comprehensive post, Mike Sando listed each team’s best offseason move, but I want to focus on the most important note in there — and maybe the most intriguing storyline of the entire NFL season, depending on outcomes.

Yes, we’re talking about Dak Prescott:

• He and the Cowboys remain in an awkward dance of cordiality as OTAs open. Prescott is in camp, saying all the right things (“I don’t play for money”) while his future with the organization remains unclear. To me, that murkiness is … extremely unhealthy for a team with a lot of big goals.
  
• And yet, here’s Mike on Dallas’ best offseason move(s): “Does resisting an over-the-top extension with Dak Prescott count as a move? If not, hiring Mike Zimmer as defensive coordinator after losing Dan Quinn becomes the choice.”
• Oof. Prescott could be in line for a deal hovering around $60 million per year if he gets his way. Maybe everything is copacetic, Prescott goes on an Aaron Judge-like self-bet year and the $60 million price tag becomes warranted. Or maybe the 30-year-old regresses after last year’s playoff meltdown and the Cowboys get him at a discount — or even move on. I just hope both parties are ready for questions about it every single day until it resolves.

Two other offseason picks from Mike that I found intriguing and related:

• Maybe Atlanta deserves some polite applause for significantly upgrading its QB room this offseason from Desmond Ridder and Taylor Heinicke to Kirk Cousins and Michael Penix Jr. We’ll just agree to end this paragraph there.
  
• Also: Don’t sleep on former Falcons coach Arthur Smith becoming Pittsburgh’s offensive coordinator. He inherits another funky QB room — Russell Wilson and Justin Fields — with full latitude to make an offense in his image. If he succeeds, the Steelers could be really good.

See your team’s best move here. I love optimism.

News to Know

Mahomes addresses Butker comments
Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes said yesterday he doesn’t agree with teammate Harrison Butker’s commencement speech comments last week, but added he thinks Butker is a good person and a close friend. Mahomes declined to specify which comments he found disagreeable — Butker’s speech included complaining about Pride Month and encouraging women to have children instead of careers. See the QB’s full remarks here, plus some input from coach Andy Reid.

A flurry of TV changes
We have no official word on the NBA’s forthcoming TV rights deal, but with TNT seemingly on the way out, the network has pivoted to college football. Starting this season, TNT will join ESPN in hosting College Football Playoff games, The Athletic’s Andrew Marchand reports. Apparently this move is unrelated to NBA negotiations (hmm), and these broadcasts will be produced by ESPN and feature ESPN personalities. Also: The Big Ten will air nine games on Friday nights this year. Who’s pumped for Rutgers-USC, the conference game?

More news

• Today, Louisville PD will release video of Scottie Scheffler’s arrest. Officials say the video lines up with Scheffler’s version of the incident last weekend.
  
• We might finally see the end of yardage chains in the NFL. The league is testing new tech this preseason.
  
• Pittsburgh will host the 2026 NFL Draft.
  
• LeBron James says he is rooting for Caitlin Clark. I thought his comments — especially from his perspective as a former mega-hyped prospect — were informative.
  
• More power players approved the House vs. NCAA settlement: the NCAA Board of Governors and the Big Ten.
  

Watch This Game

NBA: Pacers at Celtics
8 p.m. ET on ESPN
Indiana was so close to stealing Game 1. Is this who the Pacers actually are, a team one mistake away from beating the NBA’s best team? Or does Game 2 course-correct to the metrics?

NHL: Oilers at Stars
8:30 p.m. ET on TNT
I know the Oilers have had a break, but the Canucks series — in particular Game 7 — looked exhausting for this talented team. They head to Dallas to face a Stars team that’s won four of its last five games.

Get tickets to games like these here.

Pulse Picks

There is extreme uncertainty in the TV landscape these days (as highlighted above). No matter the future, TNT’s “Inside the NBA” continues to be an entertainment blueprint.

How did a mostly unknown high school football coach become a favorite follow for NFL personnel? Bruce Feldman has the story of Dan Casey, your favorite football coach’s favorite coach.

The NFL receiver market might have reached a breaking point. Randy Mueller explains.

I thought this story idea was so cool: How Aaron Nola and Zack Wheeler — two Phillies starters who just signed $298 million worth of contracts — watch their rotation mate, Ranger Suárez, in awe during his historic start to the season.

Brody Miller has a golf stock report halfway through majors season. The turn on Bryson DeChambeau still startles me. He’s likable now.

Our women’s soccer podcast, Full Time, is officially back with host Meg Linehan, plus a fresh format and video. Subscribe if you haven’t already.

Most-clicked in the newsletter yesterday: Jaylen Brown’s bonkers, game-tying 3-pointer in Boston’s overtime win Tuesday against the Pacers. Still cannot believe Indy blew that.

Most-read on the website yesterday: Corey Pronman and Scott Wheeler’s 2024 NHL mock draft. Enjoy.

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(Photo: Perry Knotts / Getty Images)

Chris Branch is a staff writer for The Athletic's daily newsletter. Before joining The Athletic, he covered the Phillies for The News-Journal and worked as a content strategist for various industries. He graduated from LSU, where he worked for The Daily Reveille. Follow Chris on Twitter @cbranch89