Skip Bayless has spent years finding ways to be furious with the Dallas Cowboys. On Thursday morning, in his latest “First Take” appearance beside Stephen A. Smith, he said he wanted several of them executed during Sunday’s collapse to the Arizona Cardinals.
Dallas led 24-10 with 14:20 left after Prescott’s 5-yard scoring run. Arizona backup Gardner Minshew threw three touchdown passes, the last a 13-yarder to Michael Wilson with six seconds left to tie the game at 30. Chad Ryland missed the extra point, then won it with a 42-yard field goal in overtime, dropping the Cowboys to 3-5.
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The line grew out of a Wednesday session with reporters before Dallas left for Indianapolis. Quinnen Williams, the defensive tackle acquired from the Jets at the 2025 trade deadline, used “execute” 32 times in about five minutes explaining what the defense has to fix.
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“We haven’t been executing this whole season,” Williams said. “We executed for three quarters, and didn’t execute that last quarter, and the film says it all.”
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Bayless picked up on Williams’ “execute” remark and voiced his frustration.
“We became a national laughingstock once again,” Bayless said. “When Quinnen Williams, in a five-minute interview, used the word execute 32 times in five minutes.”
“And I must tell you, that during Sunday’s collapse against the Arizona freakin’ Cardinals, I wanted to execute several of my players during the game. Execute them on the field. I wanted them to be executed.”
Williams answered on X:
“@RealSkipBayless it’s extremely crazy to say you wanted players on defense to be executed. You got to do better my guy.”
The remark also landed the day before the one-year anniversary of the death of Cowboys defensive end Marshawn Kneeland, which coach Brian Schottenheimer said the team would mark privately, according to Cowboys Wire.
Skip Bayless backed Dak Prescott after Cowboys’ Week 7 vs. Eagles
Skip Bayless saw the same team very differently after Dallas beat a depleted Eagles team 38-21 on Monday Night Football on October 26. Prescott said the win could build momentum, and Bayless agreed on his show Gridiron.
“Loved what Dak just said on ESPN/ABC, ‘Momentum is real.’ We finally have a little bit; now take it home and take care of business against Arizona. We have the third-easiest strength of remaining schedule so we should be able to make some hay here going into November.”
“I’d take 9-8; that was my prediction going at the year start. Maybe 10-7, I’d take it and run with it. 9-8 could win the division; I think we are off to the races,” Bayless said.
That was a 3-4 team coming off a two-game skid, with a soft schedule ahead and a weak NFC East in reach. Dallas visits the Colts on Sunday, and neither ESPN nor Bayless had publicly addressed the remark as of Thursday.
Edited by Prasen
