Who’s winning the showdown of trolls? Not the Cowboys for sure. But Shaquille O’Neal is clinging to every sliver of hope for his favorite football team that is not on a good run. Along with back-to-back losses, the Dallas Cowboys lost their quarterback, Dak Prescott, to an injury. They were beaten by the Philadelphia Eagles, favorites of Shaq’s frenemy Charles Barkley, and there is also a new potential nemesis in Karl-Anthony Towns. So when Shaq brought his Cowboys agenda to Rich Eisen’s show, the media veteran had to give Shaq a reality check.

A day after KAT ribbed the resident Cowboys fan of The Rich Eisen Show, TJ Jefferson, again, Shaquille O’Neal appeared demanding respect for his guys. “I’m not talking to you until you show the Cowboys some respect. We’re gonna win seven games in a row and we’re still for the playoffs.” 

Jefferson was very happy with Shaq’s declaration, hollering a ‘thank you’ in the background. Eisen was still in the mood to provoke Shaq. So he showed Shaq the ‘present’ that Towns sent TJ the day before.

The new Knicks star is a diehard Eagles fan and he’s got a hilarious beef going on with the social media coordinator of The Rich Eisen Show. So when the Cowboys lost to the Eagles, a 6-34 blowout no less on Monday night, KAT was ready to troll Cowboys nation. Similar to what he did when the Cowboys lost to the Lions a few weeks ago, KAT decorated TJ’s corner in the studio with balloons in Eagles green and displayed the score in big silver balloons.

But look, Shaq’s always going to be optimistic about his Cowboys. He knows it looks bad, but he doesn’t think it can get worse. He’s confident in their playoff chances. As for KAT’s ‘disrespect,’ O’Neal took it in stride. As a fellow New Jersey product, he gets the humor. But his focus is on his Cowboys.

Shaquille O’Neal is demure after Cowboys loss

If Shaquille O’Neal was showing dignified confidence on Eisen’s show, he was insanely confident before the Cowboys-Eagles game. On The Big Podcast, he struck a bet with Adam Lefkoe on Dallas winning. To up the stakes, Lefkoe challenged Shaq to wear an embarrassing wig on Inside the NBA if the Cowboys lost.

The Cowboys were beaten, Inside the NBA aired, and Shaq didn’t follow through on the bet. Towns was trolling Cowboys Nation indirectly via TJ during that.

But Shaq tells TJ that it “can get no worse right now” for their team. The Cowboys have to win every one of their remaining games to be in playoff contention. A little difficult while their quarterback is out for multiple weeks. And Eisen implied that the rest of the league is way better than Dallas right now.

O’Neal still holds on to playoff hopes for Dallas. And perhaps he’s looking forward to sending KAT a present of navy and white balloons.