Tyron Smith RUMOR? Cowboys vs. Lions: 5 Keys to Win, Injury, Moves, Inactives, Prediction
ARLINGTON - The Dallas Cowboys need to steady the Saturday night ship with the Detroit Lions coming to AT&T Stadium as coach Dan Campbell's team will look to play spoiler - and as legendary Dallas coach Jimmy Johnson finally takes his place in the Cowboys Ring of Honor.
Dallas is on a two-game losing streak and needs to get back on track at home, a place it is let to lose at this season (15-1 dating back to the beginning of last season).
But how does Cowboys coach Mike McCarthy's team put last week's last-second loss to the Miami Dolphins behind them and take down the Lions with an army of 1990s Super Bowl champion Cowboys in attendance?
By doing five certain things.
But first, the inactives list. .. which clears up a rumor about Tyron Smith ...
Trey Lance (emergency third QB), Noah Igbinoghene, Rico Dowdle, Eric Scott , Asim Richards, Matt Waletzko and Johnathan Hankins are inactive.
Tyron Smith, 90 minutes ahead of kickoff, has been warming up, is active, and is planning on playing ... though we will of course monitor that back soreness issue.
Now back to those Five Keys.
1. Clog the Lions run game: With David Montgomery and Jahmyr Gibbs, the Lions possess a dangerous one-two punch out of the backfield. Detroit has rushing totals of 211, 159, 222, 200, 142, 185, and 143 this season as when the run game gets going, that ground game is nearly impossible to slow down.
Just twice all season have the Lions been held under 100 rushing yards as Detroit has the third-most rush yards per game (141.1) in the NFL.
Scheme? Better tackling? Something? Dallas had better stop the Lions from running wild as they are currently third in the NFL for total yards per game (394) as if they get rolling, it could be a long day.
2. Feed CeeDee Lamb: We saw last week what happens when Lamb gets targets and here, against the ninth-worst defense for pass yards allowed per game (254), Lamb needs to feast - by any means necessary.
The Lions' defense can't stop star receivers. Justin Jefferson (6/141/1), Chris Olave (5/119), Christian Watson (5/94), Keenan Allen (11/175/2), and DK Metcalf (6/75) have all had their way with Detroit's secondary.
Lamb needs targets and he needs a lot of them as the Lions can't stop the opposition's best receiver. He can't be a no-show for two quarters ever again.
3. Establish the "explosive'' run game (and Deuce?): The Lions may have only lost four games for the year, but in two of them, they got gashed on the ground. Detroit gave up 146 rushing yards to the Baltimore Ravens, and 142 to the Chicago Bears, while Chicago also had 183 against them but lost 31-26 thanks to a Jared Goff comeback.
So Detroit can struggle to stop the run. And with Tony Pollard showing some burst of late (along with Deuce Vaughn maybe getting a chance with Rico Dowdle out) the Cowboys might be able to get the Lions on the ground ... likely via some "explosives.''
4. Get those turnovers: The Cowboys' defense has now gone back-to-back games without a turnover, which is unheard of under coordinator Dan Quinn.
Against Goff and the Lions offense? DQ's gonna need them.
This may be chicken-or-egg. But ... The one positive is when the Lions turn it over, they have a tendency to fall apart, as five times they have 3+ turnovers this season.
The defense must survive Amon-Ra St. Brown (he's almost a weekly automatic for either a TD, a 100-yard game or both) and needs to force turnovers and get Dak Prescott and the offense extra possessions and downhill field position, and if they do, those takeaways might suddenly come in bunches.
5. More Better Dak Prescott protection: Dak has been sacked 14 times in the last month, and against the Dolphins, sacks at critical times hindered the Cowboys. (Oh, and Dak got hit 16 times in that game as well - a football-disaster of a number.)
With Tyron Smith looking good to go as his back issue has calmed, the Cowboys must give Prescott time to get the "Texas Coast Offense" cooking. What might work in Dallas' favor is the Lions are 24th in sacks with just 34.
If the Cowboys' offensive line can give Dak time in the pocket, there is every chance that McCarthy's 30-point-per-game offense can put up scores on this Detroit defense.
Seven times these Lions have given up 28+ points (and they lost four of those). With Dallas at home, that will surely be an achievable target.
5A. Limit stupid penalties: Last week the Cowboys again shot themselves in the foot multiple times. In a two-point defeat, it can be argued that they beat themselves as much as talented Miami did.
Penalties happen. But penalties as a result of a lack of focus and discipline should not happen. If 10-5 and playoff-bound Dallas can make that key and the others work, our Fish prediction of a Cowboys' 33-26 win can come true.
