Brett's Cowboys Corner

The Lions are well rested coming off their bye week, Dan Campbell will be vengeance to AT&T Stadium as they had a controversial loss last season, 20-19. Detroit is fresh off an NFC Championship appearance and are gaining fire power at 3-1.

The Cowboys need to be focused on stopping a powerful rushing offense and making the water look murky for Jared Goff, keeping him under pressure. Dallas lacking Eric Kendricks for this game, a team that has struggled tackling this season will be tested again. To keep Dallas afloat this season, Mike Zimmer is going to have to figure out how to fight for survival. A lot of pressure will be on the offense to keep up with Detroit, make this a close game.

The biggest factor for Detroit is Dan Campbell’s coaching style. It is rather unconventional and very high risk high reward. Now he is the main reason the team has success but at the same time it can cost them the game. A big reason the Cowboys got the victory last year was because Campbell was too stubborn to give up on the 2-point conversion.

• Making his triumph return, Bland can make you feel a lot better about your injuries and cornerback room if he can get accustom to quickly. He will likely be limited to about 25 plays, but that has room to grow if he doesn’t get gassed.
• Carl Lawson needs to show a good edge setting performance, he needs to be impactful as Goff plays terrible under pressure. But as he is the place holder for an injured Tank and Parsons, a good game from him won’t make Dallas feel they need to hit the emergency button on DEs.
• Turpin can be the ultimate x-factor, the cowboys need to be a high scoring offense this week to keep up with Detroit. Turpin had some great plays against Pittsburgh, and had a lot of motion. Need to see that again, a few deep bombs to him could take the pressure of Dak also if he sets us up with good field position on kick return.

• Aidan Hutchinson has totaled the 6th-most pressures (25) of any defender despite having played just four games through five weeks this season. This is the only real factor on the Lions DLine, handle him they don’t have a rush. Only problem is that he’s an absolute animal.
• This is the best offensive line you have played all year, they move smoothly together and play with a lot of power. They can dominate you all night, and make the Lions only have to run…which is what we don’t want.
• Williams now leads the Lions in receiving yards, and has found his footing in the offense. If they try a deep ball, this will be the guy. They will send Williams down the field about 15 yards and have him cut an in breaking route and kill you all day if you let him.

1 – Manage the Run Game.

Note that manage instead of stop is used here. There is no stopping this run game, it is a focal point of their offense, and their offensive line out powers your defensive line. I believe that to be true with or without your starting defensive ends.

Lions average 151 yards per game on the rushing attack, keeping them in the 110 range should be looked at as a win. Ultimately you can’t have those big chunk runs that you gave up against the Saints and Ravens. You have the benefit of not playing against a mobile QB this time, but there run block schemes are creative.

The offensive line as soon as the ball is snapped can push your defensive line out of the way and move to the second level. You got to keep your linebackers clean in the run game. If they are swarmed by guards and the center, they can’t make the tackle on the runners.

2 – Move Lamb Around, Get the Ball Out.

Brian Branch will play a little slot corner and is a top tier player. Kerby Joseph can stay and shadow Lamb all game for a double team. The way to avoid the safety’s is by moving Lamb around. We saw motion utilized last week, that needs to be a consistent part of the offense now.

Terrion Arnold is the rookie cornerback that is still settling in. Detroit actually traded up with Dallas this year to get Arnold, when Dallas decided to trade back and ultimately land Tyler Guyton. This maybe who you want to try and get Lamb matched up on. If not, this will be another big ask out of Jalen Tolbert.

3 – Keep the Game Close.

The key for the offense is to keep up with the scoring of the Lions. Now the Lions have not been a high scoring team all season, but their previous game against the Seahawks was a comfortable outlier. This will be a big test for the Cowboys offense, they can’t make those mistakes they made with turnovers last week. Our offense has had good moments through the season, but they have yet to have a good full 60 minutes. They will need it this week.

Another reason to keep the game close, is to make Detroit feel the need to be dangerous. They have a lot of success in their willingness to go for it. But if you can make a play defensively, you can win the game.

4 – Don’t Let Goff Be Comfortable.

Jared Goff likes to line up under center and loves the play action, he does it to get into a rhythm to deliver a great throw in the middle of the field. He routinely looks for the crossing routes but often takes the pass close to him. The Lions optimally have Goff throw around 20 times a night, make that 30+ and he’ll give you an opportunity to win.

Jared Goff has recorded a 113.2 passer rating on unpressured drop backs since 2023 (2nd in NFL) compared to a 64.0 passer rating when pressured (23rd). Goff’s 49.2 passer rating drop off when pressured is the largest negative delta in the NFL over the last two seasons. Meaning he is a hall of famer with time, and a pumpkin when pressured.

He is one of the least pressured QBs in the NFL due to his great line. But the Cowboys need to be creative and get him pressured, because he will lose a game for Detroit if he is pressured. Also don’t let his comfortable routes be open. Jared Goff has attempted a deep pass (20+ air yards) on just 5.6% of his total attempts this season, the 3rd-lowest rate in the NFL. When he does go deep it is usually to his speedster Williams, whom he has a thrown a TD. But he has two interceptions on deep balls not targeted to Williams.