Clarence Hill: Why the Dallas Cowboys have all the edges vs. the Detroit Lions Sunday
Immediately after the Dallas Cowboys (4-2) endured a huge emotional loss on the road against their NFC East rival Philadelphia Eagles, reporters began asking a team about the rematch on Dec. 24.
Now the Detroit Lions are coming to AT&T Stadium on Sunday with a 1-4 record, including a 29-0 shutout by the New England Patriots in their game before last week’s bye?
Does this have the makings of a trap game for the Cowboys?
Not a chance, according to running back Ezekiel Elliott.
“I think just the leadership we have in this locker room that you don’t have to worry about that with these guys,” Elliott said. “I think our leaders, we’re all hungry. We’re not going to let those guys get complacent. We’re coming off a loss. I think it’s kind of a weird to come off a loss on prime time to come into a Sunday noon game lackadaisical. We still have a lot to prove. We still got to win this division. Right now, it’s a little bit of an uphill battle, but we’re going to have to scratch and claw our way out of it.”
Coach Mike McCarthy agreed and said the Cowboys need to put extra focus on the Lions because they are uncommon opponent, irrespective of their record.
“I don’t view it as a trap game,” McCarthy said. “This is an offense that has had an extremely productive season so far. If you look at their players and offensive line, the running backs, the perimeter, the quarterbacks, this is an extremely challenging offense for us. Then you dive into their defense and they’re doing some things unique on defense that we haven’t seen much of this year, and special teams may be the best unit we’ve competed against this year. So that’s the reality of this league. We don’t fall into the trap of looking at their record.”
So who has the edge:
Cowboys offense vs. Lions defense
If there was ever a good opponent for Cowboys QB Dak Prescott to come back against it’s the Lions and their defense that is the worst in the league. The Lions don’t do anything well on defense. They can’t stop the run, ranking 32nd in the NFL, while giving up 167.6 yards per game. And they only marginally better against the pass, ranking 26th.
The Lions have only six sacks on the season. The Cowboys will certainly will lean on the running game as they have all season and with good reason against the Lions. But Prescott will make plays in the passing game to get his timing and rhythm back.
Edge: Cowboys
Cowboys defense vs. Lions offense
Don’t let the 29-0 blanking to the Patriots fool you, the Lions offense has been the best part of their team. Their offense ranks second in the league, including eighth in rushing and seventh in passing. They average 28 points per game to rank third. And the Lions are getting receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown and running back D’Andre Swift back for the Cowboys.
The Cowboys defense must stop the running of Swift and Jamal Williams. That is what teams will attack to avoid facing the Cowboys pass rush. Lions quarterback Jared Goff, however, is the gift that keeps on giving if the Cowboys contain the Lions on the ground.
Edge: Cowboys
Coaching
Cowboys coach Mike McCarthy didn’t have a good performance in last week’s 26-17 loss to the Eagles. He put the team in a bad spot by not challenging a call and then going for on fourth down deep in his own territory. But was anomaly for McCarthy this season as he has consistently pushed all the right buttons.
Contrast that with Lions coach Dan Campbell, who wants to be known as a gutsy coach but too often irresponsibly goes for it on fourth down and comes up empty and puts his team in bad positions.
Edge: Cowboys
Intangibles
Edge: Cowboys have the emotional lift of a motivated quarterback Dak Prescott returning for the first time in five weeks looking to show he can keep the engine rolling.
Prediction: Cowboys 28, Lions 10
