Game Preview: DET at DAL
The MATCHUP
DETROIT LIONS (11-4) at DALLAS COWBOYS (10-5)
Game time: Saturday, 7:15 p.m. CST
TV/radio: ESPN/WFAA 8 DFW / Compass Media, Westwood One, 105.3 The Fan, KMVK 107.5 La Grande (Spanish)
Broadcast teams: National TV – Joe Buck, Troy Aikman, Lisa Salters (sidelines); National Radio (Compass) – Kevin Ray, Danny White; (Westwood One) Ted Emrich, Mike Mayock; Local Radio (English) – Brad Sham, Babe Laufenberg, Kristi Scales (sidelines); Local Radio (Spanish) – Victor Villalba, Luis Perez, Carlos Nava (sidelines)
Head Referee: Brad Allen
Officiating Crew: Duane Heydt, Sarah Thomas, Walter Flowers, Rick Patterson, Boris Cheek, Greg Yette, Kirt Shay, Brian Davies
Last 5 Meetings:
10/23/2022 – Cowboys 24, Lions 6
11/17/2019 – Cowboys 35, Lions 37
09/30/2018 – Cowboys 26, Lions 24
12/26/2016 – Cowboys 42, Lions 21
01/04/2015 – Cowboys 24, Lions 20
All Time Head-to-Head: Cowboys lead 18-12-0
WHAT’s at STAKE
There is much at stake for both teams on Saturday night. The Cowboys need to win out to catch Philadelphia for the top spot in the NFC East and earn at least one home game in the postseason. A loss and they are sure to go on the road in the Wild Card round for a second-straight season. As for the Lions, they have already captured the NFC North title, for the first time in 30 seasons, and have a chance, with wins over Dallas and Minnesota to end the season, to catch San Francisco for the No. 1 seed in the NFC. A loss and the Lions fall further behind the 49ers and Eagles, but regardless will open the playoffs on home turf at Ford Field.
WHEN the COWBOYS HAVE the BALL
Saturday night’s success will come down to the Cowboys offensive line and how well they play against a Detroit defense that is ranked near the middle of the pack in the NFL this season. Dallas will need Tyron Smith, no matter how healthy he is, to man the left tackle spot. When he is in the game, the offensive line seems to run smother and function as a solid unit. If the Cowboys are forced to use Chuma Edoga, then Prescott will be under duress most of the afternoon. While stout against the run, the Lions struggle in the passing game, and that is where the Cowboys have been best this season. Led by quarterback Dak Prescott, the Cowboys offense is ranked sixth overall and sixth in passing in the NFL this season. The Lions pass defense, which features cornerbacks Brian Branch, Cameron Sutton, Jerry Jacobs and Kindle Vildor and safeties Ifeatu Melifonwu, Kerby Joseph, Tracy Walker III and Will Harris, has allowed four different quarterbacks to light them up this season – Week 2, Geno Smith 328 passing yards, 2 TDs in 37-31 loss to Seattle; Week 7, Lamar Jackson 357 passing yards, 3 TDs in 38-6 loss to Baltimore; Week 10, Justin Herbert 323 passing yards, 4 TDs in 41-38 win over the Los Angeles Chargers; Week 16, Nick Mullins 411 passing yards, 2 TDs, 30-24 win over Minnesota. Prescott has put up four games of over 300 yards passing this season, but it has been four games, two wins and two losses, since his last one. In the meeting last season with Detroit, Prescott completed 19 of 25 passes for 207 yards and one touchdown, while CeeDee Lamb led the receiving group with 70 yards on four catches and Tony Pollard led the rushing attack with 83 yards on 12 carries. The Cowboys will face a tough, young group up front on Saturday night, led by defensive end Aidan Hutchinson (42 tackles, 6.5 sacks) and defensive tackle Alim McNeil (31 tackles, 5 sacks) and a group of free-roaming linebackers – Alex Anzalone (112 tackles, 3 sacks), Jack Campbell (78 tackles, 1 sacks) and Derrick Barnes (71 tackles, 10 pass break ups).
WHEN the LIONS HAVE the BALL
The Cowboys defense is facing an offense that has the No. 3 ranked quarterback, No. 5 ranked wide receiver and the seventh and 12th ranked running backs in the NFL. The Lions offense runs through quarterback Jared Goff, who has thrown for 3,984 yards, while completing 67.7-percent of his passes this season. He has completed 365 of 539 passes, with 27 touchdowns, 10 interceptions and a quarterback rating of 98.7. He has a solid group to the throw to, led by wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown, who has 106 catches on 146 targets for 1,281 yards, with 65 first downs and eight touchdowns. Add to that tight end Sam LaPorta (74 catches, 776 yards, 9 touchdowns), and wide receivers Josh Reynolds (34 catches, 551 yards, 5 TDs) and Kalif Raymond (32 catches, 428 yards, 1 TD), and the Cowboys secondary will have their hands full. But Goff can and will turn the ball over and Dallas has some skilled defensive backs – DaRon Bland (8 interceptions), Stephon Gilmore (5 INTs), Malik Hooker (1 INT) and Jayron Kearse (1 INT) that will take advantage. Where the game could become a mismatch is in the Lions run game against the Dallas run defense. The Lions have two backs – David Montgomery (910 yards) and Jahmyr Gibbs (872 yards), that are approaching 1,000 yards on the season. As a team, the Lions have rushed for 2,116 yards this season, while the Cowboys defensive front of defensive tackles Johnathan Hankins, Osa Odighizuwa, Neville Gallimore and Mazi Smith, defensive ends DeMarcus Lawrence, Micah Parsons, Dorance Armstrong and Sam Williams and linebackers Damone Clark and Markquese Bell, has allowed over 100 yards rushing in nine of their 15 games this season. In the losses to Arizona, San Francisco, Philadelphia, Buffalo and Miami, the Cowboys have allowed an average of 171.6 yards per game and 4.74 yards per carry. The Dallas run defense will have to find a way to channel their play against New England, Los Angeles Chargers, the New York Jets and Seattle, where they gave up less than 72 yards per game and held the runners to just an average of 2.97 yards per carry.
KEY COWBOYS to WATCH:
DE/DT Chauncey Golston – Now in his third season, Chauncey Golston has become a reliable backup defensive lineman in pass rushing situations. After playing nine games at defensive end over the first 12 games of the season, Golston has been playing mostly at defensive tackle for the last three games. And with starting tackle Johnathan Hankins on the injury list for a third straight week, Golston should again have an increased role in the defense. Without missing a game this season, he has played 270 snaps on defense and another 166 snaps on special teams, where he has become a key piece of the kicking game – 79 snaps on field goal/extra-point kicks, 54 snaps on field goal/extra-point blocks, 21 snaps on punt coverage and 12 snaps on punt return. Golston has 22 tackles, 3.5 stuffs and 15 quarterback pressures – 13 quarterback hurries and two sacks – one each against Carolina’s Bryce Young and the New York Giants’ Daniel Jones, while backing up Hankins, Osa Odighizuwa, Neville Gallimore and Mazi Smith.
RG Zack Martin – By his standards, Zack Martin is not having a very good season. But, by NFL standards he is having another excellent year. Martin has missed just one game (Week 3) and has played 843 snaps – 538 pass blocking, 305 run blocking, all at right guard this season. He has an overall grade from Pro Football Focus of 70.6, which is 12th among guards that have played a minimum of 600 snaps. He has a PFF grade of 75.0 (10th) in pass blocking and 66.9 in run blocking (14th). Martin has allowed 22 quarterback pressures – 11 quarterback hurries, seven quarterback hits and four sacks – the most he has given up in any season of his 10-year career. He has also been flagged three times, with two of those being assessed – false start vs. Washington in Week 12 and unnecessary roughness vs. Buffalo in Week 15. Martin did miss the one game with a hamstring injury, but also only played 10 snaps in Buffalo after leaving the game in the first quarter with an ankle injury. He played the entire game last week in Miami but has been limited in practice this week. But barring something more than what already ails him, Martin will be in the lineup on Saturday night against the Lions. Against Detroit in Week 7 of last season, Martin played all 63 snaps, and finished with a 100-percent pass blocking efficiency.
WR Michael Gallup – After missing significant time over the last two seasons – 10 games, Cowboys wide receiver Michael Gallup has been available for every game this season and is finally starting to round back into the form he showed early in his career. After losing seven games to a calf strain early in the 2021 season, he tore his ACL in the final game of that season and that caused him to miss the first three games of the 2022 season. But even after returning, it has taken him some time to look like his old self. This season, Gallup has played 572 snaps – 393 pass plays (352 out wide, 41 in the slot), 179 run blocking, he has caught 34 of 55 targets for 418 yards – 106 coming after the catch, 19 first downs and two touchdowns. He is responsible for two of the Cowboys 10 biggest plays this season, when he caught a 41-yard pass from Dak Prescott that went for a touchdown in the win over the New York Giants in Dallas and a 39-yard grab in the win over Philadelphia. In the game against Detroit last season, Gallup was held catch-less on two targets, for the only time in 2022.
KEY LIONS to WATCH:
MLB Alex Anzalone – Mostly a coverage linebacker, Alex Anzalone is having another terrific year for the Lions defense. Now in his third season in Detroit, Anzalone leads the Lions in total tackles with 112 – 72 solo, 42 assisted, in 867 total snaps. He has been on the field in 291 running situations and 576 passing situations, where dropped into pass coverage on 511 of those snaps and rushed the passer on the other 65. He has 22 quarterback pressures – 10 quarterback hurries, nine quarterback hits and three sacks. He has also batted away one pass this season. His best games this season have come at home, where he had 11 tackles in a win over Carolina in Week 5, 15 tackles in a Week 11 win over Chicago and another 12 tackles in a Week 15 win over Denver. In the game against Dallas last season, Anzalone was credited with 8 tackles and 0.5 sacks in the 24-6 loss. He will be lined up in the middle, between Jack Campbell and Derrick Barnes.
TE Sam LaPorta – The Lions tight end is having a fabulous rookie season. He has made 74 catches on 100 targets for 776 yards – 311 yards after catch, and nine touchdowns, while making 12 contested catches on 15 contested targets, an 80-percent reception rate – the best of any tight end this season. He ranks as the fifth best receiving tight end in the NFL this season with a Pro Football Focus grade of 78.9, behind only San Francisco’s George Kittle (87.7), Kansas City’s Travis Kelce (84.7), Minnesota’s T.J. Hockenson (82.4) and Arizona’s Trey McBride (82.2). His overall tight end grade by PFF is 75.4, also good enough for fifth in the league behind the four mentioned above. He has played 529 snaps – 138 in the slot, 142 wide and 243 on the end of the line, running routes on 459 of those and staying in to block on 49.
FS Kerby Joseph – In just his second season, Kerby Joseph is quickly becoming a defensive household name. The Lions free safety is coming off his best game of the season, where he had nine tackles – six solo, two pass break ups and two interceptions in an NFC North clinching win over Minnesota. It was the second two-interception game of his career, adding a pair of picks he snagged off future Hall of Famer Aaron Rodgers. This season, Joseph is tied for third on the team in tackles with 71 – 58 solo, 13 assists, with one tackle for loss. In coverage, he has 10 pass break ups to lead the team, as well as a team-leading four interceptions. Last season, he finished fourth on the team in tackles with 82, while breaking up eight passes, grabbing four interceptions, forcing two fumbles and recovering one fumble. In the game against Dallas last season, Joseph finished with five tackles and one forced fumble. He has recorded at least one tackle in all 30 games of his career.
The BOTTOM LINE
After losing two straight on the road, the Cowboys come home where they have a growing homefield advantage, winning 15-straight on the turf at AT&T Stadium. They need to draw on that mojo to beat the NFC North champions on Saturday night. The Dallas defense is playing well enough to slow down a potent Lions offense that has disappeared at times this season. So, this one should come down to the Cowboys offense against the Detroit defense. If the Cowboys can count on their offensive line – especially left tackle Tyron Smith and right tackle Terence Steele to play, and play well, then they have a chance to make easy work of Detroit. However, if Smith isn’t healthy enough to go and the Cowboys must rely on Chuma Edoga to block Aidan Hutchinson then it could be a long day for quarterback Dak Prescott.
Prediction: Cowboys 34, Lions 24