4 Detroit Lions who must be on top of their games Week 7 vs. the Dallas Cowboys

Note: Normally these lists are in descending order across the board, but Sewell deserved to be top of page and highlighted more than Decker.

2. RT Penei Sewell

Sewell, Pro Football Focus’ No. 1 right tackle in the NFL through four weeks, had a poor game in Week 5 against the Patriots. He’s had the bye to stew over it, and if we’ve learned anything about the No. 7 pick in the 2021 draft it’s that he holds himself to a lofty standard, he will lament that he was not up to it against New England and he will come out ready to rebound on Sunday.

The Cowboys have a strong pass rush, led by Micah Parsons and Demarcus Lawrence. As Ben Raven of MLive noted, Parsons lines up everywhere in Dan Quinn’s defense–which makes him hard to account for.

"Parsons has logged snaps at left outside linebacker (153), right outside linebacker (106), inside the box (94) and even at slot cornerback (two)."

Parsons lines up over the right tackle more than anywhere, and he rushes the passer almost every time he lines up at the left edge spot (90 percent of the time, as passed along by Jeff Risdon of Lions Wire). So Sewell will have the primary task of keeping Parsons off Jared Goff on Sunday.

3. LT Taylor Decker

Not to be forgotten, Decker will either be matched up with Parsons or Lawrence the majority of the time on Sunday. He has also played very well this season, Week 5 aside, and on Goff’s blindside he’ll have to be up to the significant challenge on Sunday.