For the Detroit Lions to have any chance to upset the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday, these four players will have to be on their games.
Coming off a bye week that was early but sorely needed, the Detroit Lions will get a road test on Sunday against the Dallas Cowboys as 6.5-point underdogs based on Friday’s odds over at FanDuel Sportsbook. They have not won a road game under head coach Dan Campbell, and their last road win was Week 13 of the 2020 season.
There’s an angle that the Cowboys may be in line for a trap game, after the intensity attached to a divisional loss to the Philadelphia Eagles last week. Quarterback Dak Prescott is also set to play after missing the last five games, so will he be rusty coming off a thumb injury?
It wouldn’t necessarily be surprising to see the Lions keep Sunday’s game competitive for a time. But to actually pull of the upset, these four players will have to be a the top of their games.
4 Detroit Lions who must be on top of their games against the Cowboys
4. CB Jeff Okudah
As our own Zach Payne noted, Okudah is in line to matchup with Cowboys’ No. 1 receiver CeeDee Lamb on a regular basis Sunday. He has had a drop-off in his level of play since shutting Justin Jefferson down in Week 3, but he has replace Amani Oruwariye as the Lions’ No. 1 corner.
Okudah will surely have some help on Lamb at times, with few other credible perimeter receiving threats for Dallas for the Lions to put attention on. But he has to re-step up his level of play against one of the best wide receivers in the league, or it could be a very bad day for Detroit’s secondary.
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.
1. QB Jared Goff
Goff can make this list most any week, as a crucial component of any success the Lions have. But he went into the bye week off a real dud against the Patriots (19-for-35 for 229 yards with an interception), which has taken some shine off what he did in the first four games this season.
Quite simply, Goff has to function better under pressure than he did against New England. He hasn’t proven he can function well under pressure in terms of movement savvy during his career, so against Dallas the better functioning under duress will be rooted in pre-snap recognition and good decision-making off of that. Cowboys’ ball-hawking cornerback Trevon Diggs in particular will be waiting for any misfires in his direction from Goff.
In fluky fashion in two close games, two of Goff’s interceptions this season have been returned for touchdowns. And the Patriots returned a sack-fumble for a score in Week 5. He has to play a clean turnover game against the Cowboys, even if he faces a lot of pressure and takes a few sacks. Negative plays will be bad enough/part of the equation against a tough Dallas defense. But Goff cannot allow any negative plays to become disastrous plays with bad decisions or sloppy ball security. If he’s off-kilter and making mistakes all over the place, it could quickly become a very long day for the Lions.