Lanschaften » Five things to watch when the Lions visit the Cowboys

in Week 4 The Dallas Cowboys return back home to host the Detroit Lions this week. Both teams sit at 1-2 and desperately need a win to stay in playoff contention. It’s early http://www.cowboyscheapauthenticstore.com/kavon-frazier-jersey-cheap , but teams that lose three of their first four games usually don’t make the postseason. Make no mistake about it, it’s a big game.All eyes will be on the Cowboys offense as they look to correct their struggles that have seen them produce very little in terms of points. Do they have it in them to get the job done? Here are five things I will be keeping an eye on when the Cowboys square off against the Lions.Start fast, stay fastIt’s no secret that the Cowboys have had troubled scoring points this season. And when they do score points, most of it happens late in the game as the team has scored three of it’s four touchdowns this season in the fourth quarter. To say this offense is sluggish out of the gate would be an understatement. Of course, we couldn’t say that about them in Week 2 against the New York Giants. The Cowboys struck quick, scoring on a 64-yard passing play on just the third play from scrimmage. The Cowboys got ahead and stayed ahead en route to their only win of the season so far.The Cowboys offense needs to come out swinging. There is a lot of doubt in Big D right now about the capability of this offense and a good way to answer that would be to come out firing on all cylinders. The Cowboys did that against the Giants and that helped sooth the pain and suffering endured against Carolina, but then the offense immediately went back into it’s funk again. A first-quarter score would be fantastic, but don’t stop there. The Lions are capable of putting points on the board so Dallas needs to put their foot on the gas and keep it there.Heavy dose of ZekeRight on cue, Ezekiel Elliott and the running game took off after two rough outings - just like he does every season. Elliott rushed 16 times for 127 yards and looked really good running the ball. I don’t know if Zeke’s slow start to the season is related to getting acclimated to new offensive linemen every year, but you can definitely see him exhibit more patience as he scopes out his running lanes.The Lions defense will give him running lanes. Detroit is ranked dead last in rushing yards allowed this season, giving up an average of 149 yards per game. They allowed 169 yards to the New York Jets in Week 1 and then turned around and allowed 190 yards to the San Francisco 49ers in Week 2. It should be noted that Isiah Crowell and Matt Breida each scampered off for 60+ runs to boost those rushing totals, but that’s okay. Zeke can bust out big plays too. And the Lions are well aware of that.Kerryon my wayward sonThe Cowboys must be able to stop the Lions rushing attack. It’s weird saying that considering the Lions just completed a stretch of 70 straight games without a 100-yard rusher. 70 games! Do you know how many games 70 games are? Of course you do http://www.cowboyscheapauthenticstore.com/la_el-collins-jersey-cheap , I just told you - it’s 70 games. That’s inconceivable!But alas, that streak is over as the Lions feasted on a New England Patriots run defense that allowed 159 total rushing yards. As luck would have it, the Cowboys now get a Lions team that is starting to figure out their running game. And that answer comes in the form of the Lions second-round draft pick Kerryon Johnson.Johnson looked very nimble and it seems logical that his workload should increase after an impressive outing last week. His swift cuts could lead to some open rushing lanes and without the Cowboys All-Pro linebacker on the field, the run defense will be under the microscope. Rookie Leighton Vander Esch will get his first career start on Sunday and he’s been looking pretty good in recent weeks. He’ll get plenty of chances to make tackles on Sunday with a running back charge that consists of not only Johnson, but LaGarrette Blount and Theo Riddick as well.Don’t let Stafford danceThe Lions run a lot of quick passing plays to allow their receivers to get yards in space. Whether it’s slant route to slot receiver Golden Tate or a dump off to receiving back Riddick, these weapons are very useful for Stafford to keep the chains moving. Tate and Riddick are first and third respectively in receptions on the team. Stafford also likes to throw quick-outs to let his other receivers run around as well. This should put the Cowboys defense on high alert in attacking the receivers close to the line of scrimmage and will required the defenders to tackle well to keep these plays as small gains.While those smaller plays can eat away the yardage, the Cowboys must protect against the deep ball. Marvin Jones Jr. and Kenny Golladay are two major weapons that can hurt the Cowboys deep. There are times when Stafford will roll out to his right and create space to step up and make a big throw. The secondary will need to be sharp, but the Cowboys pass rush has to show up in this game. DeMarcus Lawrence, Taco Charlton, and Randy Gregory - all have to get pressure and keep him from having too much space to operate. Stafford won’t beat anyone with his legs in terms of rushing yards, but allowing him to climb the pocket or roam around to free up a clear launching pad could be very detrimental for the Cowboys.Battle of the QBsBoth teams will try to establish the running game, but the play of the quarterback will likely determine the winner of this one. Stafford had a horrid first outing this year when he was passing out interceptions like door prizes. But he has since settled down and was much more Stafford-like against the Patriots on Sunday.The Lions defense is going to do what every team tries to do against Dallas these days - take Zeke away and challenge Dak to beat them. Prescott has not been up for this challenge during the Cowboys two losses and opponents are going to ride that out until he can show otherwise. Dak needs a good game to give his Cowboys team a shot. Unfortunately Cheap Terrance Williams Jersey , this Lions secondary doesn’t exactly entice a quarterback to go out and make plays against them. All-Pro Darius Slay is one of the game’s top cover corners. Glover Quin is no slouch at safety. And nickel corner Quandre Diggs has taken steps forward and become a reliable piece to the Lions’ secondary. He wasted no time coming away with a pick-six as he took it to the house on the Lions first play of the 2018 season.It’s a tough secondary, but Dak is going to have to deliver. He can’t just sit back and throw four yard dump offs to Geoff Swaim all day. He’s going to have to play some good football to get the Cowboys back to .500, but the only question is - is he up for the challenge?What things will you be keeping an eye out for on Sunday against Detroit? It shouldn’t have been that shocking that the Dallas Cowboys beat the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday night. When this team plays well, they can be a force. Holding the Eagles to just 20 points shouldn’t be too surprising. After all, the Cowboys defense is the stingiest defense in the NFC when it comes to points allowed and let’s face it - the Eagles offense isn’t exactly lighting it up like they were last season.What was totally surprising, though, is how much of a non-factor Fletcher Cox and Haloti Ngata were on the Eagles interior defensive line. Not only were the Cowboys without their All-Pro center Travis Frederick, but rookie Connor Williams was out with a knee injury, forcing the team to have Xavier Su’a-Filo and Adam Redmond compete for the starting gig last week. And because of a knee injury that caused All-Pro guard Zack Martin to miss some snaps, both of these reserve linemen were thrown into action Sunday night. It had all the makings of a giant mess for this Cowboys offensive line that could have resembled the Atlanta debacle last year where they couldn’t protect Dak Prescott to save their life.But none of those bad things happened. Instead, it was quite the contrary. Martin returned to man the right guard spot which brought a giant sigh of relief over Cowboys Nation. But it was the play of an unlikely big man that have people buzzing now. Xavier Su’a-Filo (pronounced ZAY-vee-er sue-ah-FEE-low) did a fantastic job at left guard.You may remember back in 2014 when the Cowboys made the first splash on Day 2 of the draft to trade up to select DeMarcus Lawrence with the 34th overall pick. Well, the Texans had a shot to take Lawrence as they had the first pick of the day http://www.cowboyscheapauthenticstore.com/anthony-brown-jersey-cheap , but they had already selected Jadeveon Clowney with the first-overall pick in the draft. So they opted to select Su’a-Filo, who was the second guard taken in the draft after Zack Martin. Su’a-Filo played his entire rookie contract with the Texans, but he never lived up to his draft cost and for that reason - he’s viewed by many as a disappointment. This sounds like a similar song we heard last year when the Cowboys signed former first-round pick Jonathan Cooper. As it turned out, Cooper was solid at left guard and started 13 games for the Cowboys last season.Over the past two seasons, injuries have plagued the left guard position, but in each instance the reserve has come in and not only played serviceable, but they have stolen the job from the starter. Ron Leary did it to La’el Collins in 2016 and then Cooper last season. Could Su’a-Filo make it three years in a row?Getting Connor Williams at pick 60 was a great deal for the Cowboys, but the rookie has had his share of struggles this season. Maybe those growing pains could’ve been hidden in between two All-Pro players like Frederick and Tyron Smith, but Frederick hasn’t been around and Smith hasn’t been his typical All-Pro self. As a result, Williams’ struggles in the trenches have hurt the offense at specific times.Ideally, you want the young player to get his reps so he can develop, but the team must assemble the group that is going to produce the best results on the field. It’s just one game Youth Byron Jones Jersey , but it’s very possible that this former 33rd overall pick could be the better choice right now.Ezekiel Elliott had his largest yards-per-attempt average of the season as he had plenty of holes to run through Sunday night. Su’a-Filo did a good job securing his blocks, opening up running lanes for Zeke. Elliott had two-straight runs for nice gains in the third quarter when he was able to find creases behind Su’a-Filo.Photo courtesy of NFL Game PassAnd this continued throughout the night. Look at Su’a-Filo get into the second level and block the linebacker, freeing Zeke up for a big gain.Photo courtesy of NFL Game PassWhen Elliott can get some traction going, he’s tough to stop. He had a league-high four runs of 15 yards or greater on Sunday night and now leads all running backs this season with 18 rushing attempts of 15+ yards.And sometimes the little things can be the difference between a tackle for a loss or a nice gain near the goal line.Check out Brian Baldinger’s breakdown where he mentions the play of Su’a-Filo a couple times.It wouldn’t surprise me if Williams recovery ended up taking a little longer than it normally would if the team desperately needed his services. They might as well let him heal up completely and give the veteran more opportunities to see what he can do. Williams has plenty of time to develop his craft, but his on the job training shouldn’t come at the expense of losing football games. Right now, they need a good left guard and it’s very possible that person is Su’a-Filo. If Su’a-Filo can continue to play at the level he did against Philadelphia, that could mean we see more of him down the stretch.What would you do - stay with Su’a-Filo or go back to the rookie when he’s healthy?