Detroit Lions vs. Dallas Cowboys: What Are Experts Saying About Detroit?

The Detroit Lions return to the playoffs as the sixth seed, traveling to Texas this Sunday to take on the Dallas Cowboys. Naturally, opinions from around the Internet are cropping up already about this Wild Card Weekend matchup.

On the field, these two teams are trending in different directions. The Cowboys have been rolling through the competition, while the Lions will stumble in after another loss in Green Bay.

The opinions of the two teams are just as disparate. A couple come from inside the locker room, while the three on the outside are perhaps the most intriguing of the bunch.

Let's dive in and see what these folks had to say.

Head Coach Jim Caldwell Hints Corners Will Be Key

Bob Leverone/Associated Press

Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press probably didn't realize where a recent story of his would wander. The thrust of the article chronicled the rushing defense's struggles last week against Eddie Lacy and previewed a tough matchup against the league's leading rusher.

While Birkett stayed on task, head coach Jim Caldwell painted a different picture in a subtle hue:

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They're very difficult to get a bead on," Caldwell said. "They force you to play with an extra guy down somewhere in the vicinity (of the line of scrimmage), and if they can do that, then you're unleashing a quarterback that's been lighting the world up because of that with the matchups that he has on the outside, single coverage and things of that nature. It kind of all ties in together and they do a great job of it.

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There will be plenty of focus on DeMarco Murray and Detroit's run defense. The top billing is well-earned since both are the best in their respective businesses.

However, Dallas also boasts arguably the game's best wide receiver in Dez Bryant. He set Dallas' single-season record with 16 touchdowns this year and is becoming the beast Dallas envisioned when it drafted him.

Bryant's battle with cornerbacks Darius Slay and Rashean Mathis may very well decide the outcome. The running game will have ebbs and flows, but the Cowboys will need Bryant to break big plays to keep the Detroit defense from sliding too many men into the box.

Golden Tate Knows Detroit Needs Leadership

Rick Osentoski/Associated Press

The Lions have won three of their last four games, but no one inside or outside the locker room feels like this is a team on the upswing. Carlos Monarrez of the Detroit Free Press got wide receiver Golden Tate to open up about the subject:

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If we play the way we have the last few weeks, this playoff run will be short-lived," Tate said Monday as the Lions begin to prepare for Sunday's wild-card game against the Dallas Cowboys (4:40 p.m., Fox). So we've got to make sure we're on our game. We've got some guys in here that know what it's like to be a champion and know what it takes to go deep into the playoffs."

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Tate went on to elaborate how the Lions could get there:

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I'm expecting myself, Reggie, Dig, GQ's becoming a leader, coach (Jim) Caldwell, Joe Lombardi," Tate said. "They're all really letting the young guys know how important this is. This isn't just the regular season anymore. The picture's way bigger. We have the personnel to go deep.

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There's no doubt that the Lions have all of the pieces necessary to make a playoff run. They boast the second-best scoring defense to pair with an offense quarterbacked by a strong-armed signal-caller and filled with playmakers.

But a lack of focus has led to mistakes (penalties, turnovers, missed tackles, etc.) that cost this team a first-round bye and a home playoff game.

So Detroit must get better in this area. The "ifs" have to be removed and replaced with accurate throws and wise decisions. According to another Super Bowl-winning veteran, the message might be getting through to the team:

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Ihedigbo said he's seen focus in meeting room, locker room & field ratchet up this week. Said Wed. walkthrough was best of year. Not 1 redo

— Tim Twentyman (@ttwentyman) December 31, 2014"

For Detroit's sake, James Ihedigbo better be right.

Chris Wesseling Thinks Detroit Is the More Talented Team

Rick Osentoski/Associated Press

As of the turn of the New Year, Dallas was favored by 6.5 points, per Odds Shark. The Cowboys have been playing well lately, and Vegas is aware that peaking at the right time is part of the battle.

But there's another aspect that Chris Wesseling of NFL.com didn't overlook:

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With Cowboys defensive tackle Henry Meltonout for the season and run-stuffing rookie linebacker Anthony Hitchens nursing an ankle sprain, the Lions have a major edge in the front seven as well as the secondary. Detroit's run defense ranks as the NFL's fifth best over the past 25 years, per Football Outsiders' metrics. Teryl Austin's defense also ranks ninth in opposing passer rating.

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He finished off the article with the following:

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Jason Garrett's squad should be viewed as the slight favorite by dint of quarterback play, final record, late-season momentum and homefield advantage. Just don't sleep on the level of talent the Lions offer when they play to their potential.

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There's that pesky word for the Lions—potential. The team is loaded with it by virtue of high draft choices and a few solid free-agent signings.

And no player better represents that not-quite-fulfilled talent more than quarterback Matthew Stafford. Despite a completion percentage under 50 percent against the Packers, all three of his touchdowns exhibited incredible accuracy, and two had more speed than a Hellfire missile.

But too many mistakes did him in, as it did the defensive front seven. Detroit has the horses on both sides of the ball to win this race in Dallas. There's no time better than the present for the talent to put on a performance equal to its (gulp) potential.

Vinnie Iyer Sees That Talent Resulting in a Tight Final Score

Matt Ludtke/Associated Press

Count Vinnie Iyer of the Sporting News among those who think the Lions' talent is reason enough not to write them off yet:

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Then it will come down to Dallas’ defense, which has needed to do less bending of late, not breaking. Matthew Stafford hasn’t played nearly as well as Romo, and the Lions' rushing attack is inconsistent. Dallas' secondary needs to focus on preventing Calvin Johnson from making his Megatron mega plays, even if that means giving consistent cushion. The DBs need to trust their unheralded front seven under former Lions coach Rod Marinelli to pressure Stafford into mistakes.

The Romo-Murray combination has been carrying the Cowboys all season, and it won’t let them down in the wild-card round. Prediction: Cowboys 27, Lions 23

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Iyer brought up Calvin Johnson as a potential impact player. That would make sense since he torched cornerback Brandon Carr last year to the tune of 14 catches for 329 yards, the second most receiving total in NFL history.

Johnson was able to accomplish that task with Kris Durham and Brandon Pettigrew as the next-highest grossing receivers. Dallas may roll more coverage Johnson's way this time, but Golden Tate brings a little more to the table than Megatron's old running mates.

The former Seattle Seahawk has made a splash in his first year in Detroit. He's grabbed 99 receptions for 1,331 yards so far, and you can bet he'll look to punish the Cowboys if they don't pay him enough attention.

Bleacher Report Writers Back Dallas Blowout

Matt Ludtke/Associated Press

Usually we turn to Gary Davenport's roundup in the last slide to give us the experts' predictions for the game. This week, every single analyst picked Dallas.

So to increase the drama, let's take a peek at how Davenport's later-in-the-week panel saw the game unfolding.

All seven panelists voted the Detroit-Dallas matchup to be the biggest blowout of the weekend. Davenport featured NFC East Lead Writer Brad Gagnon's opinion in the explanation:

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You know what they say about peaking at the right time. Maybe it's a cliche, but that factor is hard to ignore here. The Cowboys are red hot and the Lions offense has gone cold. Seriously. In December, Dallas averaged more than 40 points per game and gave up fewer than 20, while Detroit has averaged just 18.7 points the last three weeks. That Stafford-to-Johnson connection is scary, but they haven't been themselves and now they have to go on the road for the third consecutive week. Wrong place, wrong time.

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It's hard to argue with Gagnon's notion of timing. The Cowboys have won six of their last seven games, with only one of those being decided by single digits.

However, a visit to AT&T stadium doesn't add any danger for Detroit. Dallas is only 4-4 inside Jerry's World this year. And if any place should feel like home for Matthew Stafford outside of Ford Field, it's his home state of Texas.

A blowout is certainly in play, as there have been plenty of pundits echoing what Bleacher Report's brightest believe. Yet, this will be the best defense that Dallas has seen in over two months, and the potential galvanizing effect of a world turned against the Lions could give Detroit the extra boost it needs.

I'm not going to give you my complete preview since it will be published Friday. But I do want to leave you with a quote from Jay Z's "Oh My God" as a reminder of the type of mindset the Lions could carry into the playoffs: "I'm feeling like the world's against me Lord. Call me crazy, but strangely, I love the odds."

Brandon Alisoglu is a Detroit Lions Featured Columnist who has written about the Lions on multiple sites. He also co-hosts a Lions-centric podcast, Lions Central Radio. Yell at him on Twitter about how wrong he is @BrandonAlisoglu.