Detroit Lions vs. Dallas Cowboys: 5 Lions to Watch for in Big D

The Detroit Lions pride is continuing to populate.  Between the national talking heads and print media, the Lions are quickly becoming the darlings of this NFL season.  There has not been a greater public display of love around these parts since Kwame Kilpatrick was thumbing his adoration for Christine Beatty.

This weekend, the "Van Etten V" and the rest of the Lions head south to the land of belt buckles bigger than Rhode Island and steaks ordered by the pound.  Yes, we're talkin’ about the Big D...Dallas, Texas y’all!  Where Yellow Roses carry aerosol hairspray in their steer satchels and make-up application is performed on a paint-by-numbers basis.

It's North versus South as the two Thanksgiving Day staples do battle.  Quarterback Tony Romo continues to suffer from fractured ribs and Miles Austin is out for this week's action.  Toss in a banged up secondary and the Cowboys appear ready for branding.

Can the Lions head into their Monday Night homecoming with the Bears 4-0?  Can Dallas keep the clipboard in Jon Kitna’s hands and preserve Tony Romo?

Here are my five players to watch.  As I did last week and probably most weeks, I will try and abstain from the obvious.  Stafford, Johnson and Suh are no-brainers.  Although I must admit, I’m curious to see how Stafford handles his first NFL game back in his hometown.

Saddle up!!  Here’s the "Van Etten V"…

Corey Williams

Corey Williams, the big defensive tackle has helped to clog the middle of the defensive front this year, but statistically has not provided the numbers you would expect playing next to All-Pro Ndamukong Suh.  Through three games, Williams has recorded only three tackles and no sacks. 

This week marked the return of first round draft pick Nick Fairley to the practice field and all indications are the Auburn Tiger should be ready to play next Monday night when the Lions host the Bears in front of a nationally televised audience. Nothing motivates a player more than lack of job security.  If ever there was incentive to make some noise up front for Williams, it should be this week. 

The Cowboys offensive line is not of the same lineage as the groups from the Jimmy Johnson era.  Cowboys center Phil Costa will be making only his fifth NFL start and after Monday night's snap count snafus, his head should be swirling with Suh and Williams over the ball. 

Furthermore, Costa has been man-handled early in the season and at times appears to be playing the position on roller skates.  The script is perfect for Williams to really make his presence felt this Sunday.

Jahvid Best

Without Jahvid Best, Sunday’s Calvin Johnson basket catch in overtime never comes to fruition.  Best stepped up and took on the A-gap blitz of Chad Greenway that allowed Matthew Stafford to connect with Megatron.  Sunday in Dallas, the Lions will need more of the same from the slight tailback.

With all the exotic blitz packages the Rob Ryan led Dallas Cowboys defense employs, Best will be an integral component to the Lions passing attack.  Recognition of the blitz, who’s coming and who’s not will be critical.  With Stafford in the shotgun often, look for the Cowboys to try and blitz from the opposite side of Best, forcing Jahvid to cross the face of Stafford to block the linebacker.

Another way to keep the blitz off of Stafford is to continue utilizing Best in the screen game.  The screen has become the Lions running game and has given Best the opportunity to run in open space.  A few successful screens should help to slow the blitz and if Dallas continues to bring the house, look for the Lions to run the draw play up the middle for positive yardage.

Chris Houston

Did you know the Lions defense has given up only one pass play of 25 yards or greater?  Wasn’t the secondary supposed to be the weak link in the defense?  So far this year, Chris Houston and the Lions secondary are playing above expectations.

Houston should be jacked-up to face the Cowboys.  The Austin, Texas native will lineup against the talented Dez Bryant who is currently fighting through a thigh injury.  With Miles Austin out for Sunday’s tilt, Bryant will be called upon to spark the Dallas offense that failed to score a single touchdown in victory against the Redskins.  Given the depleted WR corps for Dallas, this appears to be a match-up the Lions should win.  

With the Cowboys giving up 18 quarterback hits, ninth worst in the NFL, and Romo’s fractured ribs, look for an itchy trigger finger to allow Houston and the rest of the secondary to bottle up the Cowboys wideouts.

Gosder Cherilus

We all know Jeff Backus again will have his hands full with sack leader DeMarcus Ware salivating as he watches tape from the Vikings game.  What concerns me as much is Gosder Cherilus keeping Anthony Spencer out of the backfield.

Spencer is about as freakish as Ware.  His three sacks and two forced fumbles, in my mind, are superior to the five sacks Ware has posted.  Cherilus was benched in the first quarter of last week’s game for an “olay” of Vikings defensive end Brian Robison and Corey Hilliard was called out of the bullpen in relief.  With the revolving door at right tackle for two consecutive weeks; this says to me, the Lions have no right tackle.

Regardless of who mans the position on Sunday, the Cowboys have seen the film and will be coming for Stafford.  The 3-4 defensive scheme confuses many offenses because they offer a variety of zone-blitz packages that are different than standard four-man fronts. 

The match-up of the Lions tackles vs. the Cowboys blitz will probably be the most important of the afternoon.  Gosder will need to channel his inner nasty that everyone talks about and stalemate Spencer.

Nate Burleson

Last week I thought Nate Burleson was going to have a big game.  The Vikings had other plans and took away the outside of the field and left the inside open for a feeding frenzy as Brandon Pettigrew and rookie standout Titus Young combined for a 16 catch 163 yard performance.

In the NFL, exploits like those tend to fade away the very next week.  Sexy Rexy’s twin brother Rob will not want to be embarrassed by an aerial attack in his own backyard and should make the adjustments necessary to cover up the middle while keeping Calvin Johnson in bracket coverage for 60 minutes.

Side note:  Poor Mrs. Ryan, can you imagine birthing those two big boys at the same time…yikes!

These two factors should set up nicely for Burleson this week.  Burleson continues to be efficient converting on 14 of his 16 targets.  The fashion plate WR should see more balls this weekend.

Those are the five players I’ll be watching on Sunday, enjoy the game!