During the last game against Detroit, the Cowboys managed to corral explosive threat Calvin Johnson for the first half of the game. In fact, the Dallas defense had completely befuddled the Lions offense for a full three quarters.
With 11:31 left to go in the third, Matthew Stafford's stats were sitting at 10 for 24, for 97 yards no touchdowns and one interception. The last nine of those yards had just come on a completion to Nate Burleson, on a play where third-corner Alan Ball came with pressure leaving Gerald Sensabaugh to cover the receiver. In making the tackle, Sensabaugh was hit by friendly fire. Sensi was wrapping high around Burleson and his momentum swung him around the receivers body. OLB Anthony Spencer was trying to assist on the play, but when he put his head down he wasn't able to pull away from Sensabaugh, who had circled right into the path of Spencer. Sensabaugh stayed down for nearly two minutes with the trainers before making his way off the field.
The nine yard gain put Detroit at their own 31, and Dallas was able to hold on the next three plays and force another Lions punt with 10:30 left in the quarter. Without rehashing old wounds too much, due to two pick six returns and a time-consuming field goal drive by the Cowboys offense, Stafford wouldn't take the field again until :37 seconds remained in the third quarter. 33 minutes of real time elapsed while the Cowboys defense sat idle on the sidelines.
When they returned to the field, the defense looked like nothing resembling the unit of the first three stanzas. This was in part, due to the Lions basically getting a second and third halftime to analyze Rob Ryan's scheme, but this could also be contributed to Dallas' secondary losing their on-field general, Gerald Sensabaugh, who wasn't able to return to the game due to concussion-like symptoms.
I was able to catch up with Gerald earlier today to discuss his absence during the comeback. We also covered the upcoming Patriots game, as well as the work he does with the charity Big Thought and his interaction with Cowboys fans through his website, GSensabaugh.com. We even touched on the Cowboys-Redskins rivalry.
Have a listen below the jump...
We had some technical difficulties when speaking on the charities and the giveaways he does with the fans, so make sure to head over to his website to stay up-to-date with his activities off the field. You can also follow Gerald on Twitter @Gsensabaugh. As for on the field, it will be interesting to see the Rob Ryan game plan he was so hush-hush about for the Patriots on Sunday afternoon.