In the trenches: The Cowboys defensive line will look to put up big numbers against the Detroit Lions

This Sunday, the Dallas Cowboys will face the Detroit Lions back at AT&T Stadium and are looking to rebound from the loss against the Philadelphia Eagles.

With QB Dak Prescott expected to make his long-awaited return from injury, the Cowboys will want to come out full speed against this Detroit Lions defense who are currently ranked last in the NFL, giving up an average of 438.6 yards and 34 points per game.

Defensive coordinator Dan Quinn will not want to take the Lion’s offense too lightly despite their record, as the they are still more than capable of causing a threat offensively with TE T.J. Hockenson and the Lion’s RB one-two punch combination of Jamaal Williams & D’Andre Swift.

Photo by Kathryn Riley/Getty Images

QB Jared Goff is currently ranked 16th overall in the NFL with 1,355 total passing yards, however, he is currently ranked fifth with 11 touchdowns. The Lions also have completed 15/20 scoring touchdowns coming from the red zone, which is a 75% success rate.

The Dallas defensive line is going against a Lions offensive line who have given up the least sacks in the NFL, along with the Los Angeles Chargers, with seven sacks for the season so far. Despite that, they have given up 66 total pressures with tackle Taylor Decker having had the most pressures on the offensive line with 16 pressures and giving up two sacks.

Looking at the previous Lions game against the New England Patriots, the offensive line had a bad time dealing with pressure. They failed to give Goff time in the pocket and he was pressured a lot with the pocket collapsing forcing him to scramble, one of which resulting in Goff fumbling the ball that was recovered by the Patriots. The offensive line gave up a total of 16 pressures and one sack in that game.

The Dallas defensive line is currently lead in sacks in the NFL with 24 and will want to pile that pressure on the Lions’ offensive line and force Goff to make mistakes. For Osa Odigizuwa, Neville Gallimore, and the interior defensive linemen, they will need to be at their best getting into the inside gaps as the Detroit Lions tend to favor running the ball up the middle.

For Micah Parsons, DeMarcus Lawrence, and Dorance Armstrong, being on the edge they will need to be wary of the pulling tackle and guard on the weak side in the run defense as throughout the five games the Lions have played they have a tendency to do that a few times per game.

In terms of the pass rush, Dallas needs to keep up what they have consistently been doing this season, that being using their speed on the edge and strength to force the offensive linemen back into the pocket adding pressure on Goff.