The Lions have to go to Dallas week seven, out of their bye week. What are the keys to a Lions win? 2-4 is certainly not good, however, there is still hope left. Detroit needs this win to still have belief in their squad. If they go down and get beat, they fall to 1-5. A 1-5 locker room is not a confident, healthy, or good atmosphere for any team. Unfortunately, the Cowboys are an extremely solid 4-2 football team. How can the Lions pull off the upset?
Offense… I have spent a lot of time on Goff and this Lions offense. We have seen this offense look great a lot. Undoubtedly, we have seen this offense look pretty bad too. They need to understand that Dallas does have a great defense, but Detroit has a great offense too. Stopping Micah Parsons is virtually impossible, but slowing him down is not. I still believe this Lions offensive line is really solid. They need to find consistency for four quarters though. Goff needs to know what he is going to get all night, so he can adjust within himself. I think this offense needs to shoot for 21-24 points. They are not going to get 40 on the Dallas defense. If they can run the ball well, control time of possession and get the ball out quick, they can reach that goal though. The key to the pass game this week is hot routes. Dallas is going to bring a lot of pressure from the edges, as we see Parsons succeed with a lot. When that edge pressure comes, they need to have a receiver in that void where Jared can go with the ball.
Defense… Stop the run game, make the Dallas air game beat you. This can be a dangerous game, but the Lions defense isn’t good. They need to sell out on one thing, and make a weak link beat them. Not to say the Dallas pass game is a weak link by any means. But the Lions can’t sit back and let Zeke and Tony run all over them. They need to be aggressive, send run blitzes, and make Rush beat you. We saw Cooper miss some throws this past week that we aren’t used to. The Lions need to bank on him doing that again. We have seen that they don’t have the talent or patience to sit back and play, bend but don’t break defense. I want to see the Lions play crazy aggressive, sell out on the run, and make the pass game beat them.
Coaching… Dan Campbell certainly doesn’t have a lack of heart or dedication. I think he has a pretty good game plan week in and week out. I also believe he understands that it is getting to the point where they don’t have anything to lose. They need to win this game to stay afloat. I want to see Campbell leave it all out there this week. Play aggressive, take shots, and trust his guys. So far they have played somewhat conservative, and stayed close in most games. But they can’t finish those close games. I think this coaching staff needs to come out firing, and if they lose, they lose. If it works, they beat a really good team and move to 2-4, staying in the hunt. On the road, especially in Dallas, is never easy. However, this team has seen a lot of adversity, and I think they can win this game.
