Cowboys must stop run before reaching Doomsday defense status, starts against Lions
slide into the bye week with a lofty 6-2 record, still chasing the dreaded Eagles but comfortable in their own achievements, two things must take place at AT&T Stadium. They must defeat a collection of Lions and Bears on consecutive Sundays.
throwing for touchdowns again. But the other part is by no means insignificant even if it provides less talk show fodder.Detroit brings its usual moribund win-loss record to town, but that’s not to be confused with a team that cannot score points and, in particular, run the ball. Even while being blanked by New England, the Lions average 30 points per game. That’s a plateau the Cowboys more recently scaled against Eagles’ reserves in Week 18 last season.
It’s the Dallas pass rush and the occasional interception created by that pressure that has given folks to believing this year’s unit is worthy of some Doomsday-affiliated nickname. But against the run — hardly an irrelevant statistic even in this pass-happy era — the Cowboys rank no better than 19th in yards allowed and 16th in yards per rush.
We thought the Cowboys were making the necessary corrections after the Fournette debacle when they clamped down on Cincinnati’s Joe Mixon, limited him to 3.0 yards per carry, in Week 2. Six weeks into the season, Mixon is averaging 3.3 — easily the lowest among the league’s top 25 rushers.