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But don't look past the matchup between Detroit's somewhat inconsistent yet extremely dangerous and explosive passing game and Dallas' pass defense.
Dallas still has to prove it can stop All-Pro Lions receiver Calvin Johnson, who put up 329 yards against them in their last meeting, as well as primo weapons such as quarterback Matthew Stafford, No. 2 receiver Golden Tate and running back Reggie Bush.
For years, the Cowboys have survived on defense by generating pressure and stopping the run up front, forcing opponents to become one-dimensional. And while their pass rush was still lacking for most of 2014, they managed to get a lot of pressure late in the regular season, while also finishing with a top-10 run defense despite not having DeMarcus Ware, Jason Hatcher and Sean Lee.
Surprisingly strong seasons from front-seven defenders Tyrone Crawford, Rolando McClain, Henry Melton and Anthony Hitchens have factored in. But all four of those guys are dealing with injuries entering Wild Card Weekend.
- Crawford broke out in his third season, with the defensive end being graded by Pro Football Focus (subscription required) as the best defensive player on the Dallas roster. But he missed practice Friday due to an "illness" and is listed as questionable.
- PFF graded McClain as the second-best defender on the roster, but the linebacker is also getting over an illness while recovering from a knee injury. He's practicing now and should play Sunday, but the former top-10 pick might not be 100 percent.
- Melton is the team's third-highest-rated defender at PFF, yet the defensive tackle is out for the year after suffering a knee injury last week in Washington.
- The rookie Hitchens has, at times, looked like a stud since becoming a full-time starter at midseason, but the linebacker didn't practice all week due to an ankle injury and is also questionable.
It's not as though those four have carried this defense. The beautiful thing about what defensive coordinator Rod Marinelli has going is that this unit is much greater than the sum of its parts, and they've been rotating a multitude of players with varied skill sets throughout the season.
So to suggest that injuries to Crawford, McClain, Melton and Hitchens could kill this defense wouldn't be fair to front-seven cogs Bruce Carter, Jeremy Mincey, George Selvie, Anthony Spencer, Terrell McClain, Nick Hayden or defensive backs Orlando Scandrick, Brandon Carr, Sterling Moore, Barry Church and J.J. Wilcox.
However, every man lost hurts this D just a little bit more. And we're still talking about one of only two NFC teams that had fewer than 30 regular-season sacks. Detroit also does a relatively solid job protecting Stafford, which means there are going to be moments in which Carr, Scandrick, Moore, Church and/or Wilcox will have to make plays against Johnson and Tate.
Carr had his best game of the year last week (he was so good in coverage that he was targeted only twice and gave up zero catches, per PFF) and Scandrick might be their best player, period. He and Moore were both ranked among the top 25 corners in football at PFF, with neither giving up a single touchdown. Meanwhile, Church and Wilcox had good days and bad days in coverage but both seemed to get better late in the year.
Those two, Scandrick and Moore, had a combined seven interceptions.
They're going to give up some completions. It's inevitable against an offense like this and with defensive support (or lack thereof) like that. But the idea is to keep the Lions from hitting on several big passing plays.
They failed at doing that in the last meeting, surrendering a ridiculous nine 20-yard completions in a 31-30 loss. But now that secondary has a chance to redeem itself with everything on the line.
This game might indeed come down to Tony Romo and Co. vs. Ndamukong Suh and Co. in the fourth quarter, but the Cowboys secondary might decide just who has the edge when crunch time has arrived.
Brad Gagnon has covered the NFC East for Bleacher Report since 2012.
Follow @Brad_Gagnon
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