Detroit has the best run defense in the NFL

[Nova]

Our zone blocking scheme works better and has always worked better against 4-3 defenses. Their DL won't be an issue. I know it sounds cocky, but this lions front, with or without Suh is not as tough of a matchup as the eagles Front 7.

 

[PJTHEDOORS]

Caution on the competition Detroit played vs the top rushing teams.
Here is Detroit vs the Top 10 NFL rushers this year. They only played against 2 of them.

01 DMurray (Dallas) - Not played.
02 LBell (Pitt) - Not played.
03 LMcCoy (Phi) - Not played.
04 MLynch (Sea) - Not played.
05 JForsett (Bal) - Not played.
06 AFoster (Hou) - Not played.
07 ELacy (GB)
G1 - 11 carries, 36 yds, 3.3 avg.
G2 - 26 carries, 100 yds, 3.8 avg.
08 JHill (Cin) - Not played.
09 FGore (SF) - Not played.
10 LMiller (Mia) - 4 carries, 10 yds, 2.5 avg.

 

[spook930]

Detroit defense is not that good. Seattle defense is a lot better and you see what we did to theirs. On top of it they will be without suh and fairly! All we have to do is play mistake free football and we will be looking at another 40 burger.

 

[romothesavior]

If we lose this game with Fairley and Suh out I will be beside myself.

 

[daveferr33]

69.3 yards a game

3.2 yards an attempt

Gonna be some tough sledding

Seattle is number 3 rushing defense and I think were number 1 when we faced them and we put up 162 rushing yards on them.

 

[MRV52]

Detroits defense was exposed by the running attack of Lacey and the Packers. We are a better OL and running team than the Packers and Detroit will have their hands full.

 

[Don Corleone]

They are about to face one of the top rushing teams in the league in the freaking playoffs. Something has to give.

 

[mldardy]

From what I'm seeing I have a hard time saying Detroit's run defense is really good. The really didn't face any of the top RBs in the league this year outside of Lacy and from the box scores I saw most of the teams didn't even attempt to run against them.

 

[visionary]

If we lose this game with Fairley and Suh out I will be beside myself.

That will be a neat out of body experience

 

[tyke1doe]

What happened to Fairley?

He's been injured since the eighth game of the season, IIRC.

 

[JoeKing]

It's my belief that stating what the Lions defense is with Suh is designed to delegitimize a Cowboy's victory that hasn't even happened yet. Suh won't be there by no fault of the Cowboys. The reality of the situation is, good teams can adapt and overcome. If the Lions lose, it's won't be because Suh wasn't there. It will be because they weren't good enough and by extension... he wasn't good enough. He did this to himself.

 

[Irvin88_4life]

49ers was the best, then Seattle, then Arizona until they ran into that Cowboys freight train

 

[JohnsKey19]

Detroit does have a strong rush defense. But they can be blocked as we saw Sunday facing a good OL. We're not facing an immoveable front like the 2000 Ravens. It will certainly be a challenge but we'll be fine. Romo may have to pass a bit more than usual, which he can with success against this D, but the key will be maintaining a semblance of balance.

I'd be comfortable picking a 10 point win if not for the Megatron factor. He's killed us the last 2 games. That's my concern. Not Suh and their D.

 

[trickblue]

Hi... My name is Dez...

 

[DFWJC]

Detroits defense was exposed by the running attack of Lacey and the Packers. We are a better OL and running team than the Packers and Detroit will have their hands full.

Lacy only had 3.8 ypc

Our balance will prevail though

 

[JohnsKey19]

Lacy only had 3.8 ypc

Our balance will prevail though

If Murray gets his usual 20-25 carries at 3.8 YPC, we won that battle IMO. As you mentioned, the offensive balance will be big factor.

 

[Picksix]

Detroit didn't face many teams with good overall offenses. The best were NO, NE, and GB, and the defense gave up 23, 34, and 21 points, respectively. Otherwise, they played a number of teams with offenses in the bottom half of the league. I'm not saying we'll score like we have been, but the way our offense is playing, even if we don't run that well, I think we still put up plenty of points. Did we struggle against a 4-3 defense this year? Can't remember for sure, but it seems like the teams we did struggle against played 3-4.

 

[reddyuta]

the story of this game is whether we can get pressure and slow down megatron,Stafford gets the ball off quickly and we need to force some turnovers when he does that.

 

[windjc]

With Suh on the field:

1st down plays where opponents ran the ball: 140
Average yards per carry on those plays: 3.0



With Suh off the field:

1st down plays where opponents ran the ball: 39
Average yards per carry on those plays: 4.9

Who cares? If Dallas can't handily beat Detriot, they aren't winning against GB or Seattle or NE.

Dallas just needs to go out and take care of business.

 

[Dale]

Detroit played two teams -- the Jets and Panthers -- that finished in the top 10 in rushing. NYJ averaged 4.88 yards on 27 carries in defeat, while Carolina blew out the Lions despite averaging only 2.58 yards on 24 carries.