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http://www.detroitlions.com/document_display.cfm?document_id=453559
Week 17 Game Preview: Lions at Cowboys
Lions Can Expect an Intense Match-Up in Their Final Game of the Season
By Chuck Klonke
Detroitlions.com
December 29, 2006
The Lions have challenged playoff-bound opponents this season; falling to Seattle, at the New York Jets, at New England and to Chicago by seven points or fewer. (Photo: Gavin Smith)
ALLEN PARK, Mich. -- Many times this season the Lions have shown that they can compete with playoff-caliber teams.
Sunday in Dallas they have one last chance to go a step farther and beat a playoff-bound opponent.
Dallas (9-6) missed a chance to clinch the NFC East Division championship when the Cowboys lost to Philadelphia on Christmas Day. Dallas is in the playoffs, but the Cowboys' only hope of winning the division is to beat the Lions and hope that the Eagles lose or tie at home against Atlanta.
The Cowboys have struggled lately, losing two of their last three games, but it would still be an impressive victory for the Lions if they can go into Dallas and win.
"At this point we can't look at wins and losses and measure our season," said safety Terrence Holt. "We've got to look at some of these games that we've been one drive away, either stopping (the opponent) or converting on a drive. You look at that and say we have to learn to finish games. It's something you try to build upon for next year -- finishing games.
"As a team, we've got to right some of our wrongs in this one last game. We've got to try and finish this game, try to play well in the fourth quarter, try to stop them on defense when we need a big stop; as an offense to try to go down and score and stick it to them at the end of a game when you need a drive, and on special teams try to get them stopped inside the 20."
Coach Rod Marinelli is pleased that Dallas has something to play for in the final week of the season.
"I'm excited. It's a tremendous test," Marinelli said. "I'm looking forward to going down there and playing extremely hard and playing extremely well."
Dallas is looking at Sunday's contest as more than the regular season finale.
"We're treating this like the beginning of the playoffs," said quarterback Tony Romo. "We need to get a win this week and we definitely need to get ourselves going on a run here. We understand this week is as big as it's gotten in a long time, so we'll be ready to go."
Last week's 26-21 loss to Chicago was the fourth time this season the Lions have lost by seven points or fewer to a playoff-bound opponent. The others were 9-6 to Seattle, 31-24 to the New York Jets and 28-21 to New England.
LIONS OFFENSE vs. COWBOYS DEFENSE
The Lions have some offensive milestones that are within reach.
Receiver Mike Furrey needs just 16 yards to surpass the 1,000-yard mark for the season. (Photo: Gavin Smith)
Wide receiver Mike Furrey is 16 yards from a 1,000-yard season. If he achieves that feat, he'll give Detroit its first pair of 1,000-yard receivers since Germane Crowell and Johnnie Morton did it in 1999. Roy Williams has already passed 1,000 yards. He's 94 yards from becoming the first Lions player to reach 1,300 yards since Crowell had 1,338 in 1999.
Quarterback Jon Kitna has passed for 3,902 yards. He could become only the second quarterback in club history to pass for 4,000 yards. Scott Mitchell holds the record with 4,338 in 1995. Kitna is also making a bid to become the first Detroit quarterback to take every snap in a season since Bobby Layne did it in 1955.
As durable as Kitna has been, there hasn't been that consistency in the offensive line where injuries have forced offensive coordinator Mike Martz to scramble to fill the holes.
When asked what the Lions needed most for next season, Martz didn't hesitate.
"The biggest issue with any offense is the dynamics of the offensive line," Martz said. "Being the same and playing together affects so much. Sometimes a lot of change can be disruptive, but that's only part of the issue."
Martz said that he has been impressed with the play of some of the young players who have been pressed into duty.
"I think we've found some really good young players through all of this," Martz said. "(Stephen) Peterman and some of the others have played remarkably well. (Fullback) Sean McHugh has played well. I'm excited about guys like that. If these other things didn't happen, who would know about these guys? There are a lot of positive things that will help us next year."
Peterman made his first career start at right guard against Chicago. The Lions also started rookies Frank Davis and Jonathan Scott at left guard and right tackle, respectively.
Dallas ranks 12th in the NFL in total defense, and the Cowboys are ninth against the pass. Dallas has forced 30 turnovers -- the sixth-best mark in the league.
Kitna needs just 96 yards to reach 4,000 passing yards on the season. (Photo: Gavin Smith)
The Cowboys' defense is young. It's led by second-year linebacker DeMarcus Ware, who was a first-round selection in 2005. In two seasons, Ware has 16 1/2 sacks, including 8 1/2 this season. Ware earned his first Pro Bowl selection this year.
Middle linebacker Bradie James leads the Cowboys in tackles with 119. The rest of the linebacking corps includes veterans Al Singleton and Akin Ayodele.
Second-year defensive ends Marcus Spears and Chris Canty flank veteran nose tackle Jason Ferguson. Ferguson splits time with another second-year player, Jay Ratliff.
The secondary is led by cornerback Terence Newman, who has allowed only one touchdown pass in the last two seasons, and strong safety Roy Williams, who was named to his fourth consecutive Pro Bowl. Williams, who is one of the fiercest tacklers in the NFL, has accounted for seven of Dallas's 30 turnovers this year with five interceptions and two fumble recoveries.
Cornerback Anthony Henry leads the Cowboys with a career-high 21 passes defensed -- the most by a Dallas player in 15 years -- as most teams throw to his side of the field instead of Newman's. Rookie free safety Patrick Watkins, a fifth-round draft pick out of Florida State, regained his starting job two weeks ago against Atlanta and had four tackles and an interception. He followed that with six tackles against the Eagles last game.
KEY MATCHUPS: Lions WR Roy Williams vs. Cowboys CB Terence Newman. Newman doesn't give up a lot of yardage but Williams can match up one-on-one with any cornerback in the league.
Lions QB Jon Kitna vs. Cowboys WLB DeMarcus Ware. Ware leads the Cowboys in sacks and Kitna is the most sacked quarterback in the league. He'll have to keep a wary eye out for Ware, and the running backs can't miss any blocks.
LIONS DEFENSE vs. COWBOYS OFFENSE
Detroit's defense did a decent job against the Bears last week, holding them to 248 yards passing and 116 on the ground.
Cornerback Stanley Wilson has started the last three games in place of the injured Fernando Bryant. (Photo: Gavin Smith)
Once again, the Lions will be without starting cornerback Fernando Bryant, who went on Injured/Reserve this week. He's still suffering from the effects of a concussion he suffered on Dec. 3.
Dallas sputtered offensively until coach Bill Parcells changed quarterbacks, going from the aging Drew Bledsoe to the more mobile Romo.
Romo made an immediate impact on the Dallas offense and earned a trip to the Pro Bowl in the process. He's 6-3 as a starter with a quarterback rating of 94.4. Last week he had his worst game since replacing Bledsoe completing only 14-of-29 passes for 142 yards and two interceptions.
Part of the reason was that the offensive line allowed three sacks and running backs Marion Barber and Julius Jones gained only 41 yards combined. Romo had 42 rushing yards himself as the Cowboys had a season-low 201 yards in total offense.
Lions tight end Dan Campbell played for Dallas the last three years so he's familiar with Romo.
"I'm not surprised because he showed flashes of this in preseason games and practices," Campbell said. "There were things he was doing that showed that he had something about him. He knows how to move in the pocket. He knows how to find the open receiver."
Holt thinks that it's just as important to stop the running back combo of Barber and Jones as it is to key on Romo.
"I think (Romo) is a big key, but it starts with those backs," Holt said. "They're a great 1-2 punch. You've got a speed guy in Jones. Barber can run pretty well, but he's known as a guy down there at the goal line that punches it in and finishes drives.
Bly's match-up against Cowboys receiver Terrell Owens will be key this Sunday at Dallas. (Photo: Gavin Smith)
"I think in most games that you've seen teams stop the run versus them and have made them one-dimensional, like the New Orleans Saints, they got behind and had to pass more. We've got to stop the run and then worry about Tony Romo and the receivers."
Jones leads the Cowboys in rushing with 1,057 yards and a 4.1 average-per-carry. Barber has 639 yards, a 5.0 average and a team-leading 15 touchdowns, including 13 rushing TDs.
Dallas has three solid receivers in Terrell Owens (79 catches, 1,063 yards, 12 TDs), Terry Glenn (64 catches for 938 yards) and tight end Jason Whitten (60 catches, 692 yards). Patrick Crayton has 34 catches as the No. 3 wide receiver.
All five offensive linemen have started every game for Dallas this season. Two-time Pro Bowl left tackle Flozell Adams has come back from a knee injury that cut short his 2005 season. Ex-Lion Kyle Kosier starts at left guard. Center Andre Gurode, right guard Marco Rivera and right tackle Marc Colombo round out the veteran offensive line.
KEY MATCHUPS: Lions linebackers vs. Cowboys RBs Jones and Barber. Philadelphia found a way to stop the Cowboys' ground game. Detroit's defensive linemen have to occupy the blockers so that linebackers Ernie Sims, Paris Lenon and Boss Bailey can make plays.
Lions cornerback Dré Bly vs. Cowboys WR Owens. Bly seems to play his best games against the top receivers and TO is as high-profile as they come.
FANTASY MATCHUP
Go with Kitna. He had a quarterback rating over 100 last week against the Bears' vaunted defense. Running backs Arlen Harris and Aveion Cason provided a second dimension to the offense last week, so that gave Kitna a little more time to throw. Dallas hasn't been especially strong against the run this season.
http://www.detroitlions.com/document_display.cfm?document_id=453559
Week 17 Game Preview: Lions at Cowboys
Lions Can Expect an Intense Match-Up in Their Final Game of the Season
By Chuck Klonke
Detroitlions.com
December 29, 2006
The Lions have challenged playoff-bound opponents this season; falling to Seattle, at the New York Jets, at New England and to Chicago by seven points or fewer. (Photo: Gavin Smith)
ALLEN PARK, Mich. -- Many times this season the Lions have shown that they can compete with playoff-caliber teams.
Sunday in Dallas they have one last chance to go a step farther and beat a playoff-bound opponent.
Dallas (9-6) missed a chance to clinch the NFC East Division championship when the Cowboys lost to Philadelphia on Christmas Day. Dallas is in the playoffs, but the Cowboys' only hope of winning the division is to beat the Lions and hope that the Eagles lose or tie at home against Atlanta.
The Cowboys have struggled lately, losing two of their last three games, but it would still be an impressive victory for the Lions if they can go into Dallas and win.
"At this point we can't look at wins and losses and measure our season," said safety Terrence Holt. "We've got to look at some of these games that we've been one drive away, either stopping (the opponent) or converting on a drive. You look at that and say we have to learn to finish games. It's something you try to build upon for next year -- finishing games.
"As a team, we've got to right some of our wrongs in this one last game. We've got to try and finish this game, try to play well in the fourth quarter, try to stop them on defense when we need a big stop; as an offense to try to go down and score and stick it to them at the end of a game when you need a drive, and on special teams try to get them stopped inside the 20."
Coach Rod Marinelli is pleased that Dallas has something to play for in the final week of the season.
"I'm excited. It's a tremendous test," Marinelli said. "I'm looking forward to going down there and playing extremely hard and playing extremely well."
Dallas is looking at Sunday's contest as more than the regular season finale.
"We're treating this like the beginning of the playoffs," said quarterback Tony Romo. "We need to get a win this week and we definitely need to get ourselves going on a run here. We understand this week is as big as it's gotten in a long time, so we'll be ready to go."
Last week's 26-21 loss to Chicago was the fourth time this season the Lions have lost by seven points or fewer to a playoff-bound opponent. The others were 9-6 to Seattle, 31-24 to the New York Jets and 28-21 to New England.
LIONS OFFENSE vs. COWBOYS DEFENSE
The Lions have some offensive milestones that are within reach.
Receiver Mike Furrey needs just 16 yards to surpass the 1,000-yard mark for the season. (Photo: Gavin Smith)
Wide receiver Mike Furrey is 16 yards from a 1,000-yard season. If he achieves that feat, he'll give Detroit its first pair of 1,000-yard receivers since Germane Crowell and Johnnie Morton did it in 1999. Roy Williams has already passed 1,000 yards. He's 94 yards from becoming the first Lions player to reach 1,300 yards since Crowell had 1,338 in 1999.
Quarterback Jon Kitna has passed for 3,902 yards. He could become only the second quarterback in club history to pass for 4,000 yards. Scott Mitchell holds the record with 4,338 in 1995. Kitna is also making a bid to become the first Detroit quarterback to take every snap in a season since Bobby Layne did it in 1955.
As durable as Kitna has been, there hasn't been that consistency in the offensive line where injuries have forced offensive coordinator Mike Martz to scramble to fill the holes.
When asked what the Lions needed most for next season, Martz didn't hesitate.
"The biggest issue with any offense is the dynamics of the offensive line," Martz said. "Being the same and playing together affects so much. Sometimes a lot of change can be disruptive, but that's only part of the issue."
Martz said that he has been impressed with the play of some of the young players who have been pressed into duty.
"I think we've found some really good young players through all of this," Martz said. "(Stephen) Peterman and some of the others have played remarkably well. (Fullback) Sean McHugh has played well. I'm excited about guys like that. If these other things didn't happen, who would know about these guys? There are a lot of positive things that will help us next year."
Peterman made his first career start at right guard against Chicago. The Lions also started rookies Frank Davis and Jonathan Scott at left guard and right tackle, respectively.
Dallas ranks 12th in the NFL in total defense, and the Cowboys are ninth against the pass. Dallas has forced 30 turnovers -- the sixth-best mark in the league.
Kitna needs just 96 yards to reach 4,000 passing yards on the season. (Photo: Gavin Smith)
The Cowboys' defense is young. It's led by second-year linebacker DeMarcus Ware, who was a first-round selection in 2005. In two seasons, Ware has 16 1/2 sacks, including 8 1/2 this season. Ware earned his first Pro Bowl selection this year.
Middle linebacker Bradie James leads the Cowboys in tackles with 119. The rest of the linebacking corps includes veterans Al Singleton and Akin Ayodele.
Second-year defensive ends Marcus Spears and Chris Canty flank veteran nose tackle Jason Ferguson. Ferguson splits time with another second-year player, Jay Ratliff.
The secondary is led by cornerback Terence Newman, who has allowed only one touchdown pass in the last two seasons, and strong safety Roy Williams, who was named to his fourth consecutive Pro Bowl. Williams, who is one of the fiercest tacklers in the NFL, has accounted for seven of Dallas's 30 turnovers this year with five interceptions and two fumble recoveries.
Cornerback Anthony Henry leads the Cowboys with a career-high 21 passes defensed -- the most by a Dallas player in 15 years -- as most teams throw to his side of the field instead of Newman's. Rookie free safety Patrick Watkins, a fifth-round draft pick out of Florida State, regained his starting job two weeks ago against Atlanta and had four tackles and an interception. He followed that with six tackles against the Eagles last game.
KEY MATCHUPS: Lions WR Roy Williams vs. Cowboys CB Terence Newman. Newman doesn't give up a lot of yardage but Williams can match up one-on-one with any cornerback in the league.
Lions QB Jon Kitna vs. Cowboys WLB DeMarcus Ware. Ware leads the Cowboys in sacks and Kitna is the most sacked quarterback in the league. He'll have to keep a wary eye out for Ware, and the running backs can't miss any blocks.
LIONS DEFENSE vs. COWBOYS OFFENSE
Detroit's defense did a decent job against the Bears last week, holding them to 248 yards passing and 116 on the ground.
Cornerback Stanley Wilson has started the last three games in place of the injured Fernando Bryant. (Photo: Gavin Smith)
Once again, the Lions will be without starting cornerback Fernando Bryant, who went on Injured/Reserve this week. He's still suffering from the effects of a concussion he suffered on Dec. 3.
Dallas sputtered offensively until coach Bill Parcells changed quarterbacks, going from the aging Drew Bledsoe to the more mobile Romo.
Romo made an immediate impact on the Dallas offense and earned a trip to the Pro Bowl in the process. He's 6-3 as a starter with a quarterback rating of 94.4. Last week he had his worst game since replacing Bledsoe completing only 14-of-29 passes for 142 yards and two interceptions.
Part of the reason was that the offensive line allowed three sacks and running backs Marion Barber and Julius Jones gained only 41 yards combined. Romo had 42 rushing yards himself as the Cowboys had a season-low 201 yards in total offense.
Lions tight end Dan Campbell played for Dallas the last three years so he's familiar with Romo.
"I'm not surprised because he showed flashes of this in preseason games and practices," Campbell said. "There were things he was doing that showed that he had something about him. He knows how to move in the pocket. He knows how to find the open receiver."
Holt thinks that it's just as important to stop the running back combo of Barber and Jones as it is to key on Romo.
"I think (Romo) is a big key, but it starts with those backs," Holt said. "They're a great 1-2 punch. You've got a speed guy in Jones. Barber can run pretty well, but he's known as a guy down there at the goal line that punches it in and finishes drives.
Bly's match-up against Cowboys receiver Terrell Owens will be key this Sunday at Dallas. (Photo: Gavin Smith)
"I think in most games that you've seen teams stop the run versus them and have made them one-dimensional, like the New Orleans Saints, they got behind and had to pass more. We've got to stop the run and then worry about Tony Romo and the receivers."
Jones leads the Cowboys in rushing with 1,057 yards and a 4.1 average-per-carry. Barber has 639 yards, a 5.0 average and a team-leading 15 touchdowns, including 13 rushing TDs.
Dallas has three solid receivers in Terrell Owens (79 catches, 1,063 yards, 12 TDs), Terry Glenn (64 catches for 938 yards) and tight end Jason Whitten (60 catches, 692 yards). Patrick Crayton has 34 catches as the No. 3 wide receiver.
All five offensive linemen have started every game for Dallas this season. Two-time Pro Bowl left tackle Flozell Adams has come back from a knee injury that cut short his 2005 season. Ex-Lion Kyle Kosier starts at left guard. Center Andre Gurode, right guard Marco Rivera and right tackle Marc Colombo round out the veteran offensive line.
KEY MATCHUPS: Lions linebackers vs. Cowboys RBs Jones and Barber. Philadelphia found a way to stop the Cowboys' ground game. Detroit's defensive linemen have to occupy the blockers so that linebackers Ernie Sims, Paris Lenon and Boss Bailey can make plays.
Lions cornerback Dré Bly vs. Cowboys WR Owens. Bly seems to play his best games against the top receivers and TO is as high-profile as they come.
FANTASY MATCHUP
Go with Kitna. He had a quarterback rating over 100 last week against the Bears' vaunted defense. Running backs Arlen Harris and Aveion Cason provided a second dimension to the offense last week, so that gave Kitna a little more time to throw. Dallas hasn't been especially strong against the run this season.
