Detroit Lions at Dallas Cowboys: 3 burning questions ahead of prime-time game

ARLINGTON, TEXAS — The Detroit Lions (11-4) have another opportunity to cement themselves as the prime-time darlings, with a Saturday night date in Week 17 against the Dallas Cowboys (10-5) from AT&T Stadium.

We’ll answer three burning questions ahead of Saturday night’s kickoff in this post.

How big of a problem is Cowboys EDGE Micah Parsons?

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Micah Parsons, in just his third season, has established himself as one of, if not the NFL’s most versatile and disruptive pass rusher. Parsons faces multiple blockers and attention on just about every snap — 33% double-team rate — and he still leads the league with 97 pressures and a pass-rush win rate of 38%.

The Lions have built their foundation through the offensive line. Offensive tackles Taylor Decker and Penei Sewell can handle this task better than most. But that doesn’t mean Parsons isn’t going to find ways to make noise and get his production.

“Oh yeah, he’s a game-wrecker for sure,” offensive coordinator Ben Johnson said. “I was just talking to the guys upstairs, they move him around so much whether it’s right side, left side, over either guard, over the center, he’s just — every snap he’s almost in a different location, so it’s hard to get a beat a little bit to account for where he’s at. And then, OK, so you know where he is at, they have so many other dynamic guys upfront that are fresh.

“I mean I think that’s the thing that (defensive coordinator) coach (Dan) Quinn does such a nice job of is the rotation and keeping those guys going nonstop and relentless. Today’s our third-down day and you turn on their third down tape and it is just a party at the quarterback for third-and-5-plus. It’s pretty special what they can accomplish with their pass rush.”

Can Lions QB Jared Goff avoid the turnovers in Dallas?

Jared Goff had a day to remember against this Cowboys team last season. The Lions lost 24-6, failing to score a touchdown as Goff threw two interceptions and lost another two fumbles. Parsons was responsible for one of those forced fumbles. And it’s worth remembering that this was a weird game, with Amon-Ra St. Brown knocked out of action early, and Jamaal Williams losing the first fumble of his career at the goal line.

Goff has been much cleaner since that game in Arlington. And he’s proven to be the answer for this franchise under center again and again. But this is a tricky defense, with Parsons and pick-six artist DaRon Bland roaming the secondary.

“Yeah, it’s always good late in the year. You get teams — I mean you have Minnesota, Denver, those teams are playoff bound potentially, and Dallas obviously as well,” Goff said of the test. “You get teams like that you can kind of stack up with and see where you’re at.

“And yeah, these are the fun ones, man. Late in the year, another good team, at their place, can’t draw it up much better. It’ll be fun. It’ll be a good atmosphere. They’ll be ready to go, we’ll be ready to go. It’ll be a good game.”

Will the Lions come out firing after reaching one of their goals?

Dan Campbell opened the week in tone-setting fashion saying that his team’s greatest opponent moving forward is “satisfaction and complacency.” The Lions won their first NFC North crown, not to mention first division title in 30 years, and for such a young team, it’s important to keep their eyes on the grand prize.

That’s the challenge the third-year head coach and his staff face heading into a meaty matchup in Texas.

“That is what we’re going to fight from here on out and they’re going to know that,” Campbell said. “We’ll have a meeting here in a little bit and we have smart guys, they understand that because all these questions, no different than — and I understand why you’d ask it and why it is a big story, because it’s been 30 years, but if we continue to talk about it and we answer them and we live in that moment, then we’re not getting to the next thing.

“And it’s really no different than what happens in the playoffs. You win a big game in the playoffs, well you don’t have time to really enjoy it. You’ve got to get ready for the next one and that’s where we’re at, so it’s a great thing. I wish we had more time to enjoy it, but we don’t and we’re off to the next one and we’ve got to want more, we’ve got to stay hungry, or we won’t be able to get the next one.”

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