Detroit Lions at Dallas Cowboys: Week 7 NFL action
ARLINGTON, Texas — Raise your hand if you thought the Detroit Lions could go two quarters without scoring a touchdown and still lead the 4-2 Dallas Cowboys, and do so on a day when Dak Prescott returned to the field no less.
And they have their defense — yes, their defense — to thank for their 6-3 halftime lead here at AT@T Stadium.
After going more than seven quarters without forcing so much as a punt across their last two games, Detroit’s league-worst defense came out on fire in this one, forcing back-to-back three-and-outs. They closed the half pretty OK too, with rookie safety Kerby Joseph sending Dallas wideout Noah Brown flipping through the air with a bone-crushing hit near the goal line.
The ball was jarred loose, and cornerback Amani Oruwariye — back in uniform after a one-game benching — recovered the football to keep Dallas off the board at the end of the half.
What a finish to a great half from a defense that absolutely needed it.
Cornerback Jeff Okudah has been the best player on the field for either team, racking up seven tackles in the first 20 minutes of the game alone, including a pair of third-down stops, one of which came on a play where he ran from one sideline to the other. He also drew an illegal block on a second-and-long play, then broke up a pass for Michael Gallup on the next play to force another punt.
Don’t overlook the changes up front either, where the Lions sat down struggling captain Michael Brockers in favor of younger players like John Cominksy and Josh Paschal. While Cominsky isn’t a household name, he was leading Detroit in quarterback pressures when he went down with a wrist injury back in Week 2. He also helped free up others for sacks, including Aidan Hutchinson.
And in Cominsky’s return to the field, Hutchinson immediately delivered a third-down sack on his first drive of the game.
Surprisingly enough, Paschal might be having an even bigger impact in his NFL debut. The second-round pick hadn’t played while recovering from sports hernia surgery, but has been a revelation through two quarters, as a big rusher capable of making plays from the inside and out. He has just two tackles in the box score, but his impact has been immense, including flushing Ezekiel Elliott toward the sideline on one third down, setting up Okudah for a tackle behind the sticks.
It’ll be interesting to see how the second half plays out, now that Dallas better understands what Detroit is trying to do with Paschal in that new-look front. For now, the defensive revival is keeping the Lions in a game where they’ve been held out of the end zone while playing without offensive skill players like like DJ Chark, Jameson Williams, D’Andre Swift and now Amon-Ra St. Brown too.
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