Dan Campbell plans to lean heavily on his team’s rushing attack to topple the Dallas Cowboys.
This approach makes the most sense. While the Cowboys defense has shined for most of the season and has suffocated most of the offenses that they’ve faced; their inability to stop the rushing attack of opposing teams has never truly gone away, it’s only been masked by the overall success of the team. While the Cowboys defense is still a top 10 unit in terms of passing defense and scoring defense, their rush defense is HORRIBLE. The Dallas Cowboys are currently ranked 19th against the run with 724 yards surrendered in 6 games, for an average of 120.7 rushing yards given up a contest!
This trend should be concerning as this Achilles’ heel has been the leading cause of the Cowboys’ most recent post season debacles. In 2018 the Los Angeles Rams obliterated the Cowboys on the ground during their divisional round match up, rushing the ball 48 times for a whopping 273 yards and 3 touchdowns!
Last year the run defense still proved to be the Cowboys undoing as they were again repeatedly gashed on the ground to the tune of 38 rushing attempts for 169 yards and 2 touchdowns.
In totality the Dallas Cowboys have surrendered 442 rushing yards and 5 rushing touchdowns in their last two playoff games, a trend that will continue to derail their title aspirations if left unchecked. The Eagles again exploited Big D’s biggest weakness in route to taking a strangle hold on the division. While the Cowboys defense was able to limit Jalen Hurts to 155 passing yards they were unable to contain the Eagles rushing attack, allowing 136 rushing yards on 39 carries. The Lions will attempt to take a similar approach to taking down the Cowboys.
The Lions’ biggest strength is their offensive line which is comprised of 4 former first round picks. The Lions have only allowed 7 sacks this season and have produced one of the better rushing attacks in the league. The Lions are currently 7th in rushing yards per game, 2nd in yards per attempt, and tied for 3rd most rushing touchdowns in the league.
The Lions also average 27 rushing attempts a game, meaning they will attempt to run the ball early and often. If the Lions are successful in establishing an effective run game they will have a good chance of beating Dallas, but Dallas will be able to fight fire with fire. The Lions are the WORST run defense in the league, surrendering 168 yards a game. If Detroit wants to run the ball Dallas should show them how it’s done.
