Cowboys Know Lions Will Be 'Really Good Test'

Mike Zimmer, Cowboys expect to be challenged by Lions.

Lions running back Jahmyr Gibbs runs against Cowboys safety Jayron Kearse during the first half at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas on Saturday, Dec. 30, 2023. / Junfu Han / USA TODAY NETWORK

Coming off their Week 5 bye, the Lions will square off with Mike McCarthy and the Dallas Cowboys Sunday afternoon at AT&T Stadium. 

For Dan Campbell’s squad, the matchup will bring back unfortunate memories of one of the Lions’ toughest losses of the 2023 campaign, a 20-19 loss in Week 17 that was marred by controversy. Jared Goff led Detroit on a nine-play, 75-yard scoring drive in the final minute of the primetime tilt, which cut the Cowboys’ lead to one, 20-19, with 0:23 to play. Instead of attempting the point-after-try to tie the game, the Lions decided to go for two (and the win). After initially appearing to execute the two-point conversion, it was negated by an illegal-touching penalty on left tackle Taylor Decker (although Decker did report as an eligible receiver).

The Lions proceeded to drop the late-season contest, which extended the Cowboys’ home-winning streak, at the time, to 16 games. Since then, however, McCarthy’s team has lost three straight in Dallas, including its wild-card playoff matchup with the Packers last season.  

The Cowboys sit at 3-2 through the first five weeks of the 2024 season, with both of those losses coming in “Jerry World.” As McCarthy expressed to reporters Monday, the onus is on his team to win a game at home with the Lions coming into town.   

“At the end of the day, we’re about the Lions right now. That page has been turned, and this is what Monday is. We’ve got a big challenge. We’ve got to win a home game,” the Dallas head man said. “We used to be pretty good at home, so we’ve got to win a home game. We’ve been really stressing the importance of winning on the road, and we’re off to a good start. But, we need to get our first home win.” 

In order for Dallas to do just that, it will need to limit the productivity of the Lions’ offense. In Detroit’s last game before its Week 5 bye, it took on the Seahawks, and exploded for a season-best 42 points. In the Week 4 contest, the Lions – spearheaded by the backfield duo of Jahmyr Gibbs and David Montgomery – also extended their season-long streak of amassing 115-plus total rushing yards. 

Cowboys defensive coordinator Mike Zimmer understands that it won’t be easy for his defense, which could be without All-Pro EDGE Micah Parsons for a second consecutive week (ankle), to stop Detroit’s potent offensive attack. 

“It’s not only them (Gibbs and Montgomery). It’s the offensive line they have is really, really good,” Zimmer said Monday. “And they do a good job in scheming and getting guys reached and cut off. And then these backs can really hit the hole good. So again, it’ll be a really good test for us. Hopefully we can continue to just keep getting better and better and better as the season goes on.”