Detroit, MI
Lions-Cowboys preview: Will Dallas’ strengths overpower Detroit problem spots?
The Detroit Lions and Dallas Cowboys are at very different levels of momentum, but the point stands that they are each in need of getting a win this week.
The Lions are at risk of missing the playoffs after a loss to the Green Bay Packers that has them 7-5 and trading wins and losses for eight straight games.
The Cowboys, meanwhile, have won three straight including victories over the two teams in last year’s Super Bowl, surging back into the postseason conversation at 6-5-1.
There’s still a path for each team to get into the playoffs and that gets much clearer with a win at Ford Field on Thursday.
Here’s a preview of the Lions’ Week 14 opponent, the Dallas Cowboys:
Three players to know
- Giving CeeDee Lamb a solid wide receiver partner was needed, but George Pickens becoming one of the top receivers in the NFL was not necessarily what was expected this season after being traded from the Steeler. Lamb’s still been very productive, despite missing three games due to an ankle injury, while Pickens has been electric in the Dallas offense. He’s second in the NFL with 1,142 yards on 73 catches with eight touchdowns. He’s also tied for the league lead in contested catches with 18, according to Pro Football Focus. This will be the first time Pickens faces the Lions in his career and he’ll keep the Detroit secondary busy.
- A name you might’ve heard linked to the Lions during the pre-draft process last season in edge rusher Donovan Ezeiruaku has quickly become a mainstay of the Dallas defense. The unit struggled heavily early on this season, but after trading Micah Parsons the Packers, it opened the door for Ezeiruaku to get snaps early and he’s proven to be a capable defender out of the gate. The Boston College product has the top defensive grade on the team with an 81.2 on PFF, 30 total tackles, two sacks and a forced fumble. He’s credited with 18 defensive stops, second for Dallas, and fourth in pressures with 28. While the interior D-line gets most of the attention for its star power with Quinnen Williams and Kenny Clark, Ezeiruaku is making a case as the Defensive Rookie of the Year from the edge spot.
- Coinciding with Dallas’ improved defense the past few weeks has been the return of linebacker DeMarvion Overshown from injury. He’s lost the majority of his first two seasons due to different significant injuries, but returned in Week 11 after tearing three ligaments in his knee less than a year ago. He brings a huge motor to the front seven, very similar to what the Lions get out of Jack Campbell, and seems to be a huge connective piece for the unit. Overshown should be all over the field and one of the guys the Lions will always have to be aware of on Thursday.
Quarterback corner
Dak Prescott has always been one of the more explosive quarterbacks in the NFL, but between injuries, personnel issues and years where the Cowboys don’t have any semblance of a run game, things have been inconsistent.
After getting his new weapon in Pickens and running back Javonte Williams trending to be a 1,000-yard rusher by the end of Thursday’s game, it’s opened up Prescott for a very strong season.
He played in just eight games last season, but Prescott’s been available all 12 games for Dallas, throwing for 3,261 yards on 69.3% completion, 25 touchdowns and eight interceptions.
Prescott’s a little more turnover-prone this season compared to some of his top years and he’s taken 17 sacks, but the production is hard to contain.
He’s thrown for 300-plus yards in four games this season, including the last two, and sits third in the NFL for passing grade this season on PFF, trailing former Lion Matthew Stafford and the Packers’ Jordan Love.
Keys to success
- Plug up the interior run game: The Cowboys had one of the worst rushing defenses in the NFL through Week 8 — and it still ranks poorly — but the past few weeks their unit has taken off. As Clark and Williams have changed the dynamic for the interior defensive line and it led to a pair of dominant performances against the Las Vegas Raiders and Philadelphia Eagles, allowing 90 total rushing yards on 30 carries across the matchup. The Kansas City Chiefs had a bit more luck rushing for 119 yards last week, but a lot of that damage was done on quarterback scrambles and end-around plays rather than trying to bound up the middle. The Lions are a team that prides themselves on winning through the O-line and the run game, but the Cowboys are proving to be one of the tougher teams at establishing the ground game against lately.
- Take the points: In contrast to the Lions, the Cowboys aren’t a particularly aggressive fourth down team. They go for it some here or there out of necessity, but convert just 50% of the time. When the option to get points is on the table, they typically do so behind one of the best kickers in the NFL, Brandon Aubrey, whose range goes up to 65 yards. The Cowboys find themselves in a lot of close games where every point matters, so if the opportunity presents itself to get points, Dallas is best suited to take them.
One big question
Will the Cowboys’ strengths overpower the Lions’ injury-plagued counterparts?
The matchup is incredibly rough for the Lions because of specifically where their injuries are heaviest at this point — interior offensive line and secondary.
The Lions are without left guard Christian Mahogany and there’s still uncertainty whether center Graham Glasgow is good to go, meaning the interior O-line could be made up of rookie Tate Ratledge, Kayode Awosika and Trystan Colon again.
The unit struggled last week with the Packers and just lacks experience like the Lions have had over the last few years. Going up against veterans in Quinnen Williams and Kenny Clark is going to be no easy feat for Detroit’s guard and center trio.
That spells a tough time for setting up running back Jahmyr Gibbs with some gaps to run through and puts quarterback Jared Goff at risk of operating without a good pocket, which is crucial to success.
On the other side of the ball, the Lions continue to deal with injuries to their secondary as safety Kerby Joseph is still trying to make his return after missing six straight games and cornerback Terrion Arnold is now officially out for the season.
The Cowboys have the top passing attack in the NFL behind star receivers in George Pickens and CeeDee Lamb, not to mention help from tight end Jake Ferguson.
The Lions had their memorable “Legion of Whom” game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, but the group hasn’t quite lived up to that weekly and some aren’t with the active roster anymore.
It’s certainly not to say the Lions can’t come away with a win on Thursday, but when the opposing team’s strength are what Detroit is weakest at in this moment, it makes for a big question mark heading into the game.
DETROIT (WXYZ) — Michigan has some of the greatest natural resources in the country, and those working to protect them met Tuesday for an annual conference.
The fourth annual MI Healthy Climate Conference happened at Huntington Place in Detroit. I had a chance to see some of the innovative ways they are working to protect our environment.
Watch Glenda Lewis’ video report below:
4th annual MI Healthy Climate Conference held in Detroit
“One thing that brings Michiganders together is understanding the beauty and the importance of the environment around us,” said Jeff Johnston with the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy.
In attendance for the event were 700 speakers and about 50 speakers who are passionate about preserving what’s most precious to the state of Michigan.
“We’re right here on the beautiful Detroit Riverfront, part of the Great Lakes system. We’ve got 3,200 miles of coastline in Michigan on the Great Lakes, 11,000 rivers. I’ve got all these amazing numbers that talk about just how important our relationship with the natural world is,” Johnston said. “To engage in climate action, to mitigate the problems of greenhouse gases and fossil fuels that endanger that environment, endanger our livelihoods and our lives is just some of the most important work we can be doing.”
WXYZ
The conference focuses on green funding and a strong future.
“I worked on a youth magazine to engage young people in conservation,” said Jenny Kalejs, a MI Health Climate fellow in the Upper Peninsula. “So, we do land stewardship protection of ecologically sensitive lands, organizing community partners, so we can better collaborate.”
WXYZ
Michael Goldman Brown Jr. is an MI Health Climate fellow in Detroit.
“I’m sited at Transportation Riders United right here in Detroit, and I’m working on expanding and advocating for better transit here in Detroit but also the entire state of Michigan,” MI Health Climate fellow Michael Goldman Brown Jr. said.
We caught up with a couple of the more than two dozen people working as fellows with a number of nonprofit organizations and green-focused businesses and municipalities to help create an air of change.
“About a third of pollution comes from transportation, from cars and trucks and planes and everybody getting where they need to go,” said Megan Ownens, the director and Transportation Riders United. “So that’s why we at Transportation United are part of this. We want to make sure people have options other than their car.”
WXYZ
Executive director of Community 2 Me Network Shawna Forbes Henry wants to protect Detroit’s footprint.
“Detroit is an area that is heavily impacted by various climate changes and emergencies, so we are here to ensure that our residents have the training that they need, have the economic resources that they need and the have the ability to feed that pipeline for employment,” Henry said.
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer spoke to all the conference attendees by video, announcing a $1.8 million grant competition for industrial decarbonization, where applicants will come up with cost effective ways to reduce greenhouse emissions.
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DETROIT – What started as a seemingly routine home repair quickly unraveled into something far more troubling for one Detroit family.
A man appeared to be posing as a contractor — arriving in construction gear and accompanied by two teens — showed up April 7 at a west side Detroit home, offering to do brick work for about $300. But according to the homeowner’s daughter, the situation started to seem fishy — and expensive — fast.
Tameka Kelly said the trio told her 76-year-old mother they were with “State Line Construction” and began working almost immediately.
“I just felt used and taken advantage of,” Kelly said, looking back at the situation.
“They kept working — kept putting cement down, I said, ‘you might want to tell them to stop.’ He said, ‘well right now it’s $1129.’ I said, ‘my mother‘s not paying you $1000,’” Kelly said.
At one point, the man even offered to repair the bottom of the home’s wheelchair ramp — something Kelly said her sister, who lives with her mother, relies on daily. But she refused because something just didn’t sit right.
“I gave him the $300,” Kelly said, hoping they would just leave. “I thought, well, he knows where my mom lives. I don’t want him coming back trying to do something to my mom‘s house or something to our vehicles.”
Kelly later tried to confront the man, who identified himself as Brian Lopez, and called the number on the invoice.
“When I called he was like, ‘no no no brickwork no brickwork’ I said, ‘yes you did. You were just here. I said I don’t forget a voice,’” she said.
But the biggest red flag came when she looked closer at the address listed on the invoice.
The address — 70 West Maple in Troy — turned out to be a McDonald’s.
“I really got upset when I found out that address was to a McDonald’s,” Kelly said.
Initially, Kelly said when she tried to file a report with Detroit police, she said they told her the situation was a civil matter and she could not file one. She then filed a complaint with the Michigan Attorney General’s Office.
Now, Detroit police tell Local 4 they will be taking Kelly’s fraud report, and once that is completed, an investigation will follow.
State Line initially told Local 4 they were not familiar with a Brian Lopez, then an attorney for State Line construction told Local 4 that, after checking the company’s records, there is no Brian Lopez that works for the company. As a matter of fact, the attorney said, State Line Construction does not do cement or residential construction. He said they focus on electrical work.
Attempts by Local 4 to reach the man going by the name Brian Lopez with the number given were unsuccessful.
Kelly said she felt compelled to speak up to prevent others from falling victim.
“I’m really upset about it, and I don’t want it to happen to anybody else,” she said.
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