With a trifecta of impact edge rushers out, what will the Cowboys pass rush look like?
Micah Parsons (high ankle sprain), DeMarcus Lawrence (Lisfranc), and 2nd-round rookie Marshawn Kneeland (meniscus) are all out.
Replacing them will include:
- Chauncey Golston, a 4th-year player with five career sacks, who picked up a half sack last game while playing 90% of defensive snaps.
- Tyrus Wheat, a 2nd-year player with 0.5 career sacks, who got a big jump in playing time last game with 60% of snaps.
- Carl Lawson, a 7th-year player with 27.5 career sacks, who picked up a half sack last game while playing played 52% of snaps.
If Goff has a clean pocket, he can be deadly as evidenced by last Monday night when he went 18/18 for 292 yards, 2 TD, 0 INT.
Can the Cowboys generate a pass rush without their top edge players? If the Cowboys decide to send more blitzes, it will be interesting to watch how well the Lions pass protection handles it. In the Lions favor is the fact that their starting offensive line will be intact with the return of Frank Ragnow from a left pec strain.
How productive is the Lions edge rush opposite Aidan Hutchinson?
The Lions edge position opposite Hutchinson was a big question mark coming into the year and has become even bigger with the season-ending losses of Marcus Davenport and Derrick Barnes. How this position resolves itself may be the key determinant in the final destination of this team.
Levi Onwuzurike, Josh Paschal, and James Houston received increased opportunities to fill that role last game. Which of these players can step up their game to become a consistent edge rusher?
All three have overcome eye-opening medical histories:
- Onwuzurike has made an extraordinary, almost unprecedented recovery from L5-S1 spinal fusion surgery in October 2022.
- Houston is coming back from a severe right ankle injury (suspected high ankle sprain) with a fibula fracture that wiped out 19 weeks of his 2023 season.
- Paschal has one of the more unique histories having recovered from a life-threatening melanoma in his right foot.
If the edge players can’t generate pressure, we may see more action from the LB position. The starters are Alex Anzalone and Jack Campbell, while Malcolm Rodriguez, Ben Niemann, Jalen Reeves-Maybin, and Trevor Nowaske have been getting significant snaps as well.
Rodriguez picked up a sack last week blitzing from the edge. Nowaske saw a lot of pass-rushing opportunities in limited time last game, and we may see much more of that vs the Cowboys.