Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports A Week 6 preview with David Halprin of @BloggingTheBoys about the matchup between the Detroit Lions and Dallas Cowboys. In a game that Detroit Lions fans have been waiting for with controlled fury patience, the Lions will head back to AT&T Stadium to take on the Dallas Cowboys. Fresh off their bye week, Detroit is running into a Cowboys team that must be eagerly anticipating their own break from football, ready to catch a rest and get a little healthier themselves. Football is back, and we would never pass up the opportunity to get some intel from the opponent’s perspective. We called on David Halprin of BloggingTheBoys.com to give us a look into the up-and-down start to the season for this Cowboys team, and how they’re shaping up for this Week 6 matchup. The start to the 2024 season, the Dallas Cowboys has seen more ups and downs than a trip to Cedar Point. How much of that variance in play has to do with Mike McCarthy’s leadership, how much of it is on the players or injuries, and how much of it is on the front office leaving the cupboard a bit bare? A combination of the bunch? As with most things, it is usually a combination of items. Mike McCarthy’s leadership has not been a problem, but his play-calling got in a rut for a bit that might have caused some of the offensive problems. He was not running motion/play-action as much as he was doing previously and was far behind the league average in those areas. He definitely made some adjustments in the last game and things looked better (except for Dak Prescott’s turnovers). Another problem was the run defense under new coordinator Mike Zimmer. In the Saints and Ravens games, the Cowboys were getting bullied and were often out of position. This led to Dallas having to play from behind and becoming one-dimensional on offense, skewing their stats. But Zimmer has seemingly got a hold on that issue as they shut down the Giants and Steelers run games the last two weeks The front office definitely could have done more in the offseason to prepare for 2024. Either signing a free agent running back or drafting one would have made sense. Getting a veteran run-stuffer or two along the defensive line earlier in the offseason would also have made sense. The injuries also play a role, but most of those have come up recently, the Cowboys were pretty healthy for the first few games. The Cowboys were the ninth-ranked offense by DVOA in 2023, finishing 11th in passing offense and 16th in rushing offense. Fast forward a year and Dallas ranks 19th in team offense DVOA through the first five weeks of 2024. What’s been the cause of the slow start for an offense that just invested $376 million into Dak Prescott and CeeDee Lamb? Some of the problems were touched on above. Mike McCarthy’s play-calling was definitely one area that seemed to be hurting the offense after he did a sensational job with it in 2023. But as mentioned, he seemed to get better last week with adding a little more creativity to the play calls, and utilizing more weapons on offense. We’ll see if that continues. Another problem was touched on above and that was the fact the Cowboys run defense was so bad that the Cowboys were falling behind in games quickly, forcing them to become a pure passing team. That didn’t allow for them to develop a run game and allowed the defense to really get creative with their pass rush since the run game wasn’t a concern. It was also a slow start for Dak Prescott and CeeDee Lamb. They weren’t able to get work together in training camp because of Lamb’s hold out, and they don’t seem quite in sync yet. Add in that they are breaking in two rookies on the offensive line and you have an offense that has been very inconsistent. Dallas’ defense is dealing with some injuries to key players like Micah Parsons, Demarcus Lawrence, and DaRon Bland–among others. How did the Cowboys handle being short handed in Week 5, how do you think their defense will look this week against Detroit, and do you think they get Parsons or Bland back for this matchup? First, I really doubt that Micah Parsons plays this week. It is likely the Cowboys will wait because next week is their bye and that seems like the smart play for his health the rest of the year. DaRon Bland is a maybe. Many observers think they will also wait another week on him to get him full rest with the bye coming and then have him ready for the rest of the year. But as of now the Cowboys are talking like he might play. He practiced in full on Wednesday. As for how the Cowboys competed without those guys last week, it was basically just the backups playing well. Chauncey Golston and Carl Lawson handled most of the defensive end work and they were pretty effective, notching pressures and limiting the run. Linval Joseph also started making plays in the middle which helped the situation. The Cowboys defense seems to be finally doing what Mike Zimmer is teaching, and it’s working. Now the Lions offense should be much more of a challenge than the Giants or Steelers, so I wouldn’t expect them to play as well as they have, but Dallas is going to roll those guys out there again this week and will probably need help from their offense to win this game. Is there a player or two you could highlight from this Cowboys team that may fly under the radar nationally and will ultimately surprise Lions’ fans by their level of compete? One guy who is the most talked about youngster for Dallas—that fans of other teams may not know much about—is LB DeMarvion Overshown. He tore his ACL last preseason in his rookie year, but now is playing regular snaps and he is a fast linebacker who also packs a punch when hitting ball-carriers. He has phenomenal sideline-to-sideline speed and his instincts are good for a young player. He is one of the keys to the run defense getting better. Wide receiver Jalen Tolbert had been a disappointment for two years with the team, but has started to come alive this year. With Brandin Cooks out, he led the team in receptions and yards last week including scoring the game-winning touchdown in the last seconds. He is starting to show real growth and Prescott trusts him. He could be in for an uptick in production as the season rolls on. What’s your most lucrative nugget of Cowboys’ intel that a Lions fan could benefit from hearing and putting on their bet slip for this Week 6 matchup? The Cowboys defensive resurrection over the last two weeks has come against some suspect offenses. The Giants offense is Malik Nabers and then the other guys, and the Cowboys had little problem containing the ineffectual play of Daniel Jones. The Steelers are a one-dimensional offense that loves to run the ball but really has limited offensive weapons outside of George Pickens, and also suffers from Justin Fields in the passing game. The Cowboys have spent their resources limiting those playmakers (Nabers, Pickens) and staying disciplined against the run. This week it’s a different ball game as the Lions are loaded with offensive weapons, and the Cowboys are short-handed on defense because of injuries. The Lions are going to score points, the Cowboys offense will have to keep up to be competitive in the game.