Editor: Joe Bryant. Game Recap Contributors: Mike Anderson, Michael Brown, Chris Burtt, J.D. Caldwell, David Dodds, Bobby Elder, Jim Enochs, Joel Faulhaber, Michael Flynn, Kevin Goldblum, Clayton Gray, Bob Harris, Fred Hebert, Jesse Hilsenrad, Drew Kendall, Jeff Lewis, Joey Matusek, Justin Oliver, Steve Prosapio, David Shick, Cody Smith, Scott Smith, Jeffrey Stout. Dallas 7 at Detroit 9 WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW Detroit Lions: Joey Harrington had a very poor outing in this game, completing 14 of 33 passes for only 104 yards and two interceptions, one of which was in the Cowboy endzone. The Cowboys defense pressured Harrington all game while covering the Lions receivers very well. Harrington also had little help from his offensive line. A terrible game in all facets of offense for the Lions. James Stewart rushed for 50 yards in 19 attempts and added 4 receptions for 41 yards for 91 yards of total offense... not too bad considering the ineffectiveness of the Lion offensive line during the game. Stewart also has been the Lions leading the receiver the past few games. The Lion WR's were almost non existent in the game due to the pressure put on QB Joey Harrington and the good coverage of the Cowboy secondary. The Lion defense finally put up a decent performance. They pressured Dallas QB Chad Hutchinson all game long and sacked him five times. They also caused Hutchinson to fumble twice. The Lion defense effectively shut down the Cowboy rush attack, only allowing a 3 yard TD plunge to Troy Hambrick, and the secondary did a good job of covering the Cowboy receivers. Do not expect the Lions to perform as well on a regular basis. Dallas Cowboys: Chad Hutchinson performance was only slightly better than Joey Harrington's. Hutchinson went 22/39 for 208 yards, no interceptions, and no TD's. Hutchinson was under tremendous pressure from the Lion pass rush all game and was sacked five times... mostly due to his immobility in the pocket. Hutchinson also lost two fumbles that were recovered by the Lions, one of which led to a Lion field goal. A very poor performance all around by the Cowboy offense. Emmitt Smith was held to 39 yards rushing in 16 attempts by the Lion run defense. Smith was dropped for losses behind the line of scrimmage several times in the game. Smith had an injury to his hand, and came off the field limping with 4 minutes to go in the fourth quarter after a running play and did not return. The Cowboy defense played very well, allowing Lion QB Joey Harrington only 104 yards through the air. The secondary covered the Lion receivers very well and intercepted Lion QB Joey Harrington twice, once in their own endzone. The Cowboy run defense allowed the Lion RBs a total of 52 yards combined on the ground. A very nice performance, but don't expect the Cowboy defense to do as well against better offenses. WHAT YOU OUGHT TO KNOW Detroit Lions QB: Joey Harrington had an extremely poor game, going 14/33 for only 104 yards, no TD's and 2 interceptions. Harrington was under constant pressure from the Cowboy pass rush, and his receivers were covered well on practically all pass plays. Just a plain ugly performance by Harrington and the whole Lion offense in general. RB: James Stewart had the best day offensively for the Lions, rushing for 50 yards in 19 attempts and adding 41 yards on four receptions. One of Stewarts reception came on a fourth and 3 on the Lions final drive of the game... he caught the pass and rumbled for thirteen yards, bringing the Lions into Jason Hanson's field goal range and setting up the game winning kick. Stewart has led the Lions in receptions the last two games and seems to be the Lions most reliable player right now. Cory Schlesinger played but was a non-factor in this game. WR: Az-Zahir Hakim caught only 2 passes for 17 yards in this game. Hakim did get a lot of looks from Harrington, but Hakim was well covered and a lot of Harrington's throws were off target because he was under pressure from the Cowboy pass rush. None of the Lion WR's did well in this game due to the Cowboy's constant pressure on Joey Harrington and the tight coverage by the Cowboy secondary all game. Bill Schroeder caught 3 passes for 23 yards in the game. Harrington seems to like to throw to Schroeder in the red zone, and one pass intended for Schroeder in the Cowboy endzone was picked off by a Cowboy defender... Schroeder was well covered on the play. Scotty Anderson played but was not a factor in this game. TE: Mikhael Ricks did not have a good day production wise (1/2), but was targeted several times by Joey Harrington. Several of the intended passes were batted down by the covering defender, and one nice 18 yard catch by Ricks was nullified by a penalty on the Lions. John Owens caught one pass for 12 yards and was not targeted any other time during the game. K: Jason Hanson was 3/3 (42, 43, and 44 yards) on field goal attempts, including the game winner. Pass Defense: A (surprisingly) good performance by the Lion pass defense. The pass rush was excellent with Dallas QB Chad Hutchinson being put under good pressure all game plus being sacked five times. The Lion pass rush also caused Hutchinson to cough up the ball twice, one of which lead to a Detroit field goal. The Lion secondary covered the Cowboy receivers very well all game. Avery nice performance, but don't expect to see this level of play form the Lion defense against a better offense. Run Defense: An excellent performance by the Lion run defense. They stopped NFL all time leading rusher Emmitt Smith cold and only allowed a 3 yard TD plunge to Troy Hambrick. A very nice defensive performance all around by the Lions. /**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/** Dallas Cowboys QB: Chad Hutchinson (22/39, 208 yards, no TD's) had a poor outing against a surprisingly stingy Lion secondary. He seemed to show very little mobility while under constant pressure and was sacked five times. However, a lot of Hutchinson's passes were dropped by Cowboy receivers even though they were catchable. Hutchinson also fumbled twice, one of which led to a Lion field goal. RB: Emmitt Smith was held to just 39 yards on 16 carries. Although you hear a lot of talk about it, the Cowboys showed no sign of reducing Smith's role in the offense. The Lions were all over Smith and nailed him several times behind the line of scrimmage. Smith had a hand injury, and also came off the field limping after a run late in the fourth quarter. He did not return. Keep a very close eye on the situation there to see how the carries will shake out. Troy Hambrick had just 5 rushes for 12 yards, one of which was a 3 yard TD plunge, the only score of the game for the Cowboys. He also added 2 receptions for 17 yards. Hambrick did not see any increased role in the Cowboy offense this game. WR: Joey Galloway led the Cowboy receivers with 6 catches for 56 yards. He had a nice 30 yard reception which led to Troy Hambrick's TD. Galloway seemed to be Hutchinson's favorite target and his first read on most pass plays. Darnay Scott caught 3 passes for 27 yards. He also received a fair amount of looks from Hutchinson in the game. Ken-Yon Rambo caught only 2 passes for 42 yards, including a nice 28 yarder. However, he didn't get a lot of looks from Hutchinson during the game. Antonio Bryant caught only one pass for six yards and was not a factor in this game. He got some looks, but also dropped several catchable passes. TE: Tony McGee caught three passes for 33 yards including a nice 17 yarder during the Cowboy's TD drive. He did get looks form Hutchinson, but not in the redzone. Pass Defense: The Cowboy pass defense shut down the Lions passing game. They put constant pressure on Lions QB Joey Harrington and kept the Lion receivers tightly covered all game. A nice performance, but don't expect the same against better offenses. Rush Defense: Performed well, held the Lions to just 52 yards from all Lion RBs combined on the ground.