Every week during the regular season Tim Twentyman will answer 10 good questions from his X account @ttwentyman in a feature we call "10 Questions with Twentyman."
20man: Terrion Arnold has been flagged for at least one pass interference penalty in all four games this season, and his eight total penalties are second most in the NFL. I'd be a lot more worried if he was consistently being beaten in coverage or didn't look the part. That's not been the case. He's been in position to make plays on the football, for the most part, but just has to clean up his technique. Teams have thrown at him 29 times and completed 16 of those (55.2 percent) with a passer rating of 83.1 and one touchdown. For a rookie cornerback, I'll take those numbers a month in.
It's a tough transition to the NFL for cornerbacks because the contact rules in this league are so different than in college. The league wants offense, points and big plays, and after five yards defenders have to keep their hands off. Arnold just needs to continue to hone his technique and start playing the ball more than the man. I think the more he plays the less we'll see some of the penalties. He's a pretty smart guy. I like the physicality in his game and how he challenges receivers. He just needs to play the ball more and he'll be fine.
20man: I think it's a little bit of all three. Don't forget Sam LaPorta missed about three weeks of training camp with a hamstring injury. He was still feeling the effects of that early in the season. When you storm onto the scene the way he did last year as a rookie with 86 catches for 889 yards and 10 touchdowns, defenses tend to take notice. He's getting the best cover safety or linebacker teams have. Then there's the Jameson Williams factor. Williams has emerged as a legitimate No. 2 weapon in this passing game, and I expect him to have a 1,000-yard season when it's all said and done. Those yards have to come from somewhere and early on it's a dip into LaPorta's numbers.
I wouldn't be too worried about LaPorta's start. He's finally past the hamstring issues and more teams are going to scheme for Williams and the big play over the top, which will open up opportunities for LaPorta in the middle of the field. I'd certainly like to see him more involved in the red zone because that's where he's at his best.
20man: It's a good question. How the NFL scheduling works is teams rotate playing all three other divisions within the NFC every year. For example, the NFC North was scheduled to play the NFC East in 2022, so Detroit played at Dallas and New York and hosted Washington and Philadelphia.
There's also a crossover game every year against the other two divisions in the NFC that is based on the standings within the division the previous season. So last season, the NFC North played all four teams in the NFC South and then the Lions played Dallas (NFC East) and Seattle (NFC West) because both teams finished second in their respective divisions the year prior. Detroit plays all four teams in the NFC West this year, so their crossovers against the other divisions are against Dallas (NFC East) and Tampa Bay (NFC South), who like the Lions last year, won their division. Whether that's home or away is determined years ahead of time.
This next part will make you happy. Next season the NFC North will play all four teams in the NFC East again and the Lions are scheduled to play Dallas at home, along with New York. Hope that helps.
20man: That's been a tough injury for the Lions with safety Ifeatu Melifonwu because defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn could certainly use his versatility to play some three-safety sets and mix in some dime looks with him. He's also a great box safety who can blitz.
This ankle injury has lingered longer than the Lions thought because they placed him on IR before the Seattle game and not to begin the season. That tells me they didn't think he'd be out this long. The team placing him on IR when they did means he won't be eligible to return until Week 9 vs. Green Bay.
20man: Don't discount what getting Brian Branch back for this game could mean for the Lions secondary. I think he's their best defensive back, and they really missed him against Seattle.
Dak Prescott, CeeDee Lamb and the Cowboys' No. 2 passing offense are going to make some plays, but I don't fear this Dallas receiving corps as a whole the way I did Seattle. I think the Seahawks have the best trio of receivers in the game and have a quarterback in Geno Smith that gets the ball out of his hands among the fastest of any quarterback in the league.
Tight end Jake Ferguson (22 catches) and wide receiver Jalen Tolbert (20) are the No. 2 and No. 3 options in the passing game after Lamb (25). It's a nice trio, but it's not at the level of what Detroit faced against the Rams and Seahawks, the two opponents this season that racked up passing yards on the Lions.
Dallas ranks 31st in rushing this season (82.0), so they are going to throw the ball, but I like Detroit's secondary matchup in this one as long as they don't let Lamb beat them. Lamb had 13 catches for 227 yards and a touchdown in the Week 17 matchup last season. Detroit has a much better secondary this time around with a front seven that's pressuring the quarterback more.
20man: The Lions like the versatility in the LB room and it says a lot about the leadership and character of a player like Alex Anzalone to slide over from the WILL – a position in which he's had back-to-back 100-tackle seasons – and play some SAM against Seattle. Malcolm Rodriguez came in and played the WILL. Glenn has no problem using that combo more with Barnes out.
Also keep an eye out for Trevor Nowaske, who came in and played some SAM against the Seahawks and made some plays late. I could see the Lions giving him more opportunities there as well. Glenn is going to play his defense and trust he has the players in that room to make the plays at SAM.
"Anytime there are any issues that go on in the linebacker room, listen, we have five guys that can go out there and play at a drop of a hat and we are going to continue to play that way," Glenn said Thursday.
The Lions also have Mitchell Agude, Isaac Ukwu, Abraham Beauplan, Cam Gill and Al-Quadin Muhammad on the practice squad who can all step in and play the SAM too. I wouldn't be surprised if we see some elevations at linebacker from the practice squad in the future to see what they can do.
20man: That's the plan for Detroit's offense every week. They are averaging better than 150 yards per game on the ground through their first four games and I expect that to continue. They got away from it a little bit vs. Tampa Bay and it was their only loss of the season. Dallas is down their top four edge rushers, so I really think this can be a game where OC Ben Johnson can pick his poison and attack Dallas much like he did Seattle Week 4.
The gameplan on defense doesn't change. Stop the run, pressure Prescott and don't let Lamb get behind them. Make Dallas earn everything they get. They do that and they can live with the results.
20man: The Cowboys could get cornerback DaRon Bland back this week after he missed their first five games with a foot injury. He led the NFL in interceptions last year and returned five of those for touchdowns. Dallas is on their bye next week, so it will be interesting to see if they play him this week or give him two extra weeks before San Francisco coming out of the bye.
Trevon Diggs on the other side has 19 interceptions over the last five years, but he'll give up some plays being aggressive and looking for the pick. Michigan fans know Cowboys slot cornerback Jourdan Lewis well. He had an interception against Detroit Week 17 last year. Malik Hooker and Donovan Wilson are a good safety duo.
Dallas' pass defense ranks 11th in the league coming in, but we all know a good pass defense in this league is the marriage between rush and cover. Can the Cowboys rush Jared Goff enough without their top four edge players? If they can't, it gives a huge edge to Detroit's offense in the passing game.
20man: Jack Campbell has started all four games at the MIKE and has played 72 percent of the defensive snaps. They sub him out on some obvious passing downs because Rodriguez and Jalen Reeves-Maybin are a little better as pass defenders. That's OK.
Campbell had seven tackles against the Seahawks and made one of the biggest plays of the game forcing that fumble from DK Metcalf that led to a touchdown for the offense. It was the cushion they needed on the scoreboard.
Campbell still has to get better as a pass defender. Teams have completed 11 of the 12 passes they've thrown his way with a touchdown, but Campbell's smart, fast, physical and fits what Glenn wants from that position on first and second down. Sure, you'd love a three-down Pro Bowler at that spot, especially from a first-round pick, but I see Campbell continuing to get better and see him on an upward trajectory this early in his career.
20man: His role in this defense is as a situational pass rusher and I don't see that changing anytime soon. He played 14 reps against Seattle and recorded one pressure, per Pro Football Focus. This is a 'what have you done for me lately' kind of league and when given the opportunity – the 14 snaps vs. Seattle were the most he's had in a game this season – he's got to start producing more.
