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Dallas Cowboys: 3 Bold predictions for Week 4 vs. Lions

By Randy Gurzi

ARLINGTON, TX - DECEMBER 26: Ezekiel Elliott #21 of the Dallas Cowboys dives toward the goal line to score a touchdown as Glover Quin #27 of the Detroit Lions defends during the first half at AT&T Stadium on December 26, 2016 in Arlington, Texas. (Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images)
ARLINGTON, TX - DECEMBER 26: Ezekiel Elliott #21 of the Dallas Cowboys dives toward the goal line to score a touchdown as Glover Quin #27 of the Detroit Lions defends during the first half at AT&T Stadium on December 26, 2016 in Arlington, Texas. (Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images) /
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Dallas Cowboys
ARLINGTON, TX – SEPTEMBER 16: Jaylon Smith #54 of the Dallas Cowboys hits Eli Manning #10 of the New York Giants in the third quarter at AT&T Stadium on September 16, 2018 in Arlington, Texas. (Photo by Tom Pennington/Getty Images) /

2. Jaylon Smith picks of Stafford

One thing being lost in the abysmal start from the Cowboys offense is the solid play from their defense. While they had some lapses in Week 3 that left wideouts running free, they’ve been good for the most part.

Linebacker Jaylon Smith is part of the reason they’ve been able to depend on this unit. Smith has been a great story as he suffered a terrible knee injury in his final game at Notre Dame and it cost him his entire rookie season, as well as his status as a sure-fire Round 1 pick.

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Instead, Smith fell to the second round and the Cowboys pounced. They knew he would redshirt his first season and then in year two, he was still recovering from nerve damage. He also had to play with a brace to protect him from drop foot.

Now playing free of his brace, Smith looks more like the player we saw with the Fighting Irish. In their first three games of the season, he has 22 tackles and two sacks. That’s a pace for more than 100 tackles and 10 sacks.

While he surely won’t keep up that sack number, Smith should keep finding himself around the football — especially now that Sean Lee is out hurt and he will be asked to step up as their team leader.

On Sunday, look for him to not only be around the ball but also to get his hands on it for his first career interception. The Cowboys defense as a whole is terrible at intercepting passes, but Stafford has thrown five of them so far. Here we predict he will add at least one more as Smith gets one for the trophy case.

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