Last week in the win over New England, Detroit's starting five upfront – Taylor Decker, Frank Ragnow, Graham Glasgow, Lang and Rick Wagner – had a dominant performance. Stafford was sacked once, and that was the only time he was officially hit on the stat sheet. Detroit also rushed for 159 yards in that 26-10 victory.

"Obviously, we take a tremendous amount of pride in making sure he (Stafford) has a clean jersey," Lang said Thursday. "I'm not going to say it's perfect, because it hasn't been. There's been times where there's been slips here and there in communication, technique, whatever it is, and he's taken some hits.

"I think he's doing a good job getting the ball out on time, which is important, and through the first three weeks I think everybody realizes that when you talk to him he says good protection, but you watch the film and it's just a group of guys in that O-line room that we feel like we can always do better. Obviously, that's really goal No. 1 is making sure you take care of the quarterback."

The tight ends, running backs, wide receivers and Stafford all deserve credit as well. The Lions will need all hands on deck again this week against a talented Dallas defense that ranks second in the NFL with 11 sacks.