With the Dallas Cowboys’ season at risk, the Cowboys played fast and loose with the football against the Lions. In the end, two early turnovers helped put Dallas into too deep of a hole to climb out of.
The Lions handed Dallas a 44-30 loss, Jahmyr Gibbs 13-yard touchdown run, his third of the game, with 2:19 remaining. D.J. Reed’s interception of Dak Prescott with 1:06 left sealed the win.
The loss drops the Cowboys (6-6-1) back into 10th in the NFC playoff standings.
They now trail the Panthers by a half-game for ninth and the Lions by 1.5 games for eighth. The 49ers currently hold the final wildcard slot at 9-4, 2.5 games ahead of the Cowboys.
Dallas is now two games behind the Eagles for the NFC East.
Dak Prescott finished the game 31-for-47 for 376 yards, a touchdown and two interceptions. Javonte Williams had 17 carries for 67 yards and a score.
CeeDee Lamb was having a monster game before a concussion knocked him out of the game in the first half. Lamb had six catches for 121 yards.
Ryan Flournoy replaced Lamb and had nine catches for 115 yards and a touchdown.
But a Jake Ferguson fumble and an interception off the hands of Pickens had Dallas down by 16 points early in the second half.
The Cowboys’ defense yielded 111 yards on 20 carries along with four touchdowns.
Gibbs had 43 yards on 12 carries with his three scores. David Montgomery had six rushes for 60 yards and a touchdown.
First Quarter Highlights
The Lions opened the game with an eight-play, 44-yard drive. Jake Bates cashed in the drive with a 38-yard field goal.
Dallas answered with a 57-yard field goal from Brandon Aubrey just under three minutes later.
After the teams exchanged punts, and the Cowboys narrowly avoided getting called for a safety, Detroit only had to drive 42 yards to take a 10-3 lead with two minutes left in the quarter.
Second Quarter Highlights
The Cowboys chewed up nearly eight minutes on 16 plays on their next possession. But they had to settle for a 42-yard field goal by Aubrey to make it 10-6.
The Lions quickly went three and out and punted.
But Prescott was sacked for a 15-yard loss and two plays later, Jake Ferguson was stripped of the ball after a catch.
Detroit recovered, shaking off two early penalties, to drive 53 yards on just four plays. The last 35 coming on Montgomery’s 35-yard run for a 17-16 lead.
The two teams exchanged field goals in the final minute of the half, giving the Lions a 20-9 lead at the break.
Third Quarter Highlights
Dallas got the ball first and held onto it for all of one play.
A Prescott slant pass to Pickens bounced off his chest and right into the arms of linebacker Derrick Barnes at the Cowboys’ 37.
Barnes returned the pick to the 14. Two plays later, Goff hit Isaac TeSlaa for a 12-yard touchdown and a 27-9 Lions lead.
The Cowboys answered back with a nine-play, 65-yard drive capped by a one-yard Williams’ touchdown run.
But the drive proved costly as CeeDee Lamb was knocked out of the game with a concussion after landing hard and hitting his head.
The Lions drove into field goal range, but Sam Williams blocked Bates’ 52-yard attempt. The Cowboys couldn’t get going but did get in range for a 63-yard field goal by Aubrey to make it 27-19 going into the final quarter.
Fourth Quarter Highlights
Detroit extended the lead back to 11 points on a 46-yard field goal by Bates with 11:50 left.
The Cowboys struck back less than two minutes later on a 42-yard touchdown pass to a wide open Flournoy. Prescott hit Ferguson on a two-point try to cut the lead to 30-27 with just under 10 minutes to play.
On the ensuing drive, Goff hit Jameson Williams on a 29-yard pass.
A roughing the passer call tacked on 15 more yards.
Two plays later, Gibbs punched it in from 10 yards out to give the Lions a 10-point lead again with 7:17 left.
Dallas drove 56 yards in 12 plays, but had to settle for another Aubrey field goal, this one from 29 yards out to make it 37-30 with 3:42 left.
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Why did they defer after winning the coin toss?!?! Does anyone on the Cowboys know the team who scores first has won about 64% of the time since 2000. So, giving the ball to the opponent with a chance to SCORE FIRST makes no sense. And what happened tonight, Lions drove down the field on the first possession of the game and scored first and won the game.
But, of course, there was a lot more that happened besides the coin toss and it was not good on the Cowboy side. In a nutshell, big early lead for the Lions and the Cowboys could not keep up DURING the game or catch up in the end. Actually, the game never seemed be out of the Lions hands.
They squandered chances in the first half, as their 9 points attest to. Then lots of late empty calorie passing yards by DP, which is par for his course, but for me, they were never a threat to win. There was always a big enough gap in the score to not get very excited.
Outside of an implosion by the Eagles, this team is probably done as far as playoffs. In fact, during the game they put up a graphic, showing if the Cowboys lose the game, they have a 9% chance. The carrot that has been waved in front of the patient, loyal Cowboy fans this year and for a total of 30 years now is growing rotten.
BTW, what is happening with Parson’s BFF, Trevon Diggs?!?! Making nearly $20 MILLION a year and doesn’t even show up with some mysterious “concussion at home” excuse. Sounds more like another malcontent like MP. So, they literally and figuratively threw that rookie “steal” Revel to the Lions and he got eaten alive. Obviously, he is not ready, as predicted.
Eagles have to lose to LA for them to have any shot at this point.
The latest rage is to kickoff to start the game and get the ball first to start the second half. The theory is you can double up if you score just before halftime. The Patriots and Chiefs made it all the rage.
I’d rather have the ball first and put the pressure on the other team ASAP, myself.