Cowboys-Lions on ‘Thursday Night Football’: What we learned from Detroit’s 44-30 win

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1. The Lions’ stars stepped up in a huge win, keeping Detroit’s playoff hopes alive. With their backs against the wall, the Lions’ offensive linemen came to life at Ford Field on Thursday and helped hold off the Cowboys’ ferocious attack. The win improves their play-off chances to 53%, according to Next Generation Stats – and they are in the field now, ahead of Sunday’s games – while a loss would have dropped them to 18%. All week it looked like Amon-Ra St. Brown wouldn’t play, yet he was there, starting Thursday night and catching Jared GoffFirst carry of the night – the first of six receptions for 92 yards in a gutsy performance. His biggest contribution came at the end of both halves, catching key passes on Lions scoring drives, including a 37-yarder to set up Jahmyr Gibbs‘ Third rush of the game. Gibbs also caught seven passes for 77 yards and usually made Cowboys defenders look silly. David Montgomery who had seen a reduced role in recent games, joined his partner in crime in the end zone with a 35-yard TD play and some tough runs. Jameson Williams also had a whaling game, with some big catches. The Lions needed every single point from their stars, and they got them with a season-preserving victory.
2. The Cowboys’ playoff chances took a big hit in the loss. The Cowboys’ resurgence has been a dramatic late-season storyline, but their playoff chances took a serious hit Thursday night, as Next Generation Stats pegged their chances at a paltry 8%. A win would have pushed them to 35%, but the Cowboys were in lane position most of the night, struggled to stop the explosive Lions offense and committed two key turnovers that led to Lions scores. Jake Ferguson fumbled for the third time (his second loss) in the last five games, and his penalty offset what would have been a pass interference call by the Lions’ defense, giving Dallas the ball at Detroit’s 1-yard line; instead, the Cowboys settled for third out of five Brandon Aubrey field goal. Aubrey was amazing, but the Cowboys brought up too many field goals in a touchdown battle. They fought hard, with Sam Williams‘ blocked field goal to turn the momentum and Dak Prescott runs away to the end – even without the best receiver. But the Cowboys had too many breakdowns and now they are looking at the outside field.
3. The Lions defense made the big plays they needed. After some meek defensive performances against the Giants and Packers, the Lions’ defense gave up ground Thursday night but produced some of the game’s most important plays. Jack Campbell had a big game with a sack (ruled out safe before being overturned) and a great hit on Jake Ferguson which led to a Lions TD. In the first game of the second half at Amik Robertson bowled a delivery that was intercepted by Derrick Barnes for his first career INT and running back at the Dallas 14-yard line, also followed by a Lions TD. Detroit’s pass rush set the tone early, with three first-half goals, plus two more in the fourth quarter to thwart Dallas’ comeback attempt. The biggest concern now is the safety of the Lions. Thomas Harper went down on the second defensive play, stretched the secondary thin, and then Brian branch was injured late in the fourth quarter. They’ll get a bit of a bye now to rest up, but losing both for an extended period of time would be a blow.
4. After Lamb left, Flournoy – not Pickens – stepped up. CeeDee Lamb had been carving up the Lions’ secondary, with six catches for 121 yards, early in the third quarter when he fell hard on an incomplete pass in the end zone. Lamb was helped off and ruled out with a concussion, which put the spotlight on George Pickens who had just two catches at that point and failed to catch the ball that the Lions turned into a 27-9 halftime lead. Pickens caught three passes on five targets for 22 yards after Lamb left and hurt his team with an offensive pass that wiped out a 23-yard catch by Ryan Flournoy . Pickens was also fortunate that his fumble inside the Detroit 5-yard line was recovered by a teammate, a guard. Tyler Smithallowing the Cowboys to score a TD and make it a two-score game early in the third quarter. Dak Prescott began dialing in more on Flournoy, who had career highs in catches (nine) and receiving yards (155) in the scrimmage, even with a fumble down two points late. Flournoy’s performance was excellent, but Pickens — a man who wants a big contract this offseason — couldn’t come up with Lamb out.
5. Campbell’s aggressiveness came out in a different way. Much was made this week about the Lions’ recent struggles on fourth down, failing to convert their last seven attempts on Thursday. That streak is still alive, but only because – gasp! – The Lions didn’t go on fourth down once against the Cowboys. There were several instances where Dan Campbell’s brand attacks were put to the test. Leading 10-6 early in the second quarter, Campbell elected to punt on fourth-and-2, and his defense rewarded him with a sack. Then midway through the third quarter, 27-16, Campbell sent out Jake Bates to give it a two-goal lead, but the attempt was blocked. It wasn’t even a thought on fourth-and-9, as Detroit extended its lead to 30-19 with just under 12 minutes left in the game. So you could say Campbell played it conservative on fourth down, but his aggressiveness came out in other forms. The Lions ran the ball just six times in the first half, taking an early lead and holding it. And when the Lions needed to protect the lead late, Campbell used a bunch of heavy tackles to break up the rushing yards, but he also left the game in a dagger on Amon-Ra St.’s 37-yard reception. Brown with almost three minutes left. However, this was not a courageous call; there was confidence in his elite players to get the job done. Campbell coached a good game and got the Lions back on track.

Next Gen Stats Insight for Cowboys-Lions (via NFL Pro): Lions CB DJ Reed covered Cowboys WR CeeDee Lamb on 13 snaps in Week 14, allowing receptions on all five of his carries for 105 yards.

NFL Research: Jahmyr Gibbs and Hall of Famer Barry Sanders are tied for the most touchdowns in NFL history (47) by a player before his 24th birthday.