Blogging The Boys
The winning streak is over. It seemed like a tough ask for the Dallas Cowboys to win three straight games against the three teams with the best records last season, and sure enough, it was. The Cowboys fell to the Detroit Lions on Thursday night, 44-30, putting their playoff hopes on life support. It was a frustrating game to watch with a little goodness sprinkled in. Here are my 10 thoughts on this unfortunate loss in the Motor City.
It wouldn’t be a Cowboys game if the team didn’t dig itself a hole early. They went down 21-0 against the Eagles two weeks ago, fell down 7-0 to the Chiefs on Thanksgiving, and then trailed 27-9 early in the second half. While the team does a good job fighting back into games, this repeated habit of falling behind is not a recipe for success. If you play with fire long enough, eventually you’ll get burned, and that’s what happened to them against the Lions.
Another element that reared its ugly head was turning the ball. The Cowboys had a couple of costly mistakes against the Eagles and turned the ball over on their opening drive against the Chiefs. They were fortunate enough to overcome those miscues, but their luck ran out in Detroit. The Cowboys’ offense turned the ball over three times, once on a Jake Ferguson fumble, and twice on a deflected pass that was intercepted. On the other side of the ball, the defense didn’t force a single turnover. It’s tough to win football games when you lose the turnover battle, 3 to 0.
It was great while it lasted, but the Cowboys’ defense didn’t bring the ‘A’ game to this one. At times, they made some plays, but far too often, they gave up big yardage plays to the Lions’ playmakers. Amon-Ra St. Brown, Jameson Williams, and Jahmyr Gibbs all had receiving plays over 25 yards. David Montgomery had a 35-yard rushing touchdown. Jared Goff had over 300 yards passing. At the end of the day, the Lions’ offense beat them in a multitude of ways as the Cowboys gave up over 400 yards and surrendered 44 points.
The Cowboys were dealt a huge blow when CeeDee Lamb exited the game early in the fourth quarter after trying to make a one-handed catch in the end zone. It didn’t look good as Lamb exhibited the fencing response with his hands after coming down hard on his head. He was taken to the medical tent and quickly ruled out of the game with a concussion. Despite exiting early, Lamb finished the game with six catches for 121 yards. Without the team’s star receiver, the Lions smothered George Pickens, keeping him in check. Ryan Flournoy stepped up and had nine catches for 115 yards, including a 42-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter.
