Blogging The Boys
In the Detroit Lions’ last two runs to the playoffs under Dan Campbell in 2023 and 2024, they did not lose back to back games at any point. While they still have a lot of work to do to replicate making the NFC Championship Game in ‘23 or being the conference’s top seed like in ‘24, they took a huge step in the right direction towards at least making the playoffs by keeping this streak alive on Thursday at home versus the Dallas Cowboys. If the Lions do go on to the reach the playoffs, it would be their first time doing so three seasons in a row since 1993-95, and the win that has them in much improved position to do this has the Cowboys at severe risk of missing the playoffs for two seasons in a row for the first time since 2019-20. This was the final year of Jason Garrett’s tenure, and then the first year of Mike McCarthy’s time as head coach.
Thursday night had big implications between two teams trying to carry momentum into December, but the Cowboys were not quite up for the challenge of winning in a hostile road environment. In yet another road loss for Brian Schottenheimer, a concerning trend has carried over from his time as offensive coordinator under McCarthy, and that is the Cowboys offense being more passive and executing at a lower level on the road compared to at home.
Although the Cowboys showed some good fight to make this a game until close to the end, settling for field goals on their first three scoring drives, and turning the ball over on two of the other three drives in between, put Dallas in position to chase the game all night. The speed of the Lions was too much to catch figuratively and literally at times, with the Lions offense getting the touchdowns they needed to lead by as many as 18 in the second half, and the defense teeing off on Dak Prescott once the Cowboys were in desperation passing mode.
The Cowboys’ three-game winning streak is over, but their body of work over the last four games with wins at the Raiders, versus the Eagles, and on Thanksgiving against the Chiefs, still stands as something they can build on for the future. With the loss in Detroit though, that future is looking strongly like it will be 2026 until the Cowboys can resume any talks of being in the playoffs. They will be counting on an even deeper collapse by the Philadelphia Eagles to save their small hopes of reaching this year’s postseason.
The Eagles play on Monday night against the Chargers this week having lost two in a row, and it will be the Cowboys hosting the Chargers in two weeks after they stay in NFC North play and host the Vikings next Sunday night. Both of those games look more winnable for the Cowboys than at previous points this season, making this Lions game one...
