Blogging The Boys
The Cowboys looked disinterested in one of the biggest games of the season.
There was a lot on the line in this Thursday night showdown between the Dallas Cowboys and Detroit Lions. With both teams fighting for a playoff spot, the winner would find itself securely in the hunt while the loser would face an uphill battle to reach the postseason.
Unfortunately, the task just got that much tougher for the Cowboys as they fell to Lions, 44-30.
Dallas didn’t do itself any favors in this one. A pair of costly turnovers, inopportune penalties, poor tackling at times and Detroit owning the field position battle for much of the first half led to a deficit that the Cowboys just couldn’t overcome. Especially when they were adding three points at a time with field goals instead of scoring touchdowns.
Adding injury to insult, Dallas also saw CeeDee Lamb leave the game early in the third quarter due to a concussion. A huge loss, he had earned a game-high 121 receiving yards on six catches before being sideline.
The Cowboys chances of making the playoffs have plummeted.
Both the Cowboys and Lions desperately needed a win Thursday night in order to stay relevant in the NFC playoff picture.
The Cowboys stayed in the game with kicker Brandon Aubrey drilling three field goals of 55+ yards, and they even trimmed the deficit to three points in the fourth quarter. But Jahmyr Gibbs and the Lions’ offense couldn’t be stopped in the second half, and rolled to a 44–30 victory.
The Lions improved to 8–5 with the win. They remain in third place in the crowded NFC North, but are now just one game back of the 49ers (9–4) for the NFC’s final wild-card spot. Dallas, on the other hand, falls to 6–6–1 and will need a dramatic late-season run and some help in order to make the playoffs.
Entering the night, the Lions and Cowboys were the first two teams on the outside looking in at the playoff picture. That’s still the case following the Lions’ victory, but both teams’ chances to make the playoffs changed drastically with the Thursday Night Football result.
According to Next Gen Stats, the Lions now have a 53% chance to make the playoffs. Had they lost, that number would’ve dropped to 19%. The Cowboys’ playoff chances look rather bleak at just 9%. If Dallas pulled out a win Thursday night, Next Gen Stats would’ve given it a 39% chance to make the playoffs.
The Cowboys will likely need a full Eagles collapse to make the playoffs.
The Dallas Cowboys entered Thursday...
