Inside The Star
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.
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.
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.
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...
