Blogging The Boys
The Cowboys won the toss and deferred which put them on defense to start.
After speculation as to whether Lions wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown would even play in this game… the very first play of it went to him for a 7-yard gain.
The Cowboys were able to get Detroit into a third down two plays later though, but unfortunately Jahmyr Gibbs was able to help them out of it. Gibbs was actually a point of frustration for the defense for a majority of this first possession, but as soon as the Lions reached the redzone things got a little bit tighter.
Donovan Ezeiruaku had a tackle for loss on second down with Detroit really threatening and then a play later James Houston (a former Lion) took down Jared Goff for the sack. The Lions kicked a field goal to start the scoring off.
SCORE: COWBOYS 0, LIONS 3 (Jake Bates 38-yard field goal)
The Cowboys took the field with purpose and clearly wanted to get on the board themselves. Dak Prescott was able to connect with George Pickens early on and with Jake Ferguson for an impressive conversion on a second and 15, but unfortunately the Lions defense forced a 3rd and 10 and were able to get the offense off of the field.
Brandon Aubrey was able to attempt a 57-yard field goal with a chance to equalize though, and thankfully we all know how those things tend to go.
SCORE: COWBOYS 3, LIONS 3 (Brandon Aubrey 57-yard field goal)
The Cowboys defense really began to show itself on the next possession. Dallas was getting consistent pressure on Jared Goff and on second down got to him so much so that he threw an incompletion that the officials initially let go as a fumble (it was clearly a forward pass). Ultimately it was a three and out which led to a punt and thanks to a penalty the Cowboys began the next drive inside of their own 5-yard line.
That field position wound up being treacherous. When the Cowboys were facing third down Dak Prescott was under pressure from the Lions defense and was sacked for what officials initially ruled was a safety. The call was looked at though and while the sack stood it was ruled that Prescott was not taken down for two Detroit points. The Cowboys punted it away and the Lions took over with tremendous field position to start.
It was the Dallas 42-yard line specifically where Detroit started and if you give one of the better offenses in the NFL that kind of start then they are usually going to find a way. Despite trying to involve Dan Skipper on offense again (let it go, Lions) and failing Detroit saw Amon-Ra St. Brown rip off a big play and eventually David Montgomery punch it in for the game’s first touchdown.
SCORE: COWBOYS 3, LIONS 10 (David Montgomery touchdown)
The first quarter ended with the Cowboys offense moving a bit.
