It was a surprisingly weak contest, but the Dallas Cowboys nonetheless earned their fifth win of the season on Sunday, beating the Detroit Lions 24-6.
Most of the talk leading up to the game was about Dak Prescott returning, but Dallas’ pass offense was somewhat quiet in this contest and it wasn’t until the final two minutes of the game before Prescott (19 on 25 for 207 yards) throws his first touchdown pass of the season. Instead, the Cowboys relied on their defense and ran for most of the afternoon. Dallas actually led 6-3 at halftime, but scored three second-half touchdowns and didn’t allow the Lions into the end zone at all.
Detroit, which entered the game without D’Andre Swift, lost Amon-Ra St. Brown in his second practice of the game with a concussion. Without their two main offensive threats, the Lions still managed to move the ball quite effectively (5.6 yards per play), but undermined themselves by committing five turnovers and taking five sacks. Those errors were all Dallas needed to stage a comeback win.
Here are some other things to know about this game.
Why the Cowboys won
Timely turnovers, stingy defense and solid running game. The Lions scored at least 24 points in each of their first four games of the season (and at least 35 in three of them) before being shut out by the Patriots in their fifth game. Dallas held Detroit to just six points in this one, with the aforementioned four turnovers and four sacks setting the tone for this performance. The Cowboys also got big plays from Ezekiel Elliott (two rushing touchdowns) and Tony Pollard (109 total yards on 14 touches). In addition, Prescott was effective (8.3 yards per attempt), if not necessarily explosive in his return from a broken thumb.
Why the Lions lost
Sales figures. It is more or less that. For much of the game, the Lions and Cowboys were essentially even in time of possession, yards per play, yards per rush, and yards per pass. But Detroit turned the ball over four times and Dallas only turned it over once. Jared Goff was intercepted once each by Trevon Diggs and Jourdan Lewis, Jamaal Williams lost a fumble on the goal line when Detroit had a chance to take the lead, and with Detroit needing two desperate drives to stage a comeback , Goff was fired by Dallas rookie Sam Williams. Then, after Dallas made it a three-point game, Goff was fired by Micah Parsons.
Turning
After Diggs knocked out Goff early in the third quarter, Dallas ripped off a seven-play, 82-yard drive led by Elliott and Pollard. Both running backs had 64 yards on six carries, including Elliott’s one-yard dive in the end zone to give the Cowboys their first lead of the game.
Highlight Play
After taking a bad knee blow towards the end of the first half, he looked like Zeke could have suffered a serious injury. Incredibly, not only did he get back into the game, but he looked better than before the injury. This included a ridiculous full-speed obstacle from a Lions defender to interrupt his biggest win of the day.
And after
The Cowboys are now 5-2 after facing the Lions and they will quickly complete the NFC North portion of their schedule. They host the Chicago Bears next week, take their day off in Week 9, then visit the Packers in Week 10 and the Vikings in Week 11. The Lions are 1-5 and will be in action for 11 consecutive weeks after taking their week 7 bye. The following month, home games against the Dolphins and Packers will be followed by trips to Chicago and New York to play the Bears and Giants respectively.