The Dallas Cowboys also won their eighth and final home game in the NFL with 20:19 against the Detroit Lions in Week 17. They survived a wild final phase in which a late touchdown from Amon-Ra St. Brown was ultimately not enough.
Lions @ Cowboys: At a glance
- Wide receiver CeeDee Lamb put on a gala performance for the Cowboys and set two franchise single-season records.
- In the end the game got really exciting again because Cowboys coach Mike McCarthy left the door wide open for the guests with once again questionable clock management.
- A wild final phase with several two-point attempts left the Cowboys shaking until the very end.
Lions @ Cowboys: The Analysis
The Lions took the lead on their first drive with a 41-yard field goal by Michael Badgley and it was already apparent that the run game would be an important factor, especially when played on the right side of the offense behind right tackle Penei Sewell. On the other hand, there wasn’t much going on on the left side.
The Cowboys also got into the opposing half, but a pass from Dak Prescott into the red zone ended up with safety Ifeatu Melifonwu, who had perfectly read CeeDee Lamb’s out route from the slot and jumped into the passing path in front of the receiver. However, the guests did not convert this interception into points and punted deep into the opposing half after a sack against Jared Goff.
On 3rd down from his own 8-yard line, Prescott came under heavy pressure, but as blitzer Derrick Barnes somehow missed the QB in his end zone, Prescott suddenly had space and fired a deep ball to Lamb, who was on a deep crossing route was on the way. He caught the ball, opponent Kindle Vildor went down, giving Lamb free rein for a 92-yard touchdown catch-and-run.
There were no more points until halftime because Goff threw an interception to Jourdan Lewis, who recognized a screen early. But in return, Lamb lost a fumble on the way to the end zone, the ball went through the same – touchback. Detroit also came very close to the end zone again, but on 4th & goal Goff ultimately missed Sam LaPorta and the ball was given away again.
Lions @ Cowboys: Game picks up pace after halftime
After the break, after a quick defensive stop, the Lions put together a drive that lasted more than seven minutes, which was boosted by a 22-yard run by David Montgomery. Montgomery then completed the game with a three-yard touchdown run to make it 10:7 for Detroit. The Cowboys responded with a 51-yard field goal from Brandon Aubrey, after which the Lions reached the red zone once again.
However, after a few successful 4th down conversions, Dan Campbell played it safe at the 7 on 4th&3. Although he initially left his offense on the field, they only tried to lure the opponent into the offside – the Cowboys didn’t play along and so they took the delay-of-game penalty and kicked another field goal to take the lead again.
The home team’s response was probably their best drive of the game. Under pressure, Prescott first found Brandin Cooks at 3rd & 5, whom he had previously thrown over several times, including for a possible touchdown, for 21 yards. A little later, Prescott actually threw an eight-yard touchdown pass to Cooks. The Cowboys took advantage of an obvious mismatch because Cooks was positioned off the line as a tight end in the formation with tight end LaPorta next to him in the slot. That led to safety Melinfonwu having to cover him and being outgunned in the end zone. The Cowboys took the lead again (17:13) with just over seven minutes left on the clock.
The Cowboys then managed to take time off the clock, but they had to punt again before the 2-minute warning due to a long sack by Aidan Hutchinson. However, the damage was limited, as safety Donovan Wilson made the preliminary decision with a dive for an interception against Goff.
As a result, Cowboys coach Mike McCarthy once again displayed questionable clock management and, among other things, attempted a deep shot into the end zone that sailed out of bounds and stopped the clock. Ultimately, Aubrey scored another field goal, but the guests got the ball back with 1:41 minutes to play (without timeouts) and marched down the field again. Goff actually found Amon-Ra St. Brown, who dove into the end zone for a touchdown.
Naturally, the Lions then tried a two-point conversion to win. And Goff actually found offensive tackle Taylor Decker in the end zone. But Decker apparently forgot to register with a referee as eligible. This made it illegal touching. However, there was subsequent confusion as to who had actually registered, as Dan Skipper also joined. Skipper told reporters that he had not signed up, while Decker said he had signed up. There are still no statements from the referees about the scene.
Apart from that, it was probably an illegal formation, although it is not clear whether the referees saw that too. The Lions then tried again and Goff threw an interception – but wait, the next flag! This time Micah Parsons jumped into the neutral zone before the snap – offside! On the third attempt, Goff simply threw an incomplete. The onside kick ended up going to Lamb.
It is the eighth win in the eighth home game for the Cowboys, who have maintained their chances of winning the NFC East title and at least vague hopes of being the top seed in the conference. The Lions defeat, however, allows the 49ers to bag the top seed on Sunday – with a win and a loss for the Eagles.
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Detroit Lions (11-5) @ Dallas Cowboys (11-5)
Result: 19:20 (3:7, 0:0, 7:0, 9:10) BOXSCORE
Lions @ Cowboys: Key stats
- Prescott’s interception in the first quarter was his first ever interception in the fifth game of his career against the Lions.
- Lamb’s 92-yard touchdown catch was the longest play from scrimmage in the NFL this season. It was also the second-longest touchdown pass in the Cowboys’ franchise history, only surpassed by a 95-yard touchdown pass from Don Meredith and Bob Hayes.
- Lamb also made history with his third catch of the game. Although this led to a fumble through the end zone in the second quarter, it was also his 112th reception this season. That meant a new season record in Cowboys history. He later surpassed the franchise single-season record for receiving yards (1,603 yards) and now holds both season records with one game left to play. In both cases, Michael Irvin was the previous record holder.
The star of the game: CeeDee Lamb (Wide Receiver, Cowboys)
CeeDee Lamb had the best game of his career and had 227 receiving yards, the second most of any Cowboys player ever. He scored the first touchdown in spectacular fashion, kept moving the ball and now holds the franchise single-season records for receptions (122) and receiving yards (1,651). Since he also recovered the onside kick at the end, he finally recovered his fumble earlier in the game.
The flop of the game: Jared Goff (quarterback, Lions)
Goff had a needed evening and was constantly under pressure, which forced him to make a few too many mistakes. Both interceptions were largely his fault, especially since they were both relatively short passes. The bottom line was -0.04 EPA/Play and -7.1 CPOE.
Analysis: Lions @ Cowboys – that stood out tactically
- The Cowboys defense was once again extremely variable at the front. Micah Parsons in particular was positioned everywhere and posed a threat from everywhere in the pass rush and against the run. But DeMarcus Lawrence, actually an edge rusher, also liked to be pushed inside in passing situations, so another pass rusher, Dorance Armstrong, came onto the field.
- The offense was also variable. The wide receivers CeeDee Lamb and Brandin Cooks in particular were the focus here and occasionally positioned themselves on the outside or in the slot and also ran vertical routes from both positions. In addition, the offensive line also got a little creative. Among other things, we saw left tackle as a tight end alongside right tackle Terence Steele to help out with run blocking on the side.
- The Lions avoided formations with more than five offensive linemen before halftime. However, this meant that run blitzes came through several times and caused tackles for loss. What was noticeable was that tight end Sam LaPorta was often the one who would have had to take the blitzer, but couldn’t block it at all.
- While the Cowboys primarily blitzed on third downs and in obvious pass situations, the Lions were much more aggressive, blitzing Prescott on nearly half of his dropbacks. But they were also punished more often with quick, precise passes. It was also noticeable that the Cowboys mostly showed 2-high looks, but the Lions also acted more often with single-highs and used Brian Branch more often in the box or in the slot in (press) coverage.