It was a surprisingly low-scoring competition, but the Dallas Cowboys still clinched their fifth win of the season on Sunday, beating the Detroit Lions 24-6.
Most pregame talk revolved around the return of Dak Prescott, but the Dallas pass offensive has been a little quiet in this contest and it wasn’t until the final two minutes of the game before Prescott (19 of 25 for 207 yards) threw his first touchdown pass of the season. Instead, the Cowboys relied on their defense for most of the afternoon and drove the game. Dallas was actually 6-3 down at halftime but scored three touchdowns in the second half and didn’t allow the Lions to get into the end zone at all.
Detroit, starting the game without D’Andre Swift, lost Amon-Ra St. Brown to a concussion on his second drive of the game. Without their two biggest offensive threats, the Lions actually still managed to move the ball fairly efficiently (5.6 yards per play), but they undermined themselves by committing five turnovers and taking five sacks. Those errors were all it took for Dallas to post a comeback win.
Here are a few more things you should know about this game.
Why the Cowboys won
Timely turnovers, stingy defense and a strong running game. The Lions scored at least 24 points (and at least 35 in three of them) in each of their first four games of the season before being shut out by the Patriots in their fifth game. Dallas held Detroit to just six points in that game, with the aforementioned four turnovers and four sacks setting the tone for that performance. The Cowboys also got big plays from Ezekiel Elliott (two touchdowns on the ground) and Tony Pollard (109 total yards on 14 touches). Also, Prescott was efficient (8.3 yards per attempt) if not necessarily explosive on his return from a broken thumb.
Why the lions lost
sales. That’s all. For much of the game, the Lions and Cowboys were essentially even in possession, yards per game, yards per run, and yards per pass. But Detroit flipped the ball four times, and Dallas flipped it just once. Jared Goff was intercepted once each by Trevon Diggs and Jourdan Lewis, Jamaal Williams lost a fumble at the goal line when Detroit had a chance to take the lead, and with Detroit needing two desperate drives to land a comeback, Goff was picked off the Strip fired Dallas freshman Sam Williams. Then, after Dallas made it a three-point game, Goff was exposed by Micah Parsons.
turning point
After Diggs picked up Goff early in the third quarter, Dallas ripped down a seven-game 82-yard drive led by Elliott and Pollard. The two running backs combined for 64 yards on six carries, including Elliott’s 1-yard dash into the end zone to give the Cowboys their first lead of the game.
play highlights
After suffering a nasty knock to his knee late in the first half, it looked like Zeke had sustained a serious injury. Incredibly, not only did he come back into the game, but he also looked better than before the injury. That included a ridiculous full-throttle hurdle by a Lions defenseman to chip away at his biggest win of the day.
What’s next
The Cowboys are now 5-2 after playing the Lions and they will quickly complete the NFC North portion of their schedule. They host the Chicago Bears next week, bid farewell in week 9, then visit the Packers in week 10 and Vikings in week 11. The Lions are 1-5 and will be in action for 11 consecutive weeks after their farewell in week 7 next Monthly home games against the Dolphins and Packers are coming up, followed by trips to Chicago and New York to play the Bears and Giants, respectively.