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Amon-Ra St. Brown shined (Detroit Lions photo by Jeff Nguyen
Before Thursday night's game at Ford Field, commentators and oddsmakers on Amazon Prime were giving every reason to believe the hot Dallas Cowboys would beat the Detroit Lions.
They were wrong. The Lions played great — on offense, defense and special teams.
First off, Amon-Ra St. Brown, who was dealing with a lower-ankle sprain and was a big if for the game, played — and played impressively — catching six passes for 92 yards.
Running back Jahmyr Gibbs scored three touchdowns. Running back David Montgomery had a good night that included a 35-yard rushing touchdown. Wide receiver Jameson Williams caught seven passes for 96 yards.
It was clearly a team effort. Lions wide receiver and returner Tom Kennedy returned a punt and three kickoffs for a total of 120 yards.
Quarterback Jared Goff was 25 of 34 for 309 yards. And Al-Quadin Muhammad impressed on defense with three sacks.
Not bad — not bad at all.
Here's what sports writers had to say.
It was now or never for the Detroit Lions in Thursday night's game against the Dallas Cowboys at Ford Field.
And they chose now.
Detroit entered the pivotal must-win matchup with its hair on fire, scoring 10 first-quarter points and holding off a ferocious comeback attempt from the red-hot Cowboys in a 44-30 Lions victory.
Shawn Windsor, Detroit Free Press:
Now that looked familiar. A lot like a year ago, truth be told, and a view the Detroit Lions will absolutely take. Have to take. Had to take ... if they wanted to keep their postseason goals in sight.
It had been a while since they played like this. All season, really, but with the season in the balance, and facing the hottest team in the NFL, all the Lions did was roll out their best performance of the year, beating the Dallas Cowboys, 44-30 on Thursday, Dec. 4.
Oh, it wasn’t perfect, especially defensively, but they made plays on that side of the ball when they needed to.
Jeff Seidel, Detroit Free Press:
On Thursday, we saw everything that had been missing. The Lions' defense was getting sacks and turnovers and holding the Cowboys to a bunch of field goals. The offense was getting the ball in the hands of their playmakers – give credit to coach Dan Campbell for being aggressive and calling a bunch of plays that turned into touchdowns.
Jahmyr Gibbs was doing it on the ground and through the air, punching in three touchdowns. Jared Goff was peppering the Dallas defense. And David Montgomery was powering the ball inside.
John Whiticar, Pride of Detroit:
Things were grim for the Detroit Lions after a week from hell that included the unretirement of Frank Ragnow, an in-game injury to Amon-Ra St. Brown, more officiating blunders, an injured reserve int for Terrion Arnold and Brock Wright, and multiple losses for the Pride of Detroit rooting guide.
Thankfully, a game against the Dallas Cowboys proved to be a much-needed cleanse. Not only are the Lions back in the playoff hunt, but things are looking up. The offense has seemingly turned a corner for the better, while the defense finally made some game-changing plays at pivotal moments. Sprinkle in some big plays on special teams, and it was an overall excellent night for the Lions.
The Cowboys were heating up at the right time, winning three of four. Their offense was already among the best in the league. Their defense had tightened things up after some high-quality deadline additions. They looked like a dangerous team, while the Lions limped into Week 14, losers of three of their previous five contests.
But there’s something about Detroit when pushed to the brink. It tends to hunker down and rise to the occasion. We haven’t seen it much this season, but we did Thursday night. This was a gutsy performance by the Lions in a game they absolutely needed. The offense was brilliant. The defense got five sacks and three turnovers. It wasn’t always pretty, but they took care of business.
Randy Gurzi, Sports Illustrated:
It was a playoff-level game between the Dallas Cowboys and Detroit Lions. Neither team would be eliminated from contention with a loss, but the path would become nearly impossible to overcome for the loser.
That being the case, both teams were expected to come out with a sense of urgency. Unfortunately, that was only true for the home team.
Dallas, who has had slow starts throughout the season, seemed out of sorts from the start. Their defense made a few stops early to keep them in the game, but the offense let one opportunity after another slip away. They fought back, but in the end, the Lions won 44-30, and we have three takeaways from the crushing defeat.
Semantics are only so important, but Thursday night’s showdown between the Dallas Cowboys and Detroit Lions at Ford Field wasn’t so much “must win” for each team as it was “can’t lose.”
When all was said and done, it was the home team that remained standing, the Lions emerging with a 44-30 victory. It didn’t elevate Detroit, which sits third in the NFC North, into the conference’s projected playoff field just yet but, per the NFL’s Next Gen Stats, the Lions (8-5) now have a 54% chance of qualifying for the postseason for a third straight year.
Joseph Hoyt, Dallas Morning News:
Before Thursday’s game, Cowboys owner Jerry Jones called Dan Campbell — a former Cowboys tight end — one of his football heroes. He gave Campbell such high praise for the way the Lions head coach persevered through initial head coaching struggles to, in Jones’ words, “evolve” into one of the best coaches in the NFL.
That evolution could probably be summarized in one statistic: the Lions hadn’t lost back-to-back games since 2022. They had won 14 in a row in those opportunities heading into the game against the Cowboys. That wouldn’t change Thursday.
The Cowboys played in their fourth game in 18 days and looked like it. Their defense couldn’t keep up with the speed of the Lions offense in a 44-30 loss. Their offense struggled to move people in the running game. There were plenty of sloppy moments from a team that couldn’t afford it.
We’ve seen it enough now, we should expect it. I’m not sure anyone quite expected this, as Jared Goff orchestrated a classic Lions scoring show, and the defense made big plays when absolutely necessary. The Lions thrashed the Cowboys 44-30 Thursday night at Ford Field, halting the angst, and for now, reaffirming who they are.
This isn’t a coincidence, not after three years of this act. Since 2022, the Lions are 15-0 in games following a loss, and that statistic as much as any defines Dan Campbell’s team and temerity. Next game up, next man up, next test to take.
Mitch Albom, Detroit Free Press:
The Lions had a mountain of internal problems going into this game: crippling injuries; inexperienced players; a recent lack of poor execution – no turnovers, bad line play, a quarterback who wasn’t getting enough time – and a dangerous tally of five losses, including their most recent defeat by the Packers a week ago.
Forget how good Dallas had been playing. If Detroit didn’t get out of its own way, this game seemed already decided.
But the franchise that, under Campbell, still hasn’t lost back-to-back games in more than three years, came out Thursday with eraser in hand, ready to wipe away every black mark on the board.
