It was a surprisingly low-scoring contest, but the Dallas Cowboys nevertheless secured their fifth victory of the season on Sunday, defeating the Detroit Lions 24-6.
Most of the talk leading up to the game was about the return of Dak Prescott, but the Dallas pass offense was somewhat quiet in this contest and it took 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 leaned on their defense and run game for most of the afternoon. Dallas actually trailed 6-3 at halftime, but scored three second-half touchdowns and did not allow the Lions to get into the end zone at all.
Detroit, which entered the game without D'Andre Swift, lost Amon-Ra St. Brown on its second drive of the game with a concussion. Without their top two 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 miscues were all Dallas needed to stage a comeback victory.
Here are a few more things to know about this game.
Why the Cowboys won
Timely turnovers, stingy defense and a strong run 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 that performance. The Cowboys also got big games from both Ezekiel Elliott (two touchdowns on the ground) and Tony Pollard (109 total yards on 14 touches). Plus, Prescott was efficient (8.3 yards per attempt), if not necessarily explosive in his return from a broken thumb.
Why the Lions lost
Turnovers. That's about it. For much of the game, the Lions and Cowboys were essentially even in time of possession, yards per play, yards per run and yards per pass. But Detroit turned the ball over four times, and Dallas turned it over only 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 desperation drives to stage a comeback, Goff was strip-sacked by Dallas rookie Sam Williams. Then, after Dallas made it a three-score game, Goff was strip-sacked by Micah Parsons.
Turning point
After Diggs picked off Goff early in the third quarter, Dallas ripped off a seven-play, 82-yard drive led by Elliott and Pollard. The two running backs combined for 64 yards on six carries, including Elliott's 1-yard plunge into the end zone to give the Cowboys their first lead of the game.
Highlight play
After taking a nasty looking hit to his knee toward the end of the first half, it looked like Zeke might have suffered a serious injury. Incredibly, he not only came back into the game, but looked better than he did before the injury. That included a ridiculous full-speed hurdle of a Lions defender to break off his biggest gain of the day.
What's next
The Cowboys are now 5-2 after playing the Lions and they will quickly finish up the NFC North portion of their schedule. They host the Chicago Bears next week, take their bye 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 taking their bye in Week 7. The next month features home games against the Dolphins and Packers followed by trips to Chicago and New York to take on the Bears and Giants, respectively.