It’s almost unfathomable; yet, it’s a reality: The Lions, once again, lost to the Cowboys – and the officials – in Dallas. Yes, the officiating crew, just like in Detroit’s NFC Wild Card playoff game with the Cowboys during the 2014 season, played a role in the outcome of Saturday’s contest with Dallas. In that postseason game from nearly 10 years ago, the refs called a defensive pass-interference penalty on a Matthew Stafford pass intended for Brandon Pettigrew and then infamously picked up the flag. It was an egregious error on behalf of the officials that day, and the then Tony Romo-led Cowboys – which were trailing, 20-17, at the time – proceeded to come back to win the game, 24-20.
Since that devastating playoff loss at the hands of Jerry Jones’ team, the Lions have continued to be unable to beat the Cowboys. In fact, the Ford family-run franchise, since then, has dropped five consecutive games to Dallas, including four straight at AT&T Stadium. Saturday night should have been a different outcome, though. The “Brand New Lions” – just a week removed from clinching the organization’s first division title in 30 years – marched into “Jerry World” and went toe-to-toe with a 10-win Cowboys team. You can even make the argument that Dan Campbell’s team out-played the Mike McCarthy-coached squad.
Although Detroit’s offense wasn’t clicking on all cylinders, Aaron Glenn’s unit stepped up with a very respectable performance in “Big D.” For starters, EDGE Aidan Hutchinson arguably played his best game as a pro. He wreaked havoc against the Cowboys’ Dak Prescott all night long, and finished with a career-high five QB hits and four tackles for loss. He also tallied three sacks against the Dallas franchise passer, marking just the second time in his career in which he’s amassed that number of sacks in a single game.
Also, Hutchinson and his defensive counterparts impressively limited the Cowboys to just 61 total rushing yards, including a measly 2.9 yards per carry. The only area in which Detroit struggled defensively was in limiting the production of Cowboys Pro Bowl receiver CeeDee Lamb. Lamb constantly beat Lions cornerback Cam Sutton in their one-on-one matchups, and had a field day against Detroit’s secondary. The Oklahoma product finished with a season-high 13 catches and 227 yards, to go along with a back-breaking, 92-yard touchdown in the first quarter.
