Jared Goff’s streak of completed passes ended with his first throw. By that time, the Detroit Lions were already making comments about the controversial 2-point conversion from their loss to the Dallas Cowboys nine months earlier.
Goff threw for 315 yards and three touchdowns, while David Montgomery scored twice on the ground as Detroit dominated Dallas 47-9 on Sunday. This marked the Cowboys’ fourth straight heavy loss at home.
However, the Lions (4-1) had little to celebrate, as they lost pass rusher Aidan Hutchinson to a serious left tibia injury in the third quarter, which would require surgery before he could return home.
The injury occurred while Hutchinson was sacking Dak Prescott, and his leg seemed to snap above the ankle after hitting teammate Alim McNeill’s leg.
“He’s a guy who’s part of the heartbeat of this team, he’s a leader, does everything right,” Goff said. “And to have him go down like that, and be visibly upset is tough for all of us. But knowing him, he will be fine. He will bounce back.”
Prescott threw two interceptions in what became the worst home loss for the Cowboys (3-3) since 1988. They became the first team since at least 2000 to trail by 14 or more points at halftime in four straight home games, including playoffs.
Detroit led 27-6 at halftime, bringing Dallas’s total halftime deficit at AT&T Stadium to 110-35, dating back to a wild-card playoff loss to Green Bay in January.
This losing streak followed a remarkable 16-game home winning streak, which was the second longest in franchise history. Dallas has allowed 167 points in this four-game home stretch, marking the third most in NFL history.
“I’m not a guy to hit the panic button,” Prescott said. “You never prepare for that or think that can happen the way it did today, here at home, again. Now dropping three at home, a place that we’ve been great.”
Goff had set an NFL single-game record by completing 18 consecutive passes in the Lions’ 42-29 win over Seattle before their bye week. His streak of 19 completions in total ended when he failed to connect with running back Jahmyr Gibbs on the second play.
On Detroit’s first play, coach Dan Campbell made a remark about the officials who had penalized a crucial 2-point pass in the Lions’ 20-19 loss to the Cowboys last December. Dan Skipper was reported as eligible for a basic 5-yard run by Montgomery.
He was the tackle that officials said was eligible when Taylor Decker caught the 2-point pass from Goff nine months ago.
The Lions were confident that Decker had made himself eligible, but it didn’t matter. The loss cost them a chance at the top seed in the NFC, and they later lost the conference championship game in San Francisco.
With the Lions ahead 34-9 in the third quarter, Decker was declared eligible again on first down from the 2-yard line. Goff threw a pass to him in the end zone, but Damone Clark broke it up.
“Yeah, we were joking we might throw two to two tackles,” Goff said after the Lions scored at least 40 points in consecutive games for the first time since 1962. “Tried to fit that into Decker, and couldn’t make it work.”
Against a Dallas defense missing its two pass rushers, including two-time All-Pro Micah Parsons, as well as a starting linebacker and cornerback, Goff went 18 of 25 without throwing an interception. He became just the second quarterback to have a passer rating of at least 150 in back-to-back starts; Drew Brees was the other in 2018.
Sam LaPorta made a 52-yard touchdown catch on a trick play, where he was wide open after Goff pitched to Montgomery, who then pitched to Amon-Ra St. Brown, who passed it back to Goff for the deep throw.
Montgomery’s first touchdown was a twisting, tough 16-yarder that put Detroit ahead for good at 7-3.
Prescott’s first interception — and the first of five turnovers for Dallas — came in the end zone on a sprinting play by Brian Branch when the Cowboys had a chance to regain the lead in the first quarter.
Branch had another interception and became the second player in franchise history to have two picks and a forced fumble in the same game.
“I thought we really played the most complete game we’ve probably played here in a long time, if not the most since we’ve been here,” fourth-year Lions coach Dan Campbell said.
“We applied pressure, we finally got a multiple takeaway game. We’ve talked about it. These things will come in bunches.”
After Goff threw a 37-yard touchdown pass to Jameson Williams, giving the Lions a 34-6 lead early in the third quarter, chants of “Let’s go Lions” filled the air.
Meanwhile, Prescott, CeeDee Lamb, and the rest of the team faced loud boos. The star quarterback and his All-Pro receiver struggled to connect, and Prescott ended with a 42.2 passer rating, which is the second-worst of his career.
“A loss is a loss,” Lamb said. “Obviously at home is terrible. Us not scoring and them almost putting up 50 is even worse. As far as the confidence level, we’ve got time to regroup.”
