The Dallas Cowboys didn’t have what it takes to beat the Detroit Lions on Thursday, ending their three-game successful streak and significantly decreasing their playoff probabilities. The workforce fell into their standard gap, however in contrast to their earlier two video games, they have been unable to play themselves out of that mess and placed on a late surge to flee with the win.
There are numerous the reason why this recreation didn’t work out for the Cowboys, however one issue was that a number of the nice surprises we’ve seen not too long ago in video games simply weren’t there this time. The workforce has obtained optimistic contributions from some unsuspecting characters, however some gamers we’ve come to rely upon weren’t so sharp towards the Lions. Listed below are just a few gamers who had themselves a down recreation, making issues much more difficult for the Cowboys on Thursday.
The Cowboys’ offensive line has been nice for many of the season, regardless of a number of gamers lacking time. It looks like whoever fills in for them finally ends up doing an admirable job at holding down the fort. Recently, that sound reserve has been second-year sort out Nate Thomas, who has began at left sort out the final two video games whereas Tyler Guyton recovers from an ankle harm.
On Thursday, Thomas wasn’t at his greatest because the Lions’ edge rushers got here at him. The coaches tried to mitigate the problem by giving him assist, as Javonte Williams or one of many tight ends would commonly chip the move rushers, however Thomas nonetheless had issues. Defenders maneuvered round him with relative ease, and generally the younger swing sort out was simply misplaced. He fully forgot to dam the sting rusher on a third-down play that resulted in a sack and killed a Cowboys’ drive early within the second quarter. He additionally acquired flagged for holding within the third quarter, when Aiden Hutchinson beat him to the within. It was a continuing battle for Thomas, and the extra the Cowboys fell behind, the more durable it acquired.
Rising pains for the rookie
Whereas the Lions introduced the warmth to the Cowboys’ offense, additionally they uncovered the Cowboys’ protection. Rookie nook Shavon Revel Jr. was one of many recipients as they got here after him a number of occasions. The workforce’s 2025 third-round decide had his struggles as he failed to tug down Lions’ operating again David Montgomery, who scampered off for an enormous landing run. He acquired flagged for move interference later within the recreation, after which fell down on the very subsequent play. Luckily, Jared Goff’s move was too far to the skin, and the Lions missed a straightforward landing. After which later within the recreation, he acquired caught trying on the quarterback, permitting the Lions’ receiver to sneak previous him in the long run zone for the landing.
It’s solely the fourth recreation, and the second begin for the Cowboys’ younger nook. Up till this recreation, he’s been surprisingly dependable regardless of being thrown into the fireplace, however this recreation was tough for him. He’s nonetheless adapting to Matt Eberflus’ zone protection and generally reacts a bit late, so don’t be shocked if we see slightly extra of this earlier than issues begin to get higher.
The Cowboys’ offense suffered a tricky blow when star receiver CeeDee Lamb left the sport with a concussion. However that’s okay, they nonetheless had George Pickens, who has completely torn it up this season, and stored the passing recreation intact when Lamb was unavailable earlier within the yr. Sadly, Pickens wasn’t the savior on this one. He solely had 5 catches for 37 yards, his lowest yardage whole because the season opener towards the Eagles.
Credit score the Lions for keying in on him. The Cowboys overused their bread-and-butter slant path to Pickens, and Detroit’s protection finally made them pay, sniffing it out and shutting quick, getting a hand on the ball and inflicting an interception.
The trouble and sharpness of Pickens’ routes have been questioned by the published workforce greater than as soon as, and there have been occasions when he simply didn’t appear to have his head within the recreation. He made a few bonehead penalties by aggressively attacking the defensive backs. Actually. He was referred to as for a facemask penalty and took out a defender on a rub route. Pickens was additionally careless with the soccer, getting stripped close to the aim line. That is the second time in two weeks that he’s executed that. Luckily for Dallas, there’s been a teammate in the correct place on the proper time to leap on the ball to keep away from a pricey turnover.
If this recreation have been the one sampling of Pickens we had, it will be trigger for concern, because it represented all of the dangerous stuff disgruntled Steelers’ followers have been warning us about. However that’s not the case. He’s been downright sensational all through many of the season, so an off recreation doesn’t magically erase all the good stuff. Yeah, we hope to see much less of the darker facet of Pickens going ahead, however we shouldn’t learn an excessive amount of into this one efficiency.
The officiating on this recreation was brutal. Each groups have been committing infractions left and proper, and the referees have been fast to let the laundry fly. Whereas some calls didn’t go the Cowboys’ method, total, they got here out on the higher facet of the dangerous calls. There have been a number of cases when Dallas ought to have been flagged for one thing, however the refs missed it. This contains:
Most of those would have resulted in 15-yard penalties that the Cowboys averted, so whereas it’s simple to all the time suppose our workforce is the one getting hosed, that wasn’t the case on Thursday.
[Note]: Disregard the horse collar one on Donovan Ezeiruaku beneath, that was a authorized sort out.
