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Morning After - Lions Push Cowboys Out of the Way
In a battle of wills where no team could afford yet another loss, the Cowboys were stomped.
Bob Sturm
Dec 05, 2025
The Detroit Lions are a true test for teams because they are a winning organization and when you play them at their place, you better be ready for everything they have got. They take things personally and they don’t go down without a real fight. For Dallas to continue their good vibes and new identity, they would have to do something they have yet to do all season long – beat a good team away from home.
This was a step up from beating good teams at your place, where things are on your terms. The Cowboys are a very good home team and they look willing to wander into the deepest of waters with a swashbuckling confidence that speaks to great vibes in all directions.
Their coach and QB seem more defiant and the troops follow into battle with ambitions of their own personal contributions to the cause.
But, on the road is still not right. On the road, they look more timid and cautious. In fact, they sometimes appear that they are just trying to get through it. The battle level is not as high, the conviction not as strong, and the results show. The resolve drops as individual battles are lost and as the game goes along, you can not see it in their eyes anymore. They fought, but not with the same energy. They battled, but finished 2nd too often. In short, all season, when they left the friendly confines, they could not bring it on the same level. Sure, the Jets and the Raiders were dealt with, but those road games at Chicago, at Carolina, at Denver, and at Detroit are all very similar performances. Shellshocked, beat up, and heads hanging down as another team forced their will on their visitors.
Dallas hasn’t built something that travels yet. And because of that, they are not good enough to be a playoff team. When you play nine games away from home in a 17-game season, you better be able to win about half if you want to spend time in January. But, more than anything, they have to be able to beat those teams near them in the standings. Instead, they were beat up in Detroit last night, 44-30, in a battle where neither team could afford to lose as they sit next to eachother in the standings. Dallas appeared to finish second on every single front and for that reason, their 2025 hopes and dreams have dissolved into nearly nothing. They only now hang by the slightest of threads with four games to play and they have themselves to thank.
Two teams with their own injury stories and internal issues were fighting over this pivotal Thursday to start the December race to the finish. It felt like a playoff game in the build-up and the Cowboys confidence all week was impressively high after taking out the Eagles and Chiefs just one week back. They had evolved into something new – a team that isn’t scared of a heavyweight battle that takes four quarters and where perfection is not the goal – outlasting another team’s desperation truly is.
But, on this occasion, you could see that the Lions were going to be ready. When Amon-Ra St Brown pushed to give it a go on his bad ankle, we received a clear signal about how desperate Detroit was playing this game. Then, early in the proceedings, we saw the Detroit game-plan on both sides of the ball was built around making the Cowboys do things that would hurt.
The Lions offense designed a game-plan built around a jumbo package that would lean on the DL with numbers and then attack the Cowboys linebackers in space. 21 snaps of 6 Offensive Linemen would offer enough 300-lb dudes to mitigate the Quinnen Williams factor and then they could got to work on the obvious and easiest targets on the field for Dallas. It was the 3rd play and the 4th plays from scrimmage for Detroit that they wanted to let their best player – Jahmyr Gibbs – deal with Kenneth Murray in space.
On 3rd and 3, Dallas often plays man coverage and this play would be no different. Gibbs cut across the backfield to the left flat for a swing-screen where Murray would be easily blocked by Taylor Decker out by the sideline and offer no resistance. Gibbs cuts back inside for an easy 19 yards and a first down. On the very next snap – now the fourth play of the game – the Lions send Gibbs right up the A-Gap at Murray in the middle of a Cover 3 zone for a quick pitch and catch. Gibbs makes one move and Murray is frozen as he is left in the dust. Gibbs is running free in the secondary as the rest of the defense tries to clean up the mess, but Jahmyr now has 26 more yards and another 1st down.
The Lions game plan was obvious – quickly quiet down any ideas that Dallas would try to blitz (they blitzed 9 times, but 5 were in the 1st Quarter before they realized that will get them badly burned) by attacking the linebackers in space and showing the entire Cowboys sideline that they will need to get their biggest weakness a lot of help or the Lions may score 60.
In short, Murray was awful again, which was consistent with how he has played in pretty much every one of these road defeats. Passive, accomodating, and seemingly unwilling to engage with any sort of physical presence that his position demands. And it went on all night long including both big touchdown runs where Dallas received nothing from that second-level defense.
Meanwhile, the Lions defense had their own ideas. They would play CeeDee Lamb and George Pickens as physical as possible and take away the things they enjoy doing the most. You don’t have to be a film addict to see that those slants and comebacks are the bread and butter of the Cowboys passing game. But, you can either accommodate them or challenge them and you had to know how Dan Campbell would see that. So, even with many members of their defense out, they were going to see how hard the Cowboys receivers were willing to battle to make their plays.
Again, in this spot, we are disappointed to report that while Lamb seemed to do what he always does – fight his tail off and either beat you or go down trying – we did not see the same battle from George Pickens. And while it got worse as the game went on, the indications were there early in the first quarter with him, too.
It’s 3rd and 10 on the opening drive and Dak stays alive to fire a pass at him on a deep in. The window was small, but Pickens is bigger and stronger and on his best day he challenges for that ball like everything depends on it. Instead, we got about 75% of his best on these routes and tight throws all night and this play and many others were not caught. They challenged his battle level and he left us wanting much, much more. Was he hurt? Going through the motions? Taken out of his game? We can theorize and Richard Sherman can, too, but that was not Pickens at his best or even close. His routes all looked to be practice speed and he seldom attacked the ball like you would expect from Michael Irvin or Dez Bryant. Instead, he offered his critics their first big opportunity with the “I told you so’s” all season. This is the Pickens that had the bad reputation and the one who can give pause to anyone talking monster contracts for his future.
But, Murray and Pickens should not be singled out. You had Kavonte Turpin with yet another half-hearted fair catch signal that backed the Cowboys up by their own goal-line in what might have cost a safety.
You had Jake Ferguson with an incredibly bad penalty that nullified a huge pass interference to Pickens and a Ferguson fumble that ended a drive. You also had another Pickens fumble because he let his guard down by the goal-line (thankfully, Tyler Smith recovered) and an interception because Pickens got beat on a slant – which simply cannot happen.
You had the special teams playing poorly all night and allowing Detroit an average start to each of their possessions at their own 44-yard line, while Dallas started at their 28 – you may recall that the Cowboys got away with this against the Chiefs and it didn’t seem important. Well, giving up another 170 yards of hidden yardage felt huge in Detroit as that offense didn’t need a shorter field. They were enough of a headache as it was. If I have a kicker that can hit from 60, then I have a kicker that maybe should just concede touchbacks because my coverage team was horrid.
Then you had Dak Prescott holding the ball too long in the pocket when his protection could not hang in there that long. And you had DaRon Bland looking like anything but a holder of one of the biggest contracts in the NFL with his inability to cover again and definitely tackle Gibbs in space without breaking his own ankles. Heck, you had Brian Schottenheimer with a horribly botched clock management decision before halftime that not only settled for 3 points when you need to be going for a touchdown (remember last week when he told us he learned a lesson in Denver that you have to stay aggressive?) and also saved enough clock for his defense to fail one more time before the intermission.
And let’s not forget that defensive scheme that continues to get carved up over and over again and has now allowed 40 points three different times this season as the Lions scored 10 points or more in every Quarter but the 3rd, which was the quarter that they would have scored 10 if they did not get a field goal blocked. Instead, they made up for it by surrendering 17 in the 4th Quarter – a place where they had been making their money in recent weeks.
Ah yes, that fourth quarter. Where somehow, the Cowboys had done so much wrong, they still found themselves down just 30-27 with 8:26 to play, and had the Lions on a 3rd and 6 on their own 45. If they could get one stop in this game, this would be the play to stand tall and finally get the ball back for your offense in a one-score game. Could they make one stand on 3rd and 6?
With no edge rush at all, Quinnen Williams is close to Goff (and held) but not close enough. The Lions have a bunch to the right and emerge with the incredibly speedy Jameson Williams matched up against the Cowboys safety Markquese Bell. Bell has wheels for a safety, but Jameson has elite wheels for any human walking the earth and when he crosses the field, Jared Goff simply has to put a throw on target. Goff excels in the accuracy department when he has a clean pocket and this one is clean enough.
The throw is absolutely perfect to hit Williams in stride and then Goff is hit in the helmet by James Houston for a roughing the passer on top of it. The Cowboys one big chance to make a stand turns into a 42-yard gain for the Lions. Two snaps later, Gibbs waltzes into the end zone with the kill shot as it quickly goes right back to a 10-point lead at 37-27.
This is this league. If you feel great about yourself, just wait. Someone is waiting to knock you off your high horse by challenging your weaknesses and seeing how much pain you want to take to answer the bell. If you think you have figured it out, prepare for what is around the corner because there is another group fighting for their own lives and they are prepared to run right through you.
Dallas was humbled on Thursday in Detroit and that might be a full wrap on 2025.
They gave a sense of hope on Thanksgiving, but in the end, they probably waited too long to build a competitive roster. You can’t get away with team building in November very often and this is how that usually goes. Has progress been made? Probably, but until you learn how to win on the road, you are just spinning your wheels. The Defense is understaffed and those two 1st round picks need to help find sacks and run fits. They have some severe weak spots that must be addressed.
The last two times they played strong football teams on the road, they have lost 44-24 and 44-30. In the last decade, teams that allow 44 points in an NFL game are 3-126. Dallas is now 0-6 over that stretch when allowing 44 and two of them have been the last two meetings with the Lions where they have scored 91 points in two games.
I think we can very safely surmise that while Quinnen Williams is a phenomenal football player, the defense is clearly not fixed. They can say whatever they want, but as I sit here today, I would be shopping for yet another substantial defensive makeover for 2026.
And let’s be honest, all of our attention should be turning to 2026 after last night.
In a battle of wills where no team could afford yet another loss, the Cowboys were stomped.
Bob Sturm
Dec 05, 2025
The Detroit Lions are a true test for teams because they are a winning organization and when you play them at their place, you better be ready for everything they have got. They take things personally and they don’t go down without a real fight. For Dallas to continue their good vibes and new identity, they would have to do something they have yet to do all season long – beat a good team away from home.
This was a step up from beating good teams at your place, where things are on your terms. The Cowboys are a very good home team and they look willing to wander into the deepest of waters with a swashbuckling confidence that speaks to great vibes in all directions.
Their coach and QB seem more defiant and the troops follow into battle with ambitions of their own personal contributions to the cause.
But, on the road is still not right. On the road, they look more timid and cautious. In fact, they sometimes appear that they are just trying to get through it. The battle level is not as high, the conviction not as strong, and the results show. The resolve drops as individual battles are lost and as the game goes along, you can not see it in their eyes anymore. They fought, but not with the same energy. They battled, but finished 2nd too often. In short, all season, when they left the friendly confines, they could not bring it on the same level. Sure, the Jets and the Raiders were dealt with, but those road games at Chicago, at Carolina, at Denver, and at Detroit are all very similar performances. Shellshocked, beat up, and heads hanging down as another team forced their will on their visitors.
Dallas hasn’t built something that travels yet. And because of that, they are not good enough to be a playoff team. When you play nine games away from home in a 17-game season, you better be able to win about half if you want to spend time in January. But, more than anything, they have to be able to beat those teams near them in the standings. Instead, they were beat up in Detroit last night, 44-30, in a battle where neither team could afford to lose as they sit next to eachother in the standings. Dallas appeared to finish second on every single front and for that reason, their 2025 hopes and dreams have dissolved into nearly nothing. They only now hang by the slightest of threads with four games to play and they have themselves to thank.
Two teams with their own injury stories and internal issues were fighting over this pivotal Thursday to start the December race to the finish. It felt like a playoff game in the build-up and the Cowboys confidence all week was impressively high after taking out the Eagles and Chiefs just one week back. They had evolved into something new – a team that isn’t scared of a heavyweight battle that takes four quarters and where perfection is not the goal – outlasting another team’s desperation truly is.
But, on this occasion, you could see that the Lions were going to be ready. When Amon-Ra St Brown pushed to give it a go on his bad ankle, we received a clear signal about how desperate Detroit was playing this game. Then, early in the proceedings, we saw the Detroit game-plan on both sides of the ball was built around making the Cowboys do things that would hurt.
The Lions offense designed a game-plan built around a jumbo package that would lean on the DL with numbers and then attack the Cowboys linebackers in space. 21 snaps of 6 Offensive Linemen would offer enough 300-lb dudes to mitigate the Quinnen Williams factor and then they could got to work on the obvious and easiest targets on the field for Dallas. It was the 3rd play and the 4th plays from scrimmage for Detroit that they wanted to let their best player – Jahmyr Gibbs – deal with Kenneth Murray in space.
On 3rd and 3, Dallas often plays man coverage and this play would be no different. Gibbs cut across the backfield to the left flat for a swing-screen where Murray would be easily blocked by Taylor Decker out by the sideline and offer no resistance. Gibbs cuts back inside for an easy 19 yards and a first down. On the very next snap – now the fourth play of the game – the Lions send Gibbs right up the A-Gap at Murray in the middle of a Cover 3 zone for a quick pitch and catch. Gibbs makes one move and Murray is frozen as he is left in the dust. Gibbs is running free in the secondary as the rest of the defense tries to clean up the mess, but Jahmyr now has 26 more yards and another 1st down.
The Lions game plan was obvious – quickly quiet down any ideas that Dallas would try to blitz (they blitzed 9 times, but 5 were in the 1st Quarter before they realized that will get them badly burned) by attacking the linebackers in space and showing the entire Cowboys sideline that they will need to get their biggest weakness a lot of help or the Lions may score 60.
In short, Murray was awful again, which was consistent with how he has played in pretty much every one of these road defeats. Passive, accomodating, and seemingly unwilling to engage with any sort of physical presence that his position demands. And it went on all night long including both big touchdown runs where Dallas received nothing from that second-level defense.
Meanwhile, the Lions defense had their own ideas. They would play CeeDee Lamb and George Pickens as physical as possible and take away the things they enjoy doing the most. You don’t have to be a film addict to see that those slants and comebacks are the bread and butter of the Cowboys passing game. But, you can either accommodate them or challenge them and you had to know how Dan Campbell would see that. So, even with many members of their defense out, they were going to see how hard the Cowboys receivers were willing to battle to make their plays.
Again, in this spot, we are disappointed to report that while Lamb seemed to do what he always does – fight his tail off and either beat you or go down trying – we did not see the same battle from George Pickens. And while it got worse as the game went on, the indications were there early in the first quarter with him, too.
It’s 3rd and 10 on the opening drive and Dak stays alive to fire a pass at him on a deep in. The window was small, but Pickens is bigger and stronger and on his best day he challenges for that ball like everything depends on it. Instead, we got about 75% of his best on these routes and tight throws all night and this play and many others were not caught. They challenged his battle level and he left us wanting much, much more. Was he hurt? Going through the motions? Taken out of his game? We can theorize and Richard Sherman can, too, but that was not Pickens at his best or even close. His routes all looked to be practice speed and he seldom attacked the ball like you would expect from Michael Irvin or Dez Bryant. Instead, he offered his critics their first big opportunity with the “I told you so’s” all season. This is the Pickens that had the bad reputation and the one who can give pause to anyone talking monster contracts for his future.
But, Murray and Pickens should not be singled out. You had Kavonte Turpin with yet another half-hearted fair catch signal that backed the Cowboys up by their own goal-line in what might have cost a safety.
You had Jake Ferguson with an incredibly bad penalty that nullified a huge pass interference to Pickens and a Ferguson fumble that ended a drive. You also had another Pickens fumble because he let his guard down by the goal-line (thankfully, Tyler Smith recovered) and an interception because Pickens got beat on a slant – which simply cannot happen.
You had the special teams playing poorly all night and allowing Detroit an average start to each of their possessions at their own 44-yard line, while Dallas started at their 28 – you may recall that the Cowboys got away with this against the Chiefs and it didn’t seem important. Well, giving up another 170 yards of hidden yardage felt huge in Detroit as that offense didn’t need a shorter field. They were enough of a headache as it was. If I have a kicker that can hit from 60, then I have a kicker that maybe should just concede touchbacks because my coverage team was horrid.
Then you had Dak Prescott holding the ball too long in the pocket when his protection could not hang in there that long. And you had DaRon Bland looking like anything but a holder of one of the biggest contracts in the NFL with his inability to cover again and definitely tackle Gibbs in space without breaking his own ankles. Heck, you had Brian Schottenheimer with a horribly botched clock management decision before halftime that not only settled for 3 points when you need to be going for a touchdown (remember last week when he told us he learned a lesson in Denver that you have to stay aggressive?) and also saved enough clock for his defense to fail one more time before the intermission.
And let’s not forget that defensive scheme that continues to get carved up over and over again and has now allowed 40 points three different times this season as the Lions scored 10 points or more in every Quarter but the 3rd, which was the quarter that they would have scored 10 if they did not get a field goal blocked. Instead, they made up for it by surrendering 17 in the 4th Quarter – a place where they had been making their money in recent weeks.
Ah yes, that fourth quarter. Where somehow, the Cowboys had done so much wrong, they still found themselves down just 30-27 with 8:26 to play, and had the Lions on a 3rd and 6 on their own 45. If they could get one stop in this game, this would be the play to stand tall and finally get the ball back for your offense in a one-score game. Could they make one stand on 3rd and 6?
With no edge rush at all, Quinnen Williams is close to Goff (and held) but not close enough. The Lions have a bunch to the right and emerge with the incredibly speedy Jameson Williams matched up against the Cowboys safety Markquese Bell. Bell has wheels for a safety, but Jameson has elite wheels for any human walking the earth and when he crosses the field, Jared Goff simply has to put a throw on target. Goff excels in the accuracy department when he has a clean pocket and this one is clean enough.
The throw is absolutely perfect to hit Williams in stride and then Goff is hit in the helmet by James Houston for a roughing the passer on top of it. The Cowboys one big chance to make a stand turns into a 42-yard gain for the Lions. Two snaps later, Gibbs waltzes into the end zone with the kill shot as it quickly goes right back to a 10-point lead at 37-27.
This is this league. If you feel great about yourself, just wait. Someone is waiting to knock you off your high horse by challenging your weaknesses and seeing how much pain you want to take to answer the bell. If you think you have figured it out, prepare for what is around the corner because there is another group fighting for their own lives and they are prepared to run right through you.
Dallas was humbled on Thursday in Detroit and that might be a full wrap on 2025.
They gave a sense of hope on Thanksgiving, but in the end, they probably waited too long to build a competitive roster. You can’t get away with team building in November very often and this is how that usually goes. Has progress been made? Probably, but until you learn how to win on the road, you are just spinning your wheels. The Defense is understaffed and those two 1st round picks need to help find sacks and run fits. They have some severe weak spots that must be addressed.
The last two times they played strong football teams on the road, they have lost 44-24 and 44-30. In the last decade, teams that allow 44 points in an NFL game are 3-126. Dallas is now 0-6 over that stretch when allowing 44 and two of them have been the last two meetings with the Lions where they have scored 91 points in two games.
I think we can very safely surmise that while Quinnen Williams is a phenomenal football player, the defense is clearly not fixed. They can say whatever they want, but as I sit here today, I would be shopping for yet another substantial defensive makeover for 2026.
And let’s be honest, all of our attention should be turning to 2026 after last night.
