HOWDY Y'ALL!

My brain is short circuiting trying to figure out how the fuck we beat the Dallas Cowboys. MIND THE FUCK YOU... this is a Cowboys team who beat both the Eagles and Chiefs. Both of which we lost too. Sure we were in Detroit but I did not feel comfortable playing a Dallas team given the state we were in as a team.

Dallas won the toss and deferred. So we get the ball and Jacob Saylors returns it to the 36. This first drive actually has some solid plays. Gibbs does what Gibbs do. 19 yard run here, 26 yard pass here... it's a Tuesday for him... though... in this case it was a Thursday. XD! Unfortunately, despite being at the Cowboys 12, we couldn't score a touchdown here as a Gibbs run would lose 2 yards and Goff would be sacked for another 10. But Bates can nail a 38 yard field goal. So at least we get points to start the game! Does our defense do anything to stop the Dallas offense? Uh... I mean a pass to Javonte Williams loses 5 yards... and then Jake Ferguson picks up 19 yards so... nice defensive play... not. Albeit at least after an incompletion, 0 yard run, and another incompletion, Dallas too settled for 3. Brandon Aubrey and his beast of a fucking leg nails a 57 yarder. Detroit and Dallas would then exchange 3 and outs. Albeit... there was a controversial call when on 3rd and 4 from Dallas' own 11, Dak Prescott is sacked in his own end zone for what would be a safety and a 5 to 3 Lions lead. BUT... the refs determined that oh no forward progress was stopped at the 1 yard line. Of course we still get the ball back anyway because Dallas punts. We just don't have any points. I think the only issue is that forward progress was deemed stopped too quickly. Like maybe give it an additional second at least. But it's the ref's call I guess and Detroit did not challenge the review. I guess I don't know if they could've challenged because it was technically a score play. Either way, Detroit gets REALLY good field after Tom Kennedy returns the punt for 21 yards to the Cowboys 42! Already in Cowboy territory, it's just kind of slow chips at first... oh yeah until Amon-Ra St. Brown (welcome back by the way) gets a 26 yard reception and it's 1st and Goal at the 8 of Dallas! Jamo runs for 7 down to the 1 and Gibbs right up the middle for the touchdown! It's a 10-3 Lions lead! I sure can't wait for the lead to last 4 seconds!... okay maybe more than that. Dallas creates a long drive because they also have small chips down the field. CeeDee Lamb did get a 16 yard reception... of course on 3rd and fucking 6 too. But once again at the end of the drive, incompletion, incompletion, sack for a loss of 9, Aubrey nails a 42 yarder.

So we lead 10-6... miraculously with over 9 minutes left in the 1st half. Detroit's next offensive drive is short lived. A false start penalty is costly here as despite a 13 yard pass to Gibbs, it's 3rd and 2 at the Lions 37 and they don't feel like going for it. They punt. Right off the bat CeeDee Lamb gets a massive ass 37 yard reception. Oh cool you like to see that. Not. BUT... Dak does lose the ball when he is sacked for a loss of 15. Unfortunately Ferguson does recover it... who then a couple plays later fumbles the ball himself to which is recovered by Brian Branch! I guess they wanted to make Ferguson know what it feels like to fumble! I am impressed despite being pushed back 15 yards because of offensive holding and a false start to put us at 1st and 25, we get those yards RIGHT back with a 25 yard pass to Jamo. Hey did you know David Montgomery exists? I forgot about him. XD! He gets a 35 yard touchdown run and it's 17-6! Up by 11? Love that one! Dallas and Detroit would then exchange field goals. Bates' field goal being the final play of the half. 20-9 at halftime... wow this almost feels familiar. Dallas did defer the ball so they got it to start the 2nd half-annnnd it's Detroit's ball because Dak's first pass is picked by Derrick Barnes and returned to the Cowboys 14 where Detroit would then only need 34 fucking seconds for Isaac TeSlaa to get a 12 yard touchdown reception and it's 27-9 Lions! Yeah this is VERY familiar. Of course now Dallas actually does something we never allowed them to do in Dallas last year... Dallas... scored... a... fucking... touchdown... it sucks too because George Pickens fumbled the ball on 4th and 5 but of course Tyler Smith recovered it at our 2 yard line so it became 1st and Goal at the 2. And Javonte Williams on 2nd and Goal gets a 1 yard touchdown. 27-16 Lions. The Lions have a decent drive going here. Despite a loss of 5 run on the first play. They do get to the 39 yard line. But then the drive ends there when they pick up all of just 5 yards in 3 plays. BUT... Dan Campbell remembers Jake Bates exists and sends him out for a 52 yarder it's blocked fuck my ass. Oh and fuck it harder when you see Aubrey nail a SIXTY-THREE YARD FIELD GOAL! HOLY FUCKING PISS SHIT! Oh gosh please don't make this game interesting Detroit. It's now just an 8 point game.

Thankfully Detroit responds back with a field goal of their own. Things may have been different in that drive had Tate Ratledge not had a holding call since then Gibbs would lose 2 yards but St. Brown gets a 9 yard reception and Jamo gets a 4 yard reception. But that leaves them on 4th and 9 and Jake Bates is out again to try a 46 yarder. This time it's not blocked and it's good! 30-19 Lions! Back up by 11! Make it 3 however when Detroit's defense just starts to die and on busted fucking coverage, Ryan Flournoy gets a MASSIVE FOURTY-TWO YARD TOUCHDOWN FUCK! Dallas then goes for 2 and they get it with a pass to Ferguson. Oh Lions please do not fucking choke this. It's a 3 point game. Thankfully we can release our breath just a bit as a 29 yard pass to Jamo plus a roughing the passer call puts Detroit 1st and 10 at the Cowboys 13. All Gibbs needs is a couple plays to get those 13 yards and the touchdown! 10 point game again! On Dallas' next drive, despite Prescott taking a MASSIVE sack for a loss of 9, on 2nd and 19, he finds Flournoy for 20 yards and the 1st down. Fucking dammit. Dallas was looking to score once more but a semi-controversial call saved Detroit's ass with an offensive pass interference call that was declined because the pass was incomplete. You could argue whether it should've been defensive. It did look like there was a point where Ferguson grabbed on to Anzalone briefly. We'll call it a coin flip call. Of course Brian Branch is hurt and has to get carted off the field. You never want to see that fucking cart. And with the injuries we've already had... it only makes this defense more and more weaker. Aubrey nails a 29 yarder to make it 37-30. Well with little time left in the 4th, if we can score again, that might put the dagger up the ass. And Gibbs shoves that dagger right in with a 13 yard touchdown! 44-30! With just over 2 minutes to go now, I doubt Dallas has any shot coming back from this. With a chance to stop Dallas on 4th and 10, it seemed like they got the stop. But then a quick review determined that Flournoy did get the 10 yards needed for the drive to stay alive. KaVontae Turpin gets 21 yards. Ferguson picks up 15 more... OH PLEASE JUST GET A STOP... oh they do! Prescott is sacked for 6 and this his pass is picked by Reed! Was it close? Sure.

You could argue that the ball hit the ground and it wasn't a fully secured pick. But Detroit has had so much shit with the refs whenever they play Dallas. Like the called back pass interference call in the 2015 Wild Card game and the 2 point conversion blunder a couple years ago. The Lions were due. Goff would take his knees and once again, the Lions bounce back after a loss. They cannot and will not get back to back losses. They stand at 8-5. Which isn't the worst record in the world. Sure it's not a 12-1 record the Lions had at this time last year. Do I believe a playoff clinch is still possible? Absolutely. We have a MASSIVE road game coming up against the Rams. Trust me... this is a team to fear. Now albeit the Rams have had a relatively easy schedule this year. But then again they did also lose to the Carolina Panthers so hey... don't hold out hope! I do think this will be a good game coming up and whoever wins... I say will probably be no more than around 2 to 5 points. Wins are crucial at this point. Not saying the Lions necessarily need to win this game. Since their next 3 games after are Steelers, Vikings, and Bears. But this would be a HUGE win if they can dig Stafford's grave even more.

And trust me, it's pretty fucking deep right now.