Sunday Football Afterword: Lions vs Cowboys

Calvin Johnson's 329 receiving yards ranked 2nd in NFL history for a single game
behind Flipper Anderson's 336 yards for the LA Rams in 1989.

Cory Puffett

In one of the most exciting endings this football season, a mixture of terrible pass coverage by Dallas and gutsy decision-making by Matthew Stafford helped the Lions become one of the few teams in the Super Bowl era to win a game with a -4 turnover margin.

Matt Stafford led an impressive game winning, 80-yard touchdown drive with less than 1:30 remaining and no time outs. After a completion to Calvin Johnson at the 1-yard line, he called the troops to the line of scrimmage for a spike and then quickly dove over his linemen for the winning score.

Stafford finished the day with 488 passing yards, 329 of which went to Calvin Johnson he had the best fantasy day of the season for any wide receiver despite only scoring once.

Reggie Bush had another big day as well, carrying the ball 21 times for 92 yards and a score in addition to eight receptions for 30 yards.

Dez Bryant, who has made headlines all week comparing himself to Johnson, likely just looking for people to respect his game, had two touchdown receptions on just three catches for 72 yards. Tony Romo barely broke 200 passing yards and his completion percentage was below 50%.

But this loss cannot be pinned on Romo. Despite his poor completion percentage, he had three touchdowns and no interceptions. The Cowboys’ defense, which many experts were under the impression had finally grasped the concept of the Tampa 2 defense they use, struggled throughout the game, especially on the last drive. Stafford was extraordinarily accurate with his throws, but the coverage was neither prevent nor Tampa 2. Whatever it was, Dallas paid for it dearly.

The good news for Dallas is that they play Minnesota next week before their trip to New Orleans, so they should have a relatively easy game. The bad news is that means Jimmy Graham, who had two touchdown receptions on an injured foot, has two weeks to get healthy before the Cowboys porous defense faces him.

Detroit will head to Chicago for the first of a two-game road trip next week before facing the resurgent Steelers, who have won two straight games heading into this weekend.

Final Score:

Dallas Cowboys – 30

Detroit Lions – 31