With three of its four remaining games on the road, Detroit (8-5 straight up, 7-6 against the spread) was basically in a must-win spot when it hosted Dallas, fresh off three straight wins to bolster its postseason hopes, last night at Ford Field.
Despite dealing with injuries galore, the Lions handled their business in a 44-30 win as 3.5-point home favorites. The 74 combined points soared ‘over’ the 55-point total.
Dan Campbell’s team also cashed tickets for its backers on wagers in the first quarter (-0.5 points) and the first half (-2.5). Furthermore, Detroit hit on bets to go ‘over’ its Team Total in the first quarter (6.5 points, -120), the first half (13.5 to 14.5 range at various prices) and the game (27.5 to 28.5 at different juice amounts), producing 10 points in the first quarter and 20 points by halftime.
The Lions were off a 31-24 home loss to Green Bay on Thanksgiving Day, leaving them in bounce-back mode, which is never good news for their next opponent. In fact, they have now won 15 regular-season games in a row when coming off a loss, going a remarkable 14-1 ATS with 10 wins by double-digit margins.
Detroit RB Jahmyr Gibbs was limited to 43 rushing yards on 12 attempts, but he had three rushing touchdowns. He also had seven receptions for 77 yards.
“He’s unique,” Campbell said of Gibbs. “He’s special.”
Trailing 20-9 to start the third quarter, Dallas quarterback Dak Prescott was intercepted on the first play of the second half by LB Derrick Barnes, who returned the pick 23 yards to the Dallas 14. Two plays later, Jared Goff hit rookie WR Isaac TeSlaa for a 12-yard TD pass.
The Cowboys countered with a nine-play, 65-yard drive that was capped by Javonte Williams’ one-yard TD run. They cut the deficit to 27-19 on Brandon Aubrey’s 63-yard field goal with 2:49 remaining in the third quarter.
Detroit ate up 5:59 of clock on its next possession, going 40 yards in 10 plays, but it had to settle for a 46-yard field goal from Jake Bates. Next, Dallas pulled to within three points on Prescott’s 42-yard TD pass to Ryan Flournoy with 9:52 remaining.
But the Cowboys would get no closer. Gibbs answered with a 10-yard TD run for a 37-27 lead with 7:17 left. The Cowboys went 56 yards on 13 plays on their next drive, but they had to settle for a 29-yard field goal.
The Lions put the game on ice on their next possession with Gibbs scoring on a 13-yard TD run.
“It seemed like every time we got some momentum, they hit another explosive play,” Cowboys coach Brian Schottenheimer said. “They have a lot of speed, and they can make big plays.”
Goff completed 25-of-34 passes for 309 yards and one TD without an interception. He’s enjoying another outstanding campaign in is fifth year with the Lions, as the 31-year-old veteran has connected on 70.1 percent of his throws for 3,334 yards with a 26/5 TD-INT ratio.
Detroit RB David Montgomery ran for 60 yards on six carries, including a 35-yard TD run to give his team a 17-6 lead with 4:27 left in the first half. WR Jameson Williams had seven catches for 96 yards.
Despite leaving last week’s loss to the Packers with an ankle injury, WR Amon-Ra St. Brown produced six receptions for 92 yards.
The Lions produced three turnovers and sacked Prescott five times. CB D.J Reed had an interception and safety Brian Branch recovered a fumble. However, Branch was injured later in the game.
Campbell didn’t have an update on Branch’s status after the game, but it was confirmed this morning that he sustained a season-ending Achilles tear.
Detroit DE Al-Quadin Muhammad had a monster game with four QB Hits and three sacks, while LB Jack Campbell recorded 12 tackles and one sack. Alim McNeill had two QB Hits and one sack.
Prescott completed 31-of-47 passes for 376 yards and one TD, but he was intercepted twice. WR CeeDee Lamb had six receptions for 121 yards, but he had to leave the game due to a concussion in the third quarter.
Williams finished with 67 rushing yards and one TD on 17 carries., while WR George Pickens was limited to five catches for 37 yards. Flournoy, the second-year WR out of Southeast Missouri, had nine receptions for 115 yards and one TD.
Dallas (6-6-1 SU, 7-6 ATS) remains in second place in the NFC East behind the Eagles, who lead the division with an 8-4 SU record. Detroit is one game back of the 49ers for the final NFC wild-card spot.
As for the NFC North, Green Bay (8-3-1 SU) and Chicago (9-3 SU) will meet Sunday at Lambeau Field with the division lead on the line. By virtue of their season sweep, the Packers will hold the tiebreaker over Detroit, but that’ll only be in play if the Lions have a tie in one of their last four outings.
Detroit spanked Chicago 52-21 in Week 2 and will play at Soldier Field in the regular-season finale.
As of Friday afternoon, FanDuel had Green Bay as the -135 ‘chalk’ to win the NFC North. The Bears had +165 odds, and the Lions were +750 longshots.
The Cowboys have 15/1 odds to win the NFC East. They’re at 100/1 to win Super Bowl LX, while Detroit has the 11th-shortest odds (20/1) on the board.
As of Friday afternoon, the look-ahead line had the Rams as 4.5-point home favorites next Sunday vs. Detroit. Dallas was a 6.5-point home ‘chalk’ vs. Minnesota.