The 2019 rewatch project returns to Ford Field for a home date with the Dallas Cowboys in Week 11.
The visitors from Dallas brought a 5-4 record with them, fresh off a home loss to the Minnesota Vikings in Week 10. The Cowboys entered the contest 4th in scoring offense and 10th in scoring defense.
Pregame notes
The Lions were missing several regular starters not already on injured reserve. Most notable is QB Matthew Stafford, meaning Jeff Driskel gets his second start. Right tackle Rick Wagner and defensive ends Romeo Okwara and Da’Shawn Hand also missed the game due to injury. Bo Scarbrough made his Lions debut as the starting running back, the fifth starter at RB in 10 games.
Dallas did not have any regular starters inactive.
The referee for the game was Tony Corrente. Detroit wore white shirts and the Honolulu Blue pants, while Dallas donned their dark blue jerseys and silver pants.
First quarter
The first snap after Dallas gets the opening kickoff for a touchback is a great use of defensive creativity. Trey Flowers twists with A’Shawn Robinson and then safety Tavon Wilson blitzes in the void behind it. Dak Prescott throws the ball directly to Darius Slay in blanket coverage on Amari Cooper. Great start.
It gets even greater on the very next snap. Trey Flowers slams into Zeke Elliott at the line of scrimmage and forces a fumble that Jarrad Davis pounces on for the recovery. Huge hit, great job by Flowers to let the block flow away from him. Lions take over at the Dallas 28.
Frank Ragnow pancakes his man on the first snap, a nice run by Scarbrough. A couple of quick-hit completions from Driskel and a facemask penalty set up the Lions at the Dallas 5. Scarbrough takes advantage of a great seal block from Ragnow and an unusually deep set by the Cowboy LBs to plow into the end zone. Nice block from Marvin Jones on the TD too. Matt Prater’s conversion is good and the Lions spring out to a quick, too-easy 7-0 lead.
Dallas botches the kick return when Tony Pollard ignores his teammates telling him to kneel in the end zone. Several Lions cascade over him at the Dallas 14. Cowboys clearly did not have “return” on in looking at their blocking but nobody told Pollard. Oops.
The defense forces a quick 3-and-out. Great work in coverage by Jarrad Davis as an Elliott spy. Prescott looked for that on both 2nd and 3rd downs but Davis was in great position both plays. Flowers continues to dominate up front, nearly got a sack on 2nd down.
What ensues is a really bad offensive series for LT Taylor Decker. He earns a false start penalty and then misses the snap count on 3rd down, nearly getting Driskel blown up. Sam Martin salvaged dignity for Detroit with a great punt off a bouncing snap from Don Muhlbach. Great punt coverage by Dee Virgin and Cory Moore, though the Cowboys attempt at blocking here is charitably described as apathetic.
Two drives per team and it’s clear the Cowboys were not prepared to play. the next possession shows Dallas waking from its slumber. Prescott engineers a methodical drive that gets both him and the Cowboys very good OL into rhythm. It’s worth noting that every completion on this drive came when the Lions were in zone coverage, and Prescott missed every throw but one (on Rashaan Melvin) against man.
Devon Kennard comes up with a huge sack on 3rd-and-goal to keep Dallas out of the end zone. Lions pass coverage — dropping 8 with Davis spying Prescott — worked great in the red zone. Dallas kicks the short FG and it’s 7-3 Lions.
Second quarter
After a 3-and-out by the Lions offense, helped by a Kenny Golladay drop that probably should have been pass interference, the Cowboys keep the momentum.
With Slay effectively erasing Cooper from the field, Prescott turns to Michael Gallup and Pollard, in for Elliott at RB for the series. Pollard catches a simple crosser, Tracy Walker, who had made two very nice open-field tackles earlier on the drive, misses the open-field tackle and Pollard scoots in for a TD. Worth noting that Will Harris was still running away from the play well after Pollard caught it, no ball awareness.
What follows is one of the most embarrassing offensive sequences seen in any NFL stadium all season.
Decker’s rough day continues on the very next Lions snap. Robert Quinn blows around the edge with a nice shoulder dip and nearly strip-sacks Driskel, who avoids the first contact but succumbs to the second. On the 2nd down-and-long, both guards, Graham Glasgow and Kenny Wiggins whiff on their run blocks and RB J.D. McKissic gets annihilated by a flying Jaylon Smith in a tackle reminiscent of Jimmy “Superfly” Snuka of WWE fame in the 1980s. Third down sees Driskel very nearly throw a pick-six to LB Leighton Vander Esch after staring down T.J. Hockenson. This was as bad of an offensive series as I’ve seen from the Lions all year.
Thankfully Dallas screws up on special teams once again. An illegal block penalty and Pollard opting to sprint sideways for 30 yards instead of forward salvages some field position.
Detroit comes out in a 5-man front with Davis nad Christian Jones at LB but also Wilson playing as an OLB. Interesting look. Prescott has all day to throw an outlet swing pass to Elliott that picks up a 1st down, alas. Very nice coverage by Jones downfield.
Now Wilson has joined Davis as Elliott spies. Wilson travels with Elliott as he motions from one side of Prescott to the other. It works very well. Prescott wildly misses on 3rd down and the Lions have some life when Jamal Agnew breaks off a fantastic return that is once again more about Dallas’s special teams being truly awful. Four guys in the same lane?! Easy pickings for Agnew.
Detroit capitalizes. Good blocks on runs by Scarbrough from Frank Ragnow, Hockenson and Glasgow set up a too-easy red zone QB keeper for Driskel, who sashays in untouched. Great series for the Lions OL and they take the lead, 14-10. As bad as the last series was, this one was vintage ground-and-pound and it worked wonderfully.
Dallas answers impressively. Prescott isn’t even considering throwing at Slay, and he finds Gallup vs. Mike Ford down the field. Ford is guilty of interference but Gallup still makes a fantastic catch. Not one of the Lions’ four pass rushers crossed the line of scrimmage on the play, it must be noted. Elliott dives in two plays later and the Cowboys are right back on top 17-10 with just under 5:00 to play in the half. All momentum Detroit had is gone.
The Cowboys bury any hope of momentum with their next drive thanks to one big play. Chasing Randall Cobb on an intermediate corner route, Justin Coleman trips in traffic. Harris never sees to pick him up and Cobb gobbles up 49 yards before Amani Oruwariye runs him down. Harris made one of the worst open-field tackle attempts you’ll ever see, too; never even touched Cobb despite having a good angle.
Cobb lands in the end zone two plays later, surviving a helmet-to-helmet hit (which was correctly penalized) by Harris as he collects the catch. Coleman got torched in man coverage on the play, too. Great 2-minute offense by Dallas, egregious defensive effort from Detroit just before the half and it’s 24-14. The Lions did try a gadget play pass to Jones and it almost worked, except Driskel put too much air under the ball and Dahl was a good 12 yards down the field, drawing a penalty.
Third quarter
The Lions get the ball first off a touchback and come out running. And running. Seven of the first nine plays feature the run or an instant pass out from Driskel that effectively serves as one. Those seven plays net a total of just nine yards, but a Cowboys penalty and a nice YAC from McKissic on a pass keep the chains moving. Decker has come out of the locker room playing much more inspired football. This is also the best Hockenson has blocked over an extended series all year. That last point really shows when Jesse James comes in for a rep and flat-out misses a reach block that results in Scarbrough getting hammered at the line.
And then Marvin Hall happens. The Lions insert the speedster into the lineup and he runs away from both the CB and S on a deep corner. A well-protected Driskel hits him in perfect stride to set up the Lions with 1st-and-goal. Great play.
A rolling Driskel, showing good pocket awareness and poise, finds Jones in the back of the end zone two plays later. Nice subtle push-off from Jones made it look easier than it was. Prater drills the extra point and the Lions are back in business, down 24-21.
Lions D comes out in zone and Prescott instantly picks it apart. Asking Davis to stay with Cobb in zone coverage is worse than man coverage because any potential help is preoccupied with other assignments. Flowers and Kennard are both getting pretty consistent pressure (Lions rushing four) but the containment is poor. Prescott scrambles out of a would-be Flowers sack and embarrasses Wilson in the open field to get Dallas into the red zone. The defense holds with Kennard playing a great set and nice coverage from Slay and Coleman. Maher’s field goal — nearly blocked by Mike Ford — puts Dallas back up by six.
I love the G-power run with Scarbrough on the Lions’ next play. Dahl pulls nicely and creates a huge seam but Glasgow can’t hit the LB in space and the gain only goes for four. It could have been much more if Glasgow lands the block.
You might have noticed a lack of Kenny Golladay mentions. Just as Slay has erased Cooper from the field, Golladay is effectively wearing Chidobe Awuzie’s No. 24 jersey. There isn’t even a yard of separation on most every route. Golladay isn’t exactly asserting his will as a blocker, either. He certainly did not on this play.
Scarbrough continues to chug downhill impressively. If he gets to full stride before the defender can get to him, No. 43 is a real load to bring down. Ragnow, Dahl and Glasgow are having a good series here opening and sealing running lanes. Hockenson atones for a false start penalty with a very good seal block.
Fourth quarter
The Lions run the exact same punt gimmick play they did a week earlier, with up-back Logan Thomas (a former QB) sliding under center. Dallas panics and jumps offsides. Detroit’s execution on this was much cleaner and more urgent than the last time they tried it, and it buys a fresh set of downs.
The drive stalls near midfield and it stalls because Driskel makes poor decisions. The line is blocking better than he shows and he’s not seeing viable targets in time.
Slay is having a great game but he misses opportunities on consecutive throws to get an INT. The first is in deep coverage on Austin and the Cowboys WR is clearly guilty of pass interference to break it up. The next one is a gift from Prescott that somehow gets through both hands and into Cooper’s mitts. Prescott knows it’s a terrible throw from the second he lets go, as he immediately runs over to effort making a tackle.
This is a very frustrating possession. The Lions are playing good defense but the Cowboys keep grinding forward. Harris makes a nic read and tackle. Kennard is reliably generating pressure and forcing the issue. Davis has the outlet receiver locked down. But the Cowboys matriculate into the end zone, the key play being a nicely designed screen where Pollard makes Wilson miss in space. Elliott plunges into the end zone and it’s 35-21 with under 8:00 to play.
Driskel comes out and attacks with his legs. A 23-yard run that could be construed as a designed keeper. A strike on the move to Amendola, who expertly helps his QB by coming back to the ball. Then comes this TD:
Another touchdown for Marvin Jones from Jeff Driskel.pic.twitter.com/YRJuWFN5rZ
— Dov Kleiman (@NFL_DovKleiman) November 17, 2019
Note the nice pass pro pickup from Ty Johnson and solid protection up front.
The ensuing 2-pt. conversion goes awry, leaving the score 35-27.
Dallas gets lucky again on the kickoff. Prater kicks the ball over Pollard’s head as the return man waits at the 10. Instead of going into the end zone it bounces straight up into Pollard. Ford just misses a tackle at the 10 and Pollard somehow scoots out past the 30 before Ty Johnson jumps on his back. So close to a huge play for Detroit but instead Dallas winds up getting a good bounce.
The Cowboys do the Lions a huge favor and insist on throwing the ball instead of draining the clock. One 3rd-down conversion to Gallup running away from Melvin on a crosser is the only thing that salvages positivity for the Dallas offense. After six plays (and a penalty) that takes off just 2:00 and doesn’t cost the Lions any timeouts, Dallas punts. Mike Daniels and Kennard again provide nice pressure, and Cobb helps by dropping a pass.
With 3:44 to go, Driskel and the Lions trot out at their own 14, with two timeouts. Golladay finally does something positive, and it’s spectacular. Driskel hangs up a deep post where Golladay split the coverage and was wide open. As he’s being facemasked by Darian Thompson as the ball arrives, Golladay still manages to complete the catch as he slams into the turf. Amazing play and the Lions are in business in Dallas territory. It should be noted that a more timely and accurate throw from Driskel probably results in a TD for Golladay here.
Driskel’s magic runs out, alas. A bad sack (Dahl whiffed in pass pro) and a couple of misfires to a fully covered Golladay gives the ball back to Dallas at the 2:00 warning. Coach Patricia elects to punt from the DAL 47 on 4th-and-26 instead of trying an early Hail Mary.
Detroit’s defense needs a stop. After smothering Elliott on 1st down for no gain, the Lions bite hard on the play-action bootleg. Prescott calmly finds an uncovered Blake Jarwin for the game-sealing conversion. Great play design by the Cowboys gets them the win.
Good games: Darius Slay, Bo Scarbrough, J.D. McKissic, Frank Ragnow, Marvin Jones, Devon Kennard, Dee Virgin on special teams, Jarrad Davis in Zeke Elliott spy duty, T.J. Hockenson (mostly)
Bad games: Joe Dahl, Kenny Golladay (outside of his spectacular catch it’s the worst game of his career), Tyrell Crosby, Taylor Decker (more of a bad 1st half than full game), Justin Coleman, Tavon Wilson, Will Harris
The Lions were close here and devised a gameplan that largely accomplished the main goal on both offense and defense. The Cowboys caught a few fortunate bounces and their role players stepped up where Detroit’s could not match. Driskel and Scarbrough both showed real long-term viability as backups in this one but also limitations that prove why they’ll only ever be backups. Cowboys fans should probably feel fortunate to escape with the road win here.