The Detroit Lions kept their playoff hopes alive on Thursday night, beating the Dallas Cowboys 44-30.
The Lions took control of the game early, keeping their offense in a decent rhythm and letting the defense play aggressively. The win keeps the Lions firmly in the Wild Card playoff race, and they still have the slightest chance of winning the NFC North if given a wild turn of events with their division rivals.
The Lions saw a handful of breakthrough performances that helped propel them to victory against the Cowboys, but also had a couple of performances that highlight just how flawed they’ve been at a couple of positions all season. Let’s take a look at studs and duds from this game:
Stud: Jack Campbell
Linebacker Jack Campbell set the tone early for what was a bend-don’t-break day for the Lions defense. Campbell made the play on what was originally thought to be a safety, but ended up being a sack of Dak Prescott at the Cowboys’ one-yard line.
Campbell finished with six total tackles and a solid game, leading the defense to force multiple field goals instead of touchdowns.
Dud: DJ Reed
Nobody benefitted more from the second-half injury to Cowboys receiver CeeDee Lamb than Lions cornerback DJ Reed.
Reed gave up five catches for 105 yards as well as a couple of blatant penalties while covering Lamb, getting beaten in every conceivable scenario. He did salvage his day with the interception in the closing moments of the game to seal it.
Stud: Jahmyr Gibbs
Another week, another touchdown-fest for star running back Jahmyr Gibbs.
Gibbs did most of his damage as a receiver, catching all seven of his targets for 77 yards, but all of his scores came on the ground. He finished with 43 yards and three touchdowns on 12 carries.
Dud: Trystan Colon
The Lions offense line has been reeling all season, and their latest change was plugging in Trystan Colon at left guard. Colon had another frustrating start, seemingly getting benched for a significant portion of the first half in favor of rookie Miles Frazier. The Prime Video broadcast suggested Colon had tallied four pressures on seven dropbacks early on.
Colon returned to the lineup in the second half and held up somewhat better, including a key block on the game-sealing touchdown for Jahmyr Gibbs that closed the door on the game.
Stud: Al-Quadin Muhammad
The Lions had been desperate for their pass rush to get home, and Al-Quadin Muhammad delivered on Thursday night. Working opposite Aidan Hutchinson, Muhammad didn’t get the start, but still managed to sack Dak Prescott three times.
To be fair, his first sack came on a play where the Cowboys offensive line didn’t even account for Muhammad, but a win is a win and Muhammad took advantage. The Lions will be hoping to build on that performance down the stretch of this season.
