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Week 14 Game Recap: Dallas Cowboys 28, Detroit Lions 27
What you need to know
| Dallas Cowboys |
Tony Romo was the big story for Dallas. He was able to lead Dallas on two scoring drives within the last two minutes of each half. The second drive was the most impressive, as he led the team 73 yards in less than two minutes and only one timeout for the game winning score.
Marion Barber III was still able to have a decent day, but his rushing yards were limited due to Dallas having to play from behind for most of the game.
With the defense concentrating on limiting the damage that the wide outs could do, Dallas turned to Jason Witten to lead the team. Witten was wide open on the majority of plays, especially when the team went into their two minute offense.
| Detroit Lions |
When Detroit looks back on this game they will point to missed opportunities as the reason why they lost. They had the ball in excellent position for a 35 yard field goal that would have given them a nine point lead with 10:45 left to play but Jason Hanson missed wide right. Later, when they attempted to run down the clock they threw an incomplete pass on third down in an attempt to gain a first down and keep the clock going. Instead, the pass fell incomplete and Dallas was able to start the game winning drive with 2:15 left on the clock.
Jon Kitna had a productive day as he enjoyed excellent pass protection. He was able to find open receivers on various types of routes as Detroit took advantage of Dallas cornerbacks playing off the receivers.
Kevin Jones benefited from a balanced offensive attack, as the Lions ran the ball just under 50% of the time. The attack seemed to keep the defense off balance and allowed both Detroit backs to find good running lanes through the middle of the Cowboys defense.
What you ought to know
| QB Tony Romo, Pass: 35 - 44 - 302 - 2 TD / 0 INT, Rush: 1 - 15 - 0 |
Tony Romo continues to enjoy the best season of his short career. He looked cool and calm in directing the Dallas offense, even though he was under pressure for part of the game. The defense took away his deep threats, so he was content in throwing the ball in the middle to Jason Witten and in the flat to Marion Barber III. Romo looked his best in directing the offense in the two minute drill at the end of each half. He was 14 of 16 for 123 yards and two touchdowns combined on the drives that led to two Dallas touchdowns.
| RB Marion Barber III, Rush: 7 - 43 - 2, Rec: 10 - 61 - 1 (10 targets) |
Even though Barber splits time with Julius Jones, he looks like he is the better of the two backs. Barber is the one back that Dallas relies on when the tough yards are needed as he is rarely brought down by a single tackler. On the first touchdown run he showed good patience in waiting on the hole to develop and on the second score he ran through the line untouched on a fourth and goal from the one. His good hands and elusiveness makes him a reliable weapon in the passing game. His biggest contribution came when he gained a key first down on a fourth and six on the game winning drive.
| RB Julius Jones, Rush: 8 - 29 - 0, Rec: 2 - 13 - 0 (2 targets) |
Jones is considered the starting back, but he does not appear to be the best back in Dallas. He runs slow to the hole and goes down easy. He was heavily involved on the first drive of the game, rushing five times for 23 yards, but was only seen in spot duty relief of Barber after that.
| WR Patrick Crayton, Rec: 3 - 46 - 0 (6 targets) |
Crayton was limited to only one catch in the first half as the Lions schemed to take the receivers out of the offensive game plan. In the second half as things began to open up as the result of the short passing game clicking and Crayton was able to make an impact. His big play was when he caught a 30 yard pass in stride with a defender just a step behind him.
| WR Terrell Owens, Rec: 3 - 21 - 0 (4 targets) |
Owens did not have a good game, but it was due to the Lions making a strong effort to keep him from making any big plays. He did not see any targets in the first half, and his three catches all came in the third quarter. Two of his receptions went for first downs.
| WR Sam Hurd, Rec: 2 - 23 - 0 (4 targets) |
Sam Hurd had little impact as the third wide out. Both of his receptions came on the final two drives when he was able make key first downs.
| TE Jason Witten, Rec: 15 - 138 - 1 (17 targets) |
Jason Witten had a career high game in both receptions and yards. He was consistently open over the middle, and Dallas took advantage of the mismatch in coverage. Witten was most instrumental on the game winning drive as he caught four passes for 39 yards and the game winning touchdown on the final drive. However, he was almost the goat when he fumbled the ball away at the Lion one yard line midway through the fourth quarter as they were driving for a potential go ahead score.
| PK Nick Folk 0 - 1 FG, 4 - 4 XP, 4 points |
Folk missed a 50 yard field goal wide left on his only attempt.
| DAL Rush Defense |
The Cowboys rushing defense struggled. The Lions were able to send their backs though the middle of the line for big gains. However the defense did rise to the occasion when needed as they stopped the Lions in key situations in the fourth quarter when Detroit was trying to run out the clock.
| DAL Pass Defense |
Dallas was unable to get any type of pressure on Jon Kitna. Lions receivers were open on most pass plays as they took advantage of soft coverage. Defensive backs displayed good tackling skills in making key stops on open field tackles to limit the damage on some plays. On others, the receivers were content with stepping out of bounds instead of trying for the extra yards.
| QB Jon Kitna, Pass: 22 - 36 - 248 - 0 TD / 0 INT |
Jon Kitna led an effective Lions passing attack by spreading the ball around to seven different receivers. Kitna took advantage of the Lions plan to keep the defense off balance by establishing the run early and involving the TE in the passing game. The combination of these two in the first quarter served to open up the passing attack in the final three quarters as Kitna began to involve his receivers more. Kitna was especially effective between the 20s, but was unable to connect on any of his three opportunities when they twice had the ball on the one yard line. The offensive did a good job of protecting Kitna as he was only under pressure once.
| RB Kevin Jones, Rush: 23 - 92 - 2, Rec: 1 - 10 - 0 (2 targets) |
When Kevin Jones is healthy he is a very effective running back. The offensive line was able to open holes in the middle of the line and Jones took advantage by running hard. It appears that, if healthy and involved, the Lions have an effective rushing attack with him seeing a majority of carries. He is hard to bring down with just one man and does not give up until well after the play is blown dead. His determination was most evident on the second touchdown when he refused to be stopped on third and goal from the three.
| RB T.J. Duckett, Rush: 9 - 60 - 1 |
Duckett was used to provide an occasional breather for Kevin Jones in order to keep Jones fresh for the second half. Duckett showed that he still has a burst of speed on his first carry when he blasted though a hole for a 32 yard touchdown in the first quarter. But, he does not always run with a sense of authority and determination as he was unable to gain more than a couple of yards when the hole was not there.
| RB Aveion Cason, Rec: 1 - 4 - 0 (1 targets) |
Cason caught the only pass thrown his way as his contribution was limited to spot duty in relief of Kevin Jones and T.J. Duckett.
| WR Shaun McDonald, Rec: 8 - 96 - 0 (11 targets) |
McDonald got the start in the place of the injured Roy Williams. McDonald was the receiver that Kitna looked to in the first quarter when the Lions were able to move the ball with ease. McDonald seemed to disappear as Kitna looked to Calvin Johnson in the middle quarters, but resurfaced with a vengeance in the fourth quarter as they were moving the ball on the final two drives. He proved to be a reliable receiver on those drives, catching five of the seven passes thrown his way.
| WR Calvin Johnson, Rec: 5 - 51 - 0 (8 targets) |
Johnson showed that he has the potential to be a star player in the league. He knows how to use his hands and his body to make the tough catches and has shown that he can be a reliable target. With Johnson able to make plays the other receivers began to see more passes thrown their way as the Cowboy backs were forced to rotate coverage his way. Johnson did have a potential touchdown catch bounce off his hands when Kitna threw the ball high into double coverage in the end zone. Johnson used his height and leaping ability to get both hands on the ball but was unable to bring it down in the sea of hands that were two defenders.
| WR Mike Furrey, Rec: 2 - 15 - 0 (3 targets) |
Furrey saw little action as the third receiver, and sometimes he was the fourth option in the passing attack.
| WR Brandon Middleton, Rec: 2 - 12 - 0 (2 targets) |
Middleton had his first two career receptions.
| TE Sean McHugh, Rec: 3 - 60 - 0 (7 targets) |
McHugh saw a lot of action in the first quarter as the Lions were content to use the short passing game to keep the Cowboys off balance. He proved to be a reliable option and was able to keep the defense from focusing on the wide outs. A big day could have been bigger as he came close to scoring on three different occasions in the first quarter. On a third down play he caught the ball and almost rolled into the end zone, but was stopped on the one. Two plays later he was targeted two consecutive times but was unable to come up with balls that were slightly off target.
| TE John Owens (1 targets) |
Owens was unable to come up with the only pass thrown his way.
| PK Jason Hanson 2 - 3 FG, 3 - 3 XP, 9 points |
Hanson was two of three on field goals with all three attempts coming from less than 40 yards. He did miss the most important kick of the game when a 35 yard attempt was barely wide right that would have given the Lions a nine point lead in the fourth quarter.
| DET Rush Defense |
The final statistics show that the Cowboys were only able to muster 87 yards on the ground, but that was the result of Dallas having to play from behind for most of the game. Dallas was able to open up holes for Barber and Jones to run through as the Lions were unable to get any type of penetration through the Dallas line.
| DET Pass Defense |
The passing defense was able to get pressure on Tony Romo, but they were unable to contain the Cowboys passing attack. The Lions were gutted by short passes to Jason Witten and Marion Barber III as they were unable to find any type of answer to the mismatches these two provided.
