ARLINGTON, Texas – After scoring a season-high 42 points the last time they took the field Week 4 in a win vs. Seattle, Detroit's offense was still feeling it coming out of the bye week as they put 47 more on the board in a 47-9 win over the Dallas Cowboys Sunday. The 38-point defeat is tied for the fifth worst loss in Cowboys history.
Detroit scored on their first nine possessions of the game and racked up nearly 500 total yards of offense (492) against a Dallas defense that came in ranked 15th in total defense.
Detroit's defense was equally as impressive, holding Dallas to just 111 total yards and six points in the first half and 251 total yards and just the three field goals for the contest. Detroit's defense also forced five turnovers (three interceptions and two fumbles).
After the Cowboys opened the scoring with a 34-yard field goal on their opening drive of the game, Detroit responded with quick scoring drive of their own set up by a 42-yard catch down the right sideline by wide receiver Tim Patrick and capped off with a 16-yard David Montgomery touchdown.
It's the eighth straight game dating back to last year in which Montgomery has rushed for a touchdown, a new franchise record.
Dallas marched inside the Lions' 10-yard line on their second possession but second-year safety Brian Branch, who missed Detroit's last game vs. Seattle due to illness, picked off Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott in the end zone to thwart the scoring opportunity.
Jake Bates made it 10-3 early in the second quarter with a 40-yard field goal. Detroit made it 17-3 when offensive coordinator Ben Johnson went into his bag of tricks. Quarterback Jared Goff handed off to Montgomery who pitched it to wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown coming around on a reverse. St. Brown pitched it back to Goff who found a streaking tight end Sam LaPorta down the right sideline for a 52-yard touchdown.
After Dallas added a late field goal right before halftime, Detroit got the opening kickoff of the second half and marched right down the field for their fourth touchdown of the game on a 37-yard pass from Goff to wide receiver Jameson Williams to make it 34-6.
Two short Bates field goals late in the third quarter and early in the fourth pushed the Lions' lead to 40-9.
After another Branch interception that he returned to the Dallas 4-yard line, Goff found St. Brown for a 4-yard touchdown on the next play to round out the scoring at 47-9.
Unfortunately, it wasn't all positive for the Lions despite the final score.
After recording sack 7.5 of the season early in the third quarter, defensive lineman Aidan Hutchinson left the game with a serious lower left leg injury that required a cart to come take him off the field. We'll update his status after talking to head coach Dan Campbell postgame.
QB Comparison: Goff continued his terrific play the last few weeks by completing 18-of-25 passes for 315 yards with three touchdowns, no interceptions and a 153.8 passer rating. That's coming off his 18-for-18 performance in the win over Seattle Week 4.
With the Lions leading 47-9 midway through the fourth quarter, the Lions put backup quarterback Hendon Hooker in the game. He completed one of his two pass attempts for 19 yards.
Prescott completed 17 of his 33 passes for 173 yards with no touchdowns, two interceptions and a passer rating of 42.2. He was replaced by backup Cooper Rush, who threw the last interception to Joseph.
Key stat: The Lions' first-team offense scored on all nine of their possessions in the contest.
Their drive chart looked like this: Touchdown, field goal, touchdown, field goal, touchdown, touchdown, field goal, field goal, touchdown.
Impact moment: With under three minutes to play in the first half and the Cowboys trailing 20-3, Dallas head coach Mike McCarthy opted to go for a 4th & 2 at the Dallas 38-yard line.
Dallas failed to convert when Prescott's pass to wide receiver KaVontae Turpin fell incomplete. Detroit took over and marched the 38 yards in six plays and made the Cowboys pay with a 1-yard Montgomery touchdown to push the lead to 27-3.
Star performance: There were a lot of candidates for the Lions, but Branch recorded two interceptions, forced a fumble, had a quarterback hit and recorded six tackles.
Injury report: In addition to the Hutchinson injury, cornerback Carlton Davis III left the game to be evaluated for a concussion and did not return, and defensive tackle Kyle Peko injured a pectoral muscle trying to make a tackle and was ruled out.
Up next: at Minnesota, Oct. 20, 1 p.m.
