Things couldn't have started any better for the Detroit Lions Sunday hosting the Dallas Cowboys at Ford Field.
Dallas fumbled the ball away on the second play of the game, which was recovered by Lions linebacker Jarrad Davis. Detroit's offense needed just five plays from the Dallas 28-yard line to punch the ball in the end zone and take a 7-0 lead on a running back Bo Scarbrough 5-yard touchdown run.
Unfortunately for Detroit, that was about the only mistake the Cowboys' offense would make. The Cowboys racked up 509 total yards of offense and scored 35 points to escape Detroit with a 35-27 victory. The loss is Detroit's third straight, and their sixth in the last seven games. It drops them to 3-6-1 on the year.
Detroit had the ball late with a chance to tie the game with a touchdown and two-point conversion, but couldn't covert a 3rd & 26 at the Dallas 48-yard line with 2:07 left in the game. They were forced to punt the ball back to Dallas, and the Cowboys were able to pick up a first down to run the clock out from there.
Lions quarterback Jeff Driskel was good starting in place of Matthew Stafford. He kept the Lions in the game. He scored on a 2-yard run in the second quarter and hit wide receiver Marvin Jones Jr. for touchdown passes of 11 and 25 yards, respectively, in the second half.
QB comparison: Driskel finished 15-of-26 passing for 209 yards with two touchdowns and no interceptions. He had a 109.3 passer rating. He also rushed eight times for 51 yards.
Prescott was extremely impressive for the Cowboys. He completed 29 of his 46 passes for 444 yards with three touchdowns, no interceptions and a passer rating of 116.6.
Promising trend: For a second straight game, Detroit's defense was pretty good against the run. Detroit held Dallas to just 75 total yards on the ground. Two-time NFL leading rusher, Ezekiel Elliott, finished with 45 yards on 16 carries (2.8 average) with one touchdown.
Last week, Chicago totaled just 81 yards on the ground (3.4 average), with David Montgomery leading the way with 60 yards.
Detroit entered the game ranked 26th in rushing defense, allowing 129.7 yards per game.
Worrying trend: Another week and another big performance for an opposing passer against Detroit's defense. Prescott becomes the fifth straight quarterback to record at least a passer rating of 110.0 and three touchdown passes against the Lions.
That list includes Kirk Cousins (Minnesota), Daniel Jones (New York Giants), Derek Carr (Oakland), Mitchell Trubisky (Chicago) and now Prescott.
Detroit entered the game allowing 272.4 passing yards per game, which ranked 28th in the league.
View photos from the Detroit Lions vs. Dallas Cowboys Week 11 game at Ford Field on Sunday, Nov. 17, 2019 in Detroit.
Injury report: Safety Tracy Walker missed the last two Lions games with a knee injury and left Sunday in the first half with a knee injury. It's unclear if it's the same knee, but Walker was downgraded to out in the third quarter. He was leading Detroit with six tackles before leaving the game.
Fullback Nick Bawden also injured his knee in the first half and did not return to the game.
Defensive end Trey Flowers came off the field limping a few times throughout the course of the game, and was spotted heading to the locker room late in the third quarter. Flowers did return to the contest in the fourth quarter, but left the field again with the assistance of trainers late in the fourth quarter and never came back.
Kick returner Jamal Agnew was injured midway through the fourth quarter after being tackled on a 29-yard kickoff return. He limped off favoring his right leg and did not return.
Center Frank Ragnow also left the game with an undisclosed injury in the fourth quarter and also did not return. Graham Glasgow shifted over from guard to center to finish the game.
Up next: at Washington (1-9).