Cowboys find a way to win vs. Lions, after nearly finding several ways to lose

Ralph Vacchiano

NFC East Reporter

In their last real test before the postseason begins, the Dallas Cowboys reminded everyone that they’re good enough and talented enough to win it all this season.

But that’s only if they don’t find a way to mess everything up first.

That’s the tightrope this team has walked all year long, and they were dangling from it Saturday night despite one of the finest games of the year by their dynamic duo of Dak Prescott and CeeDee Lamb. Prescott threw for 345 yards, Lamb set career highs with 13 catches and 227 receiving yards, and yet the Cowboys still nearly lost to the Detroit Lions. In fact, they probably would have lost if it weren’t for an officiating nightmare that helped Dallas hold on for a 20-19 win.

If not for a negated two-point conversion, the story of this game would have been Mike McCarthy’s unforgivable clock management, a late collapse by the Cowboys’ defense and their consistent inability to run the ball. Instead, they got to celebrate a fortuitous call that snapped their two-game losing streak and keeps them alive in the NFC East race.

“It’s huge,” Prescott said. “Huge, especially coming off the last two. Being able to pull this one out was important for us to understanding this is what playoff football is about.”

“If you think you’re going to be battle tested and ready to go in the playoffs, these are the kinds of games that character is enhanced,” McCarthy said. “It’s the adversity you train all year for.”

That’s certainly one way to look at it. Of course, the Lions (11-5) will look at it much differently. From their perspective, they won the game after Jared Goff hit Amon-Ra St. Brown for an 11-yard touchdown pass with 23 seconds remaining and then converted the go-ahead, two-point conversion on a pass to tackle Taylor Decker. But the officials ruled that Decker never checked in as an eligible receiver — making his catch an “illegal touching” penalty — despite…

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Publish date : 2023-12-31 07:00:07

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