Todd ArcherDec 5, 2025, 02:10 AM ETCloseTodd Archer is an NFL reporter at ESPN and covers the Dallas Cowboys. Archer has covered the NFL since 1997 and Dallas since 2003. He joined ESPN in 2010.Follow on X
D.J. Reed snatches ball from Ryan Flournoy for game-sealing INT (0:39)Lions’ D.J. Reed rips the ball away from Ryan Flournoy for an interception that seals the win for Detroit. (0:39)
DETROIT — For the past month, the Dallas Cowboys have carried with them the burden of losing a teammate and the joy of getting into playoff contention.
On Thursday night, the Cowboys’ 44-30 loss to the Detroit Lions at Ford Field was their first since the death of Marshawn Kneeland and their first in more than a month, dropping them to 6-6-1 on the season and giving them difficult odds to make the postseason.
The Cowboys’ playoff chances dropped to 8% with the defeat, according to ESPN Analytics. The Cowboys would lose head-to-head tiebreakers against the Chicago Bears, Carolina Panthers and Lions.
Their remaining four opponents include three teams — Minnesota Vikings (Dec. 14), Washington Commanders (Dec. 25) and New York Giants (Jan. 3 or 4) — with a losing record. They play the Los Angeles Chargers (8-4) on Dec. 21.
Thursday’s game was the fourth in an 18-day span for the Cowboys, following wins over the Las Vegas Raiders, Philadelphia Eagles and Kansas City Chiefs in the three games since acquiring defensive tackle Quinnen Williams at the trade deadline.
“Really proud of the group,” coach Brian Schottenheimer said. “Four games, [18] days, battled their asses off, proud of them. We knew tonight it was going to come down to a couple of things — the ability to take care of the football and take it away, and we didn’t do a good job of that. Then we needed to win the trenches, and we didn’t really do that.”
The Cowboys lost the turnover battle 3-0, with two interceptions and a lost fumble that the Lions turned into 14 points. They averaged 3.8 yards per rush, with Prescott having the longest run of the night (12 yards), and allowed four rushing touchdowns, including three by Jahmyr Gibbs.
Prescott was pressured 20 times, including 10 in the fourth quarter, and was sacked five times. The Cowboys also had a couple of costly, if questionable, offensive pass interference penalties.
Despite all of that, twice in the fourth quarter the Cowboys closed the gap to a one-score game after losing Pro Bowl wide receiver CeeDee Lamb to a concussion in the third quarter. Both times, the Cowboys’ defense allowed touchdowns on the ensuing drive.
Perhaps their best chance to make the playoffs is winning the NFC East if the Eagles continue to slide.
“I don’t know if I can say we control our own destiny,” Prescott said. “It was not a stretch saying that before. Pretty sure if we had won out, we were going to have a pretty damn good record, only having five losses and a tie.
D.J. Reed snatches ball from Ryan Flournoy for game-sealing INT (0:39)Lions’ D.J. Reed rips the ball away from Ryan Flournoy for an interception that seals the win for Detroit. (0:39)
Lions’ D.J. Reed rips the ball away from Ryan Flournoy for an interception that seals the win for Detroit. (0:39)
CloseTodd Archer is an NFL reporter at ESPN and covers the Dallas Cowboys. Archer has covered the NFL since 1997 and Dallas since 2003. He joined ESPN in 2010.Follow on X
“It was an important game for both teams,” Schottenheimer said, “and they got the best of us.”
“The complementary football wasn’t what it was the past several weeks,” Schottenheimer said.