The Detroit Lions’ commanding win over the Dallas Cowboys was one of the hallmark victories of the Dan Campbell era. With their playoff lives on the ropes, they gut-checked themselves and responded with an uppercut to the Cowboys—and another to the media narratives of their demise that lingered all week.
Campbell’s unit took down one of the hottest teams in football, pouring points on the board without their two-deep at left guard, two-deep at tight end, Kalif Raymond, Terrion Arnold, and Kerby Joseph—and with both Thomas Harper and Brian Branch going down in-game—and still won by two touchdowns.
Slowly, the Lions regained control of their postseason destiny with an emphatic triumph at Ford Field. It was a fitting game for the regime, and a testament to the success stories they’ve built–with game balls going to a quarterback another team didn’t want anymore, a Day 3 wide receiver, a defensive end cut by the Cowboys last August and now on his fifth team, and a seven-year mostly practice-squad player who’s only been active for 26 career games. It was an all-out team effort, and plenty of players earned “stock up” distinction.
Stock up: Al-Quadin Muhammad, DE
Muhammad went from a player whose improbably hot start had cooled—held without a sack in five straight games since Week 9—to recording three huge sacks of Dak Prescott. His five total pressures tied for his third-most in a game this season and the fifth-most of his Lions tenure.
Muhammad embraced the role of closer, aggressively winning his one-on-one matchups with two fourth-quarter sacks, a third-down sack in the red zone, and a red-zone pressure that helped force an incompletion. The Lions recalibrated their use of him as a pure edge rusher: Muhammad played 92.1% of his snaps on passing downs, didn’t take a single rep inside at defensive tackle, and logged just two snaps at 5-technique—with 36 of his 38 snaps coming at 7-technique or wider.
It allowed him to hunt. And the 30-year-old journeyman, in the midst of a career year, had a career day—a tweaked role that could pay dividends for Detroit’s pass rush down the stretch.
Stock up: Amon-Ra St. Brown, WR
St. Brown’s performance, while battling through an ankle injury, was grittiness personified. It’s not often you see a wide receiver refuse to bow out when many would sit for a week or two. I assumed he’d be on a pitch count after being listed as a game-time decision, but instead he played 57 of the Lions’ 62 snaps—the same as Jameson Williams—including all 40 pass plays.
He shredded the Cowboys secondary for six catches and 92 yards, his fifth-highest total of the season, and even drew his second defensive pass interference of the year. St. Brown started the game with a first-play catch—a pointed, calculated decision by Dan Campbell to send a message—and fittingly caught Goff’s final pass for 37 yards to set up Jahmyr Gibbs’ third touchdown.
That gutsy, selfless performance also etched his name into the record books, as St. Brown set a new NFL record with 511 catches in a player’s first five seasons. Their star player couldn’t be further from a diva.
Stock down: Amik Robertson, CB
Robertson has been one of the Lions’ most dependable and undervalued defensive backs over the past two seasons, and he made a terrific play to open the second half—jumping a slant to George Pickens (one of the most physically dominant slant runners in football) to force the Derrick Barnes interception, one of the biggest plays of the game.
There’s no concern about Robertson moving forward, but this wasn’t his best outing. Getting burned by Ryan Flournoy on a double move—after trying to jump the route—resulted in a wide-open fourth-quarter touchdown that tightened the score to 30-27. Later in the fourth, he was again beat by Flournoy after getting caught up in a bunch release on third down, leading to the Cowboys’ final field goal. He also allowed Kavontae Turpin to spring loose on a whip route for a 20+ yard catch-and-run on the final drive before the eventual D.J. Reed game-sealing interception.
Robertson did, however, smother several of Pickens’ short routes and stonewalled Jake Ferguson, allowing Jack Campbell to fly in and punch the ball out. He’ll look to rebound with the Rams next up.
Captain Big Game Goff navigated muddy waters and never let the offense veer off course, producing another 40-banger in a must-win game.
He finished 25-of-34 (73.5%) for 309 yards (9.1 YPA—his fourth-best mark of the season), one passing touchdown, and 10 passing first downs. It was just his third 300-yard game of the year (Bears, Commanders being the others).
On second down, Goff was in full control: 11-of-14 (78.6%) for 174 yards and a touchdown. His aggression led to a season-high 12.4 yards per attempt on that down—the fifth-highest mark of his Lions career—and paired with several clutch fourth-quarter throws under pressure, Goff delivered when Detroit needed him most yet again.
Stock up: Aidan Hutchinson, DE
While Muhammad grabbed the spotlight with three sacks—one directly resulting from Hutchinson flushing Prescott from his spot—Hutchinson was a consistent unwanted solicitor all up in Prescott’s business.
It was his most disruptive performance in over a month. His nine quarterback pressures tied for his second-most in any game this season, and the most since the defense’s dominant primetime performance against Tampa Bay at Ford Field. Those nine pressures directly contributed to three team sacks, limited Dallas to just two first downs (one scramble, one completion), and a handful of failed Cowboys plays.
Hutchinson hadn’t quite looked like himself of late, but this was a step back toward form. His season-high 35.4% pass-rush win rate underscored just how consistently he was winning off the edge.
Stock down: Trystan Colon, LG
Credit to Colon for stepping in and making his first start of the season at left guar —only a week after making his first start in years at center but he struggled mightily early against one of the best interior defensive lines in football.
Colon allowed four pressures in the first two drives alone (one on a screen pass), including a sack, before being pulled in favor of Miles Frazier for the third and fourth drives. He returned on the fifth series and rotated for much of the remainder of the game.
Colon remains a valuable, versatile depth piece, and he did settle in somewhat, flashing a few solid reps in the run game. But the staff’s willingness to give him such a short hook is not a particularly encouraging sign.
Stock up: Avonte Maddox, SAF
Just two plays into the game, the Lions’ solid spot starter at free safety, Thomas Harper, was lost to a concussion. In stepped defending Super Bowl champion Avonte Maddox, who admirably filled in and played the remaining 80 defensive snaps without leaving the field.
Those 80 snaps tied the highest total of Maddox’s career, with a strong majority coming as the deep middle defender—an interesting change of pace for a player who spent most of the past four seasons in Philadelphia working primarily from the slot. His 70 snaps at free safety against Dallas were more than he’d logged at the position in any full season since his rookie year in 2018.
And he held his own. Maddox came downhill decisively to limit the Cowboys’ short passing game, sniffed out a Kavontae Turpin end-around for minimal gain, and even forced the Pickens fumble near the goal line. With Brian Branch out for the season, Maddox now figures to have a far more permanent role in the Lions’ secondary moving forward—both for the remainder of this season and potentially into next year—alongside Thomas Harper. And with Harper’s short-term availability uncertain, the Lions will be hoping Kerby Joseph can return as soon as next week against the Rams to help stabilize the back end.
- Jahmyr Gibbs, RB: Three touchdowns and numerous ankles broken. Even when he couldn’t consistently get going on the ground, he still found ways to make a major impact and finish with 100+ yards from scrimmage.
- David Montgomery, RB: The Lions maximized Montgomery’s snaps and put him in a position to succeed, as he totaled 73 yards from scrimmage and a tone-setting 35-yard touchdown. It was his most scrimmage yards and longest play since Week 3 against Baltimore. A strong dose of Sonic & Knuckles returned.
- Jameson Williams, WR: Williams is on an absolute tear, once again posting one of the most well-rounded and productive games of his career with seven catches for 96 yards. He consistently showed up on unfavorable downs and distances, preventing the offense from digging a hole and serving as a trusted outlet for Goff under pressure.
- Taylor Decker, LT: Masterful work locking down the blindside against an underrated Cowboys edge group, allowing just two pressures on 40 pass plays.
- Tate Ratledge, RG: One of the biggest threats to the Lions’ success was Dallas’s interior, but unlike the Eagles game, Ratledge was not a liability in pass protection. In just his second game allowing zero pressures he held the fort down.
- Penei Sewell, RT: The NFL’s 2025 Protector of the Year (even if he did get beat once by former practice foe James Houston IV — it happens).
- Miles Frazier, LG: A solid rotational showing, ups and downs included, for a player who lost months of development and was thrown into the fire. He flashed some encouraging traits. The intrigue is real.
- Kelvin Sheppard, DC: Promises made, promises delivered. “Shep” said the approach would change, and it did—dialing back heavier base looks and prioritizing the pass rush while still keeping the run game in check. Now they just need to eliminate those pesky passing explosives.
- Alim McNeill, DJ Reader, and Tyleik Williams, DT: Outstanding effort from a fresher rotation up front. They shut down interior runs with little room to operate and consistently compressed the pocket in the passing game.
- Jack Campbell, Alex Anzalone, Derrick Barnes, LB: One of the best all-around performances of the season from one of the NFL’s top linebacker units. Flying to the ball and making both routine and impact plays—Campbell nearly had a safety and forced a fumble, Barnes grabbed an interception and added a big third-down pressure, and Anzalone broke up three passes like the coverage menace he is. Campbell continues to look like the best active linebacker in football.
- Rock Ya-Sin, CB: The Lions’ best cover corner on the night against one of the league’s most potent passing attacks. In arguably his best game as a Lion, he locked down every receiver he saw, allowing just 17 yards on four targets and a 61.5 passer rating.
- Tom Kennedy, KR/PR: 141 yards on four total returns. Huge boost to the team for a wildly resilient and dedicated long-time Lions player.
- Ford Field, Faithful: Still one of the best home-field advantages in football. Consistently blowing the roof off.
- Malik Cunningham, Wildcat QB: Cunningham notably impressed in his ability to mimic Lamar Jackson and other quarterbacks in his scout-team role, and his elevation almost tipped that St. Brown might be unavailable—so seeing him line up at QB definitely felt a little coy and got me excited. Unfortunately, the one-yard gain on the play may have put an end to any future wildcat experiments.
- D.J. Reed, CB: Reed has struggled to round back into form after his midseason injury. He gave up a play-action bomb to CeeDee Lamb in man coverage early (a tough assignment), followed by another deep shot to Lamb early in the third quarter on an underthrown ball that also drew a penalty, along with a handful of shorter completions over the middle. His late interception helped lock up the game and is a promising sign as he continues to reacclimate.
- Brian Branch, SAF: Branch played another outstanding game, as he had for most of the season and throughout his young Lions career, but a season-ending Achilles injury in December — just before a contract year — is downright miserable. The Lions now have a massive void to fill for the remainder of the season.
- Jake Bates, K: Another unfortunate blocked kick, his third since after the bye. Year-to-year consistency can be difficult for kickers, and Bates has plenty of talent, but he’ll need to iron out some corrections as the Lions head into a stretch run filled with potential meaningful kicks.
- Shawn Hochuli and his referee crew: The safety that wasn’t. The non-free play and non-pass interference on Jameson. The missed head slam to Jacob Saylors on the kickoff. Even the Jake Ferguson OPI. A messy, inconsistent, and unacceptable product from part-time NFL employees. Jared Goff clearly had a few words for them to chew on during one break.
- Isaac TeSlaa, WR: Had his best game as a run blocker and scored another touchdown on a cleverly designed play. Still, he needs to develop more consistency as a route runner—just three targets on 33 routes run—and become a more reliable avenue for Goff to look to.
- Ross Dwelley and Anthony Firkser, TE: Each made a catch and contributed a few solid blocks, but nothing stood out beyond the basics.
