Detroit Lions vs Dallas Cowboys: Detroit's Legend Grows

The Detroit Lions defeated the Dallas Cowboys in dramatic fashion on Sunday. In doing so, they overcame a major deficit for the second straight week. They also won on the road for the third time this early NFL season.  Remember when it used to take four years for the Lions to win that many road games? 

The win solidified the Detroit Lions as a team to be reckoned with not only in the NFC North, but league wide.

For Detroit, the game was a tale of two halves. The first half was miserable and at times Matthew Stafford looked like someone had just stolen his lunch money.  The reasons for this were simple.   

Dallas' defense was effectively pressuring him and the secondary was playing smothering defense on all his receivers. Dallas didn't sack him, but had at least seven knockdowns in the first half. 

Stafford did not look sharp as a result. He sailed his first pass to Calvin Johnson high and behind, resulting in an interception. Most of the time, the Lions' quarterback was running for his life and throwing the football in the stands. Needless to say, the Detroit offense couldn't find its rhythm.

Dallas' offense was rolling in the first half. Tony Romo was doing his best Peyton Manning impression. Dez Bryant and Laurent Robinson, that's right Laurent Robinson, were downright abusing the Lion secondary. The only points the Lions could muster were a field goal by Jason Hanson. The score at halftime was 17-3 Dallas.

The second half started out the same. Dallas marched down the field and Romo hit Jason Witten in the end zone for a quick score. However, the next time the Detroit Lion defense took the field they flipped the switch. Bobby Carpenter picked off Romo and ran it back 34 yards to paydirt.  Then Chris Houston made a one-armed pick covering Laurent Robinson, and ran it back 56 yards for the second pick six. 

Pretty much everything that needed to happen for the Detroit Lions to come back was happening. Tony Romo looked dazed.

The fourth quarter brought the Matthew Stafford and Calvin Johnson show. Finally the Lions offense was clicking and if ever Calvin Johnson took over a game, this was the game. He scored on a 23-yard jump ball from Stafford, while triple teamed. The game-winner was a two-yard fade pattern. Johnson out-jumped the Dallas cornerback and held on to the ball despite being slammed to the ground.

The win adds another chapter to a Detroit Lions season that is quickly becoming legendary.

As impressive as another comeback win is, the way the Lions beat Dallas was even more so.  The vaunted Detroit defensive line was ineffective the entire game. 

They rarely got pressure on Romo, and more often drew killer penalties.  They didn't have a sack until the end of the game when rarely used Willie Young brought Romo down.

No, this game was not impressive because of a dominating Detroit D-line.  It was impressive because the other guys on defense stepped up and made plays.  The linebackers and secondary have been viewed as the "weaker" part of a strong defense. Both units are improved this year, but the defensive line gets all the accolades.  Not today.

It was Bobby Carpenter, Stephen Tulloch, and the embattled Chris Houston stepping up and making big plays and changing the momentum of the game.  

Of course, when the Lions needed the offense to get rolling it was Matthew Stafford and Calvin Johnson who answered the call. Calvin Johnson demonstrated again why he is hands down the best wide receiver in the game today.  Cris Carter and Rob Ryan may disagree but they probably need to visit an ophthalmologist

One last thought. As impressive as the Detroit Lions look and as encouraging as another comeback win is; should it be a concern that the Lions continue to look so bad in the first half?  They cannot rely on second half heroics all year. They have to put together a complete game sometime. One could argue they have not done that since week one.

That being said, the Detroit Lions are still undefeated.  After the Buffalo Bills lost, the Lions are one of two teams still undefeated. 

The other team is the Super Bowl champion Green Bay Packers, whom the Lions won't see until November 24th. It will be interesting to see how far the Lions have come by that time. 

For now, the Detroit Lions can bask in the glow of victory, and Lion fans can start getting used to something they haven't seen in some time—winning!