Dak & Dez dominate as Dallas denies desperate Detroit
The Dallas Cowboys entered their final regular-season home game with the NFC East title and homefield advantage in the playoffs in their back pocket.
Even so, Dallas showed no signs of slowing down as it raced past the Detroit Lions in the third quarter on the way to a 42-21 victory on Monday night at AT&T Stadium.
The Lions (9-6) were the team trying to lock up a playoff berth, but they couldn’t keep up after halftime with Dallas (13-2), which had all of its stars on display.
Cowboys rookie quarterback Dak Prescott passed for 212 yards and three touchdowns. Wide receiver Dez Bryant caught a pair of TD passes and threw another, and rookie running back Ezekiel Elliott rushed for 80 yards and two scores on 12 carries.
The only sign that Dallas might have let its hair down a bit, with the NFC East title in hand, came in the third quarter when Bryant threw a 10-yard touchdown pass to tight end Jason Witten.
On first-and-goal from the Detroit 10, Bryant took a pitch going to his left on a reverse and appeared headed upfield. But just before Bryant reached the line of scrimmage, he tossed to a wide-open Witten in the end zone for the score.
The Bryant-to-Witten connection put an exclamation point on the Cowboys’ domination of the third quarter.
After going to halftime tied at 21, Dallas won the third 14-0 by moving the ball efficiently and shutting down the Lions’ offense.
Cowboys safety J.J. Wilcox ended Detroit’s second-half-opening possession by intercepting Matthew Stafford at the Lions 46-yard line.
Dallas stopped Detroit’s second series of the third quarter at the Lions 36, and Detroit kicker Matt Prater missed a 47-yard field goal on the Lions’ third and final offensive series of the period.
The Cowboys responded to Prater’s miss by driving 63 yards in seven plays. Prescott hit Bryant for a 19-yard touchdown that put Dallas ahead 42-21 and in total command with 12:12 left.
Stafford finished 26-of-46 for 260 yards and the one interception. Detroit running back Zach Zenner produced two touchdowns and 67 yards on 12 carries, while tight end Eric Ebron had eight receptions for 93 yards in defeat. (Reuters)
40 things learned in Week 16
1. Here is all you need to know about Week 16: The teams who entered the weekend with the three worst records in the league – Browns (1-14), 49ers (2-13) and Jaguars (3-12) – all won. 2. Any Given Saturday. 3. Still, a cloud hung over the weekend with the severe injuries suffered by Raiders quarterback Derek Carr and Titans QB Marcus Mariota.
4. (This is not to diminish the other injuries, especially Seahawks WR Tyler Lockett, but it’s a quarterback league.)
5. Has there been a fan based more tortured than the Raiders’ this season? The increasing possibility of a move to Las Vegas and now Carr – happening less than five quarters away from the playoffs.
6. And one more note that will keep Raiders fans awake at night (#Raidernation does sleep, right?): Carr’s injury came on the only sack the Raiders allowed on Saturday and the first allowed by LT Donald Penn all season.
7. By the way, half the AFC playoff field could be starting backup quarterbacks: Texans (Tom Savage), Raiders (Matt McGloin) and Dolphins (Matt Moore).
8. If we made that list “AFC teams who enter the playoffs with a QB who did not start Week 1,” the number rises to four since that Tom Brady guy somehow won the job back in New England after missing the first four games.
9. For the record, the San Diego Chargers were the first team to score a touchdown in the early game on Saturday.
10. A 346-pound lineman threw a touchdown pass for the Kansas City. Fat guy touchdown, #santatribute
11. Well, I guess that answers the question of whether Dallas was going to take its foot off the pedal. Wow.
12. The Antonio Brown catchand-stretch – thanks Jarrett Bell for that term – is a video clip you will see over and over.
13. For the second straight week the Redskins and their fans cheered for… the Cowboys. And both times the Cowboys won. #bittersweet
14. On Thursday night, Eagles QB Carson Wentz cleared concussion protocol and a couple players after re-entering game, Doug Pederson called a reverse which required Wentz to block. And we wondered if Pederson needed his head examined after that one.
15. Who would have believed the biggest question the Giants have entering the playoffs is the play of QB Eli Manning.
16. Referee Gene Steratore couldn’t help but chuckle before announcing the following penalty on the Jets: “False start, offense, everyone but the center.”
17. Can’t say we think Mike Mularkey, Rex Ryan or Todd Bowles did anything to cool their respective hot seats.
18. The Jets’ bickering in the locker room doesn’t help Bowles. Neither does the fact he went for a field goal when trailing the Patriots 41-0. #huh
19. The Bills’ not knowing how to tackle doesn’t help Ryan.
20. For Mularkey, the failure of his special teams to execute on two last-play situations this season is a big reason he might get fired. Think about that.
21. Oh, those kickers. They were unusually bad this weekend. And that’s saying something.
22. Carson Palmer is 3-0 in Seattle. Go figure.
23. One of the strange sounds we heard this weekend was the crowd cheering in Jacksonville. Been awhile.
24. It got lost with the other QB injuries – and, thankfully, because he was OK – but when Aaron Rodgers lay on the field Saturday it was so quiet at Lambeau you could heard cheese aging.
25. Are we sleeping too much on the Kansas City Chiefs?
26. Not sure anyone had a better weekend that Matt Lengel. First career reception, A touchdown. From Tom Brady. #pinchme
27. The Vikings season: From last undefeated team to out of the playoff picture in Week 16.
28. But it sounds like there are bigger problems in Minnesota than that. Players freelancing on Mike Zimmer? Whoa.
29. So the Packers played at home Saturday; the Lions on the road on Monday night. That means Green Bay has about 56 more hours to prepare/rest their bodies than Detroit before the NFC North showdown on Sunday.
Steelers show why they’re Patriots’ biggest threat in AFC 30. Yeah, that’s fair. 31. The Lions deserve might need more time than that to recover from what happened to them on Monday night.
32. It seems Falcons QB Matt Ryan has fallen out of the MVP talk. Why?
33. It might not mean much to the Ravens, but Ravens-Steelers on Sunday was another classic to add to that rivalry. Wow.
34. Chiefs TE Travis Kelce is doing his best to be known for more than just having a reality television show.
35. The Tampa Bay Bucs. One of those teams to watch in 2017.
36. In the end, the Broncos just turned out to be pretty mediocre this season. Nothing more. Nothing less.
37. Cam Newton’s completion rate in the last six games: 45.3%
38. Suffice it to say forgetting his hat wasn’t the only thing that went wrong for Cam this season.
39. It is the first time since 2003 that neither Super Bowl team made it the playoffs the following season. So there’s that.
40. Packers at Lions in Week 17. #popcorn. (USA Today/TNS)