Cowboys pummel Lions

ARLINGTON, Texas — Dez Bryant threw his first career touchdown pass between a pair of scoring catches, Ezekiel Elliott ran for two touchdowns and the Cowboys kept Detroit from clinching a playoff spot with a 42-21 win over the Lions on Monday night.

With home-field advantage already wrapped up, the Cowboys (13-2) didn’t let up in their seventh straight home win while matching their franchise record in victories, reached two other times.

The biggest sign they were serious about this one came late in the third quarter, when Bryant took a reverse pitch from Dak Prescott and tucked the ball as if planning to run before pulling up and tossing a lefty lob to Jason Witten for an easy 10-yard score and a 35-21 lead.

Witten flashed Bryant’s celebratory “X’’ when the often-exuberant receiver made the signal in his direction after the touchdown.

“There’s just one way to play,” coach Jason Garrett said. “You can’t put different meaning on different competition, like all of a sudden this is less important than that. That’s not how we operate.”

Detroit quarterback Matthew Stafford lost in a visit to his hometown team again, after a wildcard defeat two years ago.

While the Lions (9-6) missed a chance to clinch a playoff berth with their second straight loss, they still control their postseason fate. Detroit plays Green Bay (9-6) for the NFC North title on Sunday.

Elliott had a 55-yard touchdown run in the first half and finished with 80 yards on 12 carries. He has 15 rushing touchdowns, two behind league-leading LeGarrette Blount of New England. The first-year sensation is 177 yards shy of Eric Dickerson’s 33year-old rookie rushing record of 1,808 yards.