NFL Week 6 scores and live updates: Bears beat Jaguars in London, channel, highlights, analysis, stats
By Jon Machota, Saad Yousuf, Colton Pouncy and Cale Clinton
The Detroit Lions posted a statement 47-9 victory against the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday at AT&T Stadium, generating a season-best 492 yards offensively and forcing five turnovers defensively. The Lions leave Sunday with mixed emotions, however, after NFL sack leader and Lions edge rusher Aidan Hutchinson sustained a tibia injury in the third quarter with Detroit coach Dan Campbell saying Hutchinson will be “down for a while.”
For Dallas, the loss — which happened to come on Cowboys owner Jerry Jones’ birthday — is tied for the fifth-largest negative point differential (-38) in Cowboys franchise history.
The Lions (4-1) were able to move the ball at will offensively. Detroit’s 492 total yards is a season high for the team, while their 47 points is the most for the franchise since Week 11 of 2011. Seven different players caught passes for Detroit, four of whom put up at least 50 yards. David Montgomery posted 80 rushing yards and two touchdowns on 12 carries, his sixth-best yards per carry (6.67) of his career and his seventh career game with multiple rushing touchdowns. Detroit posted 40 points in back-to-back games for the first time since the 1970 NFL merger.
Defensively, Detroit suffocated the Cowboys (3-3) offense. After Dallas seemingly found some rushing stability in their Week 5 win over Pittsburgh, the Cowboys promptly followed up that performance by posting just 53 yards on 17 carries. The Cowboys’ 3.1 yards per carry is their worst average in a game this season. After Dak Prescott’s end zone interception to Brian Branch, the Cowboys went three-and-out the next two drives and gained a combined -1 yards across their next four drives. Detroit finished the afternoon forcing five turnovers.
As for losing Hutchinson, Campbell said, “Those are hard. Those are hard moments. That’s hard for everybody, when you’re standing there and that’s one of your’s, something like that happens. But our guys have done a good job — and our coaches, just getting them re-focused on the job ahead of them. Because if you dwell on that too much, start playing a little timid, that’s when you get hurt. So our guys snapped right back in. They lived in the moment we were in. That’s a credit to our players and the coaches.”
Lions get an all-around win
The Lions arrived in Dallas looking for a win — their first in three tries under Dan Campbell. They’ll leave with not only that, but a statement win. This was an all-out dismantling of the Cowboys. The offense never punted and put up 47 points. The defense forced five turnovers and held the Cowboys to three field goals. You could make a strong argument this is the most complete win of the Campbell era.
Beating a good Cowboys team, on the road, and pulling your starters early in the fourth quarter was all the evidence you need of that. There’s a lingering cloud hanging over the team after a game like this, but this was the Lions made a statement to the league that they should be viewed as the NFL’s best team. The offense is firing on all cyclinders, the defense is getting off the field and creating turnovers. It’s everything you wanted to see. — Colton Pouncy, Detroit Lions beat writer
Lions preparing for life without Hutchinson
Of course, that lingering cloud is the injury to star edge rusher Hutchinson. He went down after sacking Prescott in the third quarter and was carted off the field. He was quickly ruled out for the rest of the game. Considering Hutchinson is the Lions best pass rusher and arguably the early front-runner for the defensive player of the year honor, his presence will be nearly impossible to replace with just one guy. Just a brutal, brutal loss for a team with Super Bowl aspirations. The only thing that could a damper on an effort like this. — Pouncy
Cowboys loss new low point for McCarthy era
Embarrassing. That’s the only way to describe Sunday’s performance by the Cowboys.
There are levels to this. It’s one thing to lose, it’s another to be completely dominated. Dallas was missing several key starters, but that’s no excuse for just how bad things got Sunday afternoon. Poor tackling, poor run game, poor throws, poor blocking. Nothing looked even satisfactory. Hutchinson suffered a gruesome leg injury that completely took the air out of the building. Even without him, Dallas’ starting offense had very little success against Detroit’s defense.
There probably isn’t a better time for a bye week. This one should make everyone involved feel sick. The Cowboys will likely get Micah Parsons and DaRon Bland back after the bye. They’ll eventually get DeMarcus Lawrence, Brandin Cooks and Marshawn Kneeland back. But even with those missing pieces back on the field, does anyone see a team that has the makings of getting hot at the right time, making the playoffs and making a run? Didn’t think so. There seems to be a better chance of this season getting really ugly than having some type of storybook ending. — Jon Machota, Cowboys beat writer
Cowboys keep falling behind in first half
The Cowboys’ 27-6 halftime deficit today actually looks similar to the Cowboys’ three previous games at AT&T Stadium. They were down 27-7 against the Green Bay Packers in last season’s wild card loss. They were down 35-16 at halftime to the New Orleans Saints in the Cowboys’ home opener. They were down 21-6 to the Baltimore Ravens the following week. Now, 27-6 to the Detroit Lions. It’s all inexcusable, especially for a team that was the NFL’s best at home for two full seasons. No one in the organization has been able to figure out their issues at home. They’ll have the bye week to try to fix it, but there’s no reason to think the results will drastically change. In other words, this Cowboys team is in trouble. — Machota
Dallas offense has no excuses
The Cowboys’ defense had a predictably brutal day, given their injuries to their top four defensive ends, top linebacker and starting cornerback. But the offense had no excuse for the kind of performance they displayed on the field, and it starts at the top with Mike McCarthy and Prescott. The quarterback set the tone with an egregious interception in the end zone in the first quarter but it was hardly a one-off mistake.
As bad as Prescott’s final line looked, it could have been worse. He’s not solely responsible — the pass protection was horrendous, running game invisible and chemistry with the top playmaker, CeeDee Lamb, was shockingly off. Overall, when the offense looks as discombobulated as it did, though, the culpability starts with the play-caller and quarterback. It was a rock-bottom performance by both. — Saad Yousuf, Cowboys beat writer
Required reading
- Kerby Joseph, Brian Branch are the safety duo Lions hoped they’d become
- Lions emphasize improving with tough stretch out of bye week: ‘We’ve got things to clean up’
- Why have Cowboys struggled to get CeeDee Lamb involved in second half of games?
- The Cowboys’ run game showed signs of life — they need Rico Dowdle to keep building
(Photo: Sam Hodde / Getty Images)
