Semantics are only so important, but Thursday night’s showdown between the Dallas Cowboys and Detroit Lions at Ford Field wasn’t so much “must win” for each team as it was “can’t lose.”
When all was said and done, it was the home team that remained standing, the Lions emerging with a 44-30 victory. It didn’t elevate Detroit, which sits third in the NFC North, into the conference’s projected playoff field just yet but, per the NFL’s Next Gen Stats, the Lions (8-5) now have a 54% chance of qualifying for the postseason for a third straight year.
Meanwhile, Dallas (6-6-1), which truly couldn’t afford to lose, now has just an 7% shot of making it to Week 19.
As we know, the scoreboard reveals the primary plot line, but there are winners and losers beyond it. Thursday night’s are as follows:
Are we prepared to crown him the Lions’ best player? Maybe that’s just a belated and obvious statement to many? But the multi-talented running back had another impactful night, scoring a trio of touchdowns – giving him 47 in his career and at a time when the offense is missing injured TE Sam LaPorta and WR Amon-Ra St. Brown was at less than 100%. Gibbs, now tied with Lions legend and Hall of Famer Barry Sanders, needs one more TD to have the most by a player in his first three NFL seasons.
