The Detroit Lions are looking alive once again.
Their 44-30 win over the Dallas Cowboys has brought them back to within striking distance of a Wild Card berth, as they remain in the 8 seed within the NFC and stay competitive with four games left on what has felt like the longest regular season of all time.
Injuries did not bog them down a bit in this game, as the energy and effort on both sides of the ball helped to land them such a decisive win. Even with Dallas making a big push towards the end of the game to try and make a comeback, the Lions just rested on what they knew would be successful: a decisive offense led by Jared Goff and Jahmyr Gibbs.
4 winners and 2 losers from Lions' much-needed win over Cowboys
Winner: Jahmyr Gibbs
Let's get the most obvious winner out of the way first. It's not everyday you tie with Barry Sanders for the most rushing touchdowns recorded by the age of 24. With a three touchdown night, Gibbs lands at 47 total on that list, which knots him up with Lions legend Sanders. He's sure to break that record sometime this season, and probably in Week 15.
In addition to that, Gibbs also finished up with 77 receiving yards. On a night where the Lions might've needed to rely on him a bit more over Amon-Ra St. Brown, he delivered in a huge way. He provided highlight plays, strong runs, and solid hands. His impact was felt throughout the contest, and he's a big part of why Detroit managed to stay comfortably ahead for this entire game.
Loser: Brian Branch
Initially, Branch was going to make this list due to his poor play in coverage on the evening. He had a lowlight late in the contest when he blew a coverage on Ryan Flournoy, which led to a wide-open score for the Cowboys receiver. He's been looking a step slow since his suspension, and tonight was no exception. Unfortunately for Branch, he went down with an ankle injury in the fourth quarter that was bad enough to need him to get carted into the locker room.
Hopefully, he's feeling better throughout this long week and headed into Week 15. If not, Detroit is in some serious trouble regarding their safety room.
Winner: Tom Kennedy
While the Lions didn't necessarily need a ton of help on offense in this game, Kennedy has to be an unsung hero for his ability to get Detroit into successful positions on the field thanks to his solid kick returns. On three returns, Kennedy netted 120 yards and averaged 40 yards per return.
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He was night and day compared to his return partner in Jacob Saylors, and it feels like he might've won the job over from Saylors in earnest after this performance.
Loser: Trystan Colon
Colon had to have a solid game in order to keep his job secure and away from rookie guard Miles Frazier, who is now healthy and available for Detroit down this critical stretch. Sadly for Colon, his job looks fairly lost after Frazier had some solid blocks during this game. Both had some mishaps and some strong moments, with Frazier wracking up penalties here and there, but Detroit has to feel good about what they saw out of their rookie.
And, good on Dan Campbell for making the call to swap them out throughout the night instead of just not giving the rookie a look at all.
Winner: Al-Quadin Muhammad
Muhammad has needed to step up for the last few weeks with the Lions, with the team having gotten only four sacks over their last four games. Tonight, the team had a total of five, and Muhammad had three all to himself. He was explosive in one-on-one coverage and looked a lot more spry than he has in recent weeks.
Detroit looked incredible defensively thanks to the pressure they were so consistently able to generate against Dallas, something they've struggled to do this year. If Muhammad can keep this up, it frees Aidan Hutchinson up, as well, and suddenly the Lions have a potent pass rush to help out an injured secondary.
Winner: Amon-Ra St. Brown
Leader. Winner. Those are the adjectives used to talk about St. Brown's availability and play in this contest against the Cowboys. He was questionable this entire week, having not practiced and just participating in walkthroughs. It seemed like his ankle injury might've been worse than he was letting on.
Then, we saw the videos of him warming up, and knew that he was 100 percent ready to go. He posted 92 receiving yards on the night, and had a huge block for Jameson Williams that almost led to a receiving touchdown for Williams. The duo looked like the postseason threat they should be against the Cowboys, and hopefully, they can maintain that momentum.