The Dallas Cowboys were handled with relative ease by the Detroit Lions on Thursday night. It was frustrating.
Prior to the game fans had begun to believe and give this team their heart once more. They deserved this as they had won three games in a row, the second and third of which were particularly impressive, and sometimes you just lose a game. That is life in professional sports.
It’s not an excuse for what Dallas did on Thursday night, though. They made a ton of mistakes and dug themselves way too deep of a hole to climb out of (kind of a microcosm for their season). You can’t do that in general in the NFL, but you certainly can’t play with that kind of fire against a proper team like the Lions.
It was a sobering night and one that the Cowboys will have to think about for a while as they have the mini-bye to rest and recuperate. Here is our Stock Report from the game.
Stock Down: George Pickens
There is no denying that Thursday night was George Pickens’ worst in a Cowboys uniform. He appeared to be less engaged than normal and was clearly frustrated with how the game was unfolding.
We can make note of this while not overreacting and saying that the Cowboys should not extend him now. Pickens has been a revelation for the Cowboys, so much so that he has exponentially increased the expectation that people have of him. It is inexcusable that he could not get things together on Thursday night, and the offense as a whole suffered as a result of it.
Stock Down: Jake Ferguson
The offensive pass interference penalty at the very end of the game was absurd, but by that point in time Jake Ferguson had already had a bad night.
Ferguson has had a solid season in his own right, but he has also had games where he has had oopsie moments that really cost the team. In this particular game he hurt the Cowboys from a penalty standpoint (aside from the bad call at the end) and as a result of his fumble.
Stock Down: KaVontae Turpin
The Cowboys special teams group (outside of Brandon Aubrey) is having a bit of a rough go (more on that in a bit) and KaVontae Turpin is far from the prolific returner he used to be which is making matters even worse.
During this game Turpin was penalized for an improper fair catch signal. This kind of thing is unacceptable in general, but the problem is he was just very recently penalized for the same exact thing.
There is a real lack of discipline here right now.
Stock Down: Kenneth Murray
What else can we say here? This is without question the worst move that the Cowboys made in the offseason. They admittedly did not give up a ton to acquire Kenneth Murray by way of trade, but they have spent a lot by continuing to rely on him. He is so often out of position and chasing things that you have to wonder how the team continues to trust him at all.
Stock Down: Shavon Revel
It feels unfair to hold Shavon Revel to such high expectations (the Cowboys doing so is unwise), but welcome to the professional ranks. This is what comes with the dinner. The sample size is now only four games, but this was clearly the roughest go that Revel has had in the NFL. He could not hang with Jameson Williams (few can) and was picked on all throughout the night.
Stock Down: DaRon Bland
DaRon Bland has become an even bigger target for people after getting extended by the Cowboys (also what comes with the dinner), and to be clear he has looked okay at different points in 2025.
But Bland has also looked really bad in different instances. It was hard to imagine that things could get worse for him than they were during the Arizona Cardinal game, but at one point on third down in this game he got caught overrunning Jahmyr Gibbs and flew out of bounds while Gibbs kept on going to move the chains. A tough scene.
Stock Down: Nick Sorensen
We became spoiled with proper special teams play under John Fassel, but the Cowboys are really struggling under Nick Sorensen’s leadership.
The Turpin stuff is frustrating in terms of the fair catch situation, but he also isn’t even generating proper field position when he does get a return off. What’s more is that the Cowboys coverage group on special teams has really fallen apart. Consider that of the seven times that Detroit began a possession off of a Cowboys kickoff that three of them were beyond their own 40-yard line, including the last two when the game was tight.
Stock Up: Ryan Flournoy
CeeDee Lamb’s injury was a scary situation and we certainly hope he is alright. As noted there are people who are frustrated with how George Pickens did not fully step up, but Ryan Flournoy absolutely did.
It is hard to fully say that the Cowboys “made a game” of things with Detroit, although they did narrow the margin to 30-27 at one point in time. The biggest catalyst for change on offense was without a doubt Ryan Flournoy. He scored a huge touchdown on a busted coverage and has proven to be a very reliable third option.
Stock Up: CeeDee Lamb
As noted we hope all is well with CeeDee from a health perspective. That is the most important thing. In terms of what CeeDee did before he left the game, he was exemplary. Lamb was fully and totally taking over the game and it was clear that without him the offensive operation was suffering. He has continued to bounce back and prove who he is after his struggles against the Eagles.
Stock Up: Brandon Aubrey
Brandon Aubrey was an absolute machine on Thursday night. He was responsible for most of the points early on, and what’s more is he did it in some difficult conditions. Aubrey actually became the first player in NFL history to have a hat trick’s worth of 55+ yard field goals in a single game. Again, the Cowboys were never really “in” the contest, but the fact that they were as close as they were was because Aubrey kept nailing them from downtown.
Stock Up: Sam Williams
Throughout the winning streak the Cowboys had it felt like there was at least one play a game where Sam Williams was involved in a positive light. He deserves kudos for blocking the field goal early in the second half that helped make us all believe that a comeback was possible.
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