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Knee-Cap Biting Activated: Lions Roll Cowboys in Statement Win

December 5, 2025

A week after getting torched on Thanksgiving Day by the Packers, the Lions would host a Dallas Cowboys squad that was as desperate for a victory as they were. Knowing the loser would face low odds of making the playoffs, Detroit left no doubt and took the 44-30 win at home.

Detroit immediately started off with some good news when ARSB was announced to be active after a successful warm up period during pregame. There was a lot made of his low ankle sprain on Thanksgiving especially since he missed practice all week. He not only played but produced in a  big way with nearly 100 yards receiving and looking like his normal self. Jameson Williams  had an equally large performance with 96 yards on 9 targets.

The Lions offense needed these two going because the running game was a bit slow on the night with Jahmyr Gibbs only accumulating 43 yards on his 12 carries. The big catch on that stat is that 3 of his 12 carries went for touchdowns. Gibbs has been on a bit of a touchdown watch as of late as he inches closer and closer to the all-time touchdown record of most touchdowns obtained by a player before the age of 24. On this night, he notched 45, 46, and 47 and tied Barry Sanders with more football left to be played. Think for a moment on how spectacular Gibbs has been and to be in the same tier as Barry. For those that didn’t have the privilege of watching Sanders, it really speaks to the type of athlete and player that Barry was for all of those years.

We can’t cover this one without touching on the defense. Despite giving up a lot of yardage to the passing game, the Lions registered 5 sacks including 3 alone from an outstanding night out of Al-Quadin Muhammad. Of course, one of those sacks came from Jack Campbell on the safety that wasn’t. We’ll let you decide on what the correct call was, but the officials determined it wasn’t worth 2 points. Jack Campbell would later add a forced fumble with a perfectly executed peanut punch.

Though the score was 20-9 at halftime, Derrick Barnes immediately changed that on the first play of the third quarter by picking off Dak Prescott and setting up an Isaac TeSlaa score. From there it was all Lions. Dallas would lose CeeDee Lamb to a concussion and George Pickens seemingly wasn’t interested in taking over for him. It wasn’t all sunshine and rainbows, though, as the Lions did suffer one big loss on the night. The big loss came from a confirmed torn achilles for standout defensive back Brian Branch.

A loss would have created near insurmountable odds to make the playoffs. Dan Campbell made sure his team came to bite off kneecaps and refused to be in that situation. There’s a tough road ahead with the Rams up next, but this team is battle tested and knows that every week from here on is a must win.

Keith, Author

Keith runs youth flag football leagues by day, and by night he hosts the podcast and writes articles with the confidence of a man who’s been rushing quarterbacks since dial-up. A longtime flag football DE and lifelong Falcons fan, he’s no stranger to heartbreak and enjoys watching the bears get slaughtered each week. Equal parts coach, critic, and chaos, Keith calls it like he sees it… even if it hurts.