Lions vs. Cowboys live score updates, highlights, drive analysis

Tracking the score of Lions vs. Cowboys with live updates, highlights and drive-by-drive analysis.

The Detroit Lions face off against the Dallas Cowboys in Week 7 NFL action. The Cowboys are trying to keep pace in a competitive NFC East, while the Lions are just desperately trying to show this thing is headed in the right direction.

Dallas will benefit from the return of star quarterback Dak Prescott, who has missed the past five games with a thumb injury. The Lions, despite coming out of the bye week, are dealing with a ton of injuries still. On the offensive side of the ball, they’ll be without WR DJ Chark and running back D’Andre Swift. On the defensive side of the ball, they won’t have safety Tracy Walker or cornerbacks Will Harris and Bobby Price. The good news is that the Lions defense will be getting Josh Paschal, John Cominsky and Jerry Jacobs back.

The Lions bring the worst NFL defense to the table this week, but Detroit is hoping the bye week has cured some ailments. Not only are they getting the three aforementioned defenders back, but they are making more shakeups to the roster, including the benching of veteran defensive tackle Michael Brockers.

Will it be enough to give the Lions a shot at a big upset in Week 7 or will Dan Campbell’s Lions continue to struggle and go into November still winless on the road?

We’ll be providing live updates and highlights all throughout Sunday’s game. So if you can’t watch, just hang right here and continually refresh after the game kicks off at 1 p.m. ET.

First quarter

The Cowboys won the toss and made a rare decision to receive, meaning the Lions defense was up first. Detroit quickly forced a three-and-out after Aidan Hutchinson sacked Dak Prescott on a third-and-8.

A good return from Kalif Raymond and a quick 11-yard catch from Brock Wright set the Lions offense up at midfield. But two ineffective runs from Jamaal Williams—including a Lions-recovered fumble—set Detroit in a third-and-long of their own. Detroit ran a draw play—perhaps hoping a small gain would lead to a fourth-down attempt, but Craig Reynolds was stopped at the line of scrimmage and Detroit punted. Newly-paid punter Jack Fox booted the ball through the end zone for a touchback.

The Lions defense got another three-and-out after an impressive series from rookie Josh Paschal in his first career start. First, he tackled Ezekiel Elliott after just a 3-yard gain on first down. Then, facing a third-and-1, Paschal forced Elliott outside, where Jeff Okudah cleaned up the play before the Cowboys running back reached the line of scrimmage.

The Lions offense started putting together a nice drive, with 10+ yard pickups from Kalif Raymond, Craig Reynolds and T.J. Hockenson. But the drive stalled in Cowboys territory, setting up kicker Michael Badgley for his first field goal attempt in a Lions uniform. He was good from 39 yards, giving the Detroit a 3-0 Lions lead.

Unfortunately for Detroit Amon-Ra St. Brown suffered a concussion during this drive and was quickly ruled out.

The Cowboys responded with a nice drive of their own. Prescott connected with tight end Dalton Schultz for 15 yards then CeeDee Lamb for a big 24-yard gain, setting the Cowboys up in the red zone, before time ran out in the first quarter.

Second quarter

Dallas got down inside the Lions’ 5-yard line, but failed to pick up a third-and-2 on a run play. After a timeout, the Cowboys opted to kick the field goal and tied the game 3-3.

Goff connected with Hockenson and Tom Kennedy for first downs, and a roughing the passer penalty on Micah Parsons pushed Detroit comfortably into Dallas territory. It looked like Williams had converted a third-and-4 to keep Detroit’s drive alive, but a holding on Evan Brown, instead, forced them into a third-and-14 and on the edge of field goal position. A screen proved ineffective, and Badgley made a 53-yard field goal to push retake the lead. 6-3 Lions.

Penalties set the Cowboys back on the next drive with a false start and block in the back setting up a second-and-20 situation. Kerby Joseph nearly picked off the next play, and the Lions force another incompletion on the next play and another three-and-out.