The Detroit Lions are back in Texas on Sunday, October 13, for a heated matchup against the Dallas Cowboys on the road. Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott and the team had a rough 1-2 start to the season, but the past few weeks, they’ve fought to snag two consecutive wins over the New York Giants and the Pittsburgh Steelers. Meanwhile, the Lions are 3-1 going into the game, only having lost to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
This particular matchup between the Lions and Cowboys is extra dramatic, because the last time the team played, there was a controversial end to the game. The controversy was about whether or not Lions left tackle Taylor Decker properly reported to the official as eligible to receive a pass on the two-point conversion try with 23 seconds left on the clock. Decker caught the pass in the end zone, but officials called it as illegal touching on the play, so no points.
Prescott remembers that moment, and he says that he’s ready to go up against that Lions “personality” on Sunday.
Dak Prescott: ‘We’re Going to Get This Win’
Speaking to reporters on Thursday, October 10, Prescott expressed confidence ahead of taking on Detroit.
“We’re going on a bye week next. So, we’re going to get this win and then go enjoy the bye,” he said. “Then, we’ll figure it after that.”
Then, Prescott referred to the controversial call at the end of last season’s game.
“There was a flag missed before that on our side that was called the wrong way,” he said. “I expect them to come out with same personality of the same team that they’ve been. It’s a defense that we’re familiar with because we had played them in the last few seasons.”
‘It’s a Grudge Match’
Everyone seems to be getting in on the Lions vs. Cowboys rematch, including the official writers for the Cowboys. In an October 11 feature about the game, Cowboys staff writer Patrik Walker called the game a “grudge match of the highest order, especially from the vantage point of a Lions’ team that felt wronged by the officiating crew the last time they were in Arlington en route to a one-point loss.”
“It’s a reloaded team in Detroit that unofficially views this battle as a grudge match, the history of the series also taken into consideration (hi, Anthony Hitchens), and Jared Goff has a stable of horses the undermanned Cowboys’ offense must contain,” he added. “The likely return of DaRon Bland helps slow them down, but stop them? Tall order. I look more so to Dak Prescott and the offense to finally get going in a must-win HOME game against a questionable Lions’ secondary in what becomes a bit of a shootout; and the Lions leave with another heartbreak.”
Walker predicts the Cowboys will take it, 30 to 27.
Cowboys staff writer Tommy Yarrish also weighed in, writing, “The Cowboys have won six straight against the Lions dating back to 2015, but I feel like the 2024 version of Detroit is the best Dallas will have faced from the bunch.”
Tarrish has the Lions winning, 27 to 24.
