SportsDirect Inc. staff
Oct 27, 2013
Lions 31, Cowboys 30: Matt Stafford passed for 488 yards and dove over the pile for the go-ahead touchdown with 12 seconds left as host Detroit stunned Dallas.
Stafford went 33-of-48 with one touchdown and two interceptions while Calvin Johnson caught 14 passes for a team-record 329 yards and a score as the Lions (5-3) bounced back from their first home loss. Stafford was 4-of-5 on the final drive, hitting Johnson with a 22-yard pass to get it to the Dallas 1 before faking a kill-the-clock play and reaching over the goal line.
Tony Romo completed 14-of-30 passes for 206 yards and three scores while Dan Bailey kicked a pair of 53-yard field goals and connected from 44 with 1:02 left to put the Cowboys (4-4) ahead 30-24. Dez Bryant caught a pair of touchdown passes and linebacker Sean Lee led a defense that forced four turnovers with 10 tackles and two interceptions.
Romo had under 100 yards passing over the first three quarters, but Dallas managed to take a 13-7 lead into the final period on the strength of two field goals and a 5-yard TD catch by Bryant with 46 seconds left in the first half. The Cowboys opened things up in the fourth, taking a 20-10 lead when Romo and Terrance Williams hooked up for a 60-yard score.
Detroit responded with its first TD drive since the first quarter, cashing in on Joique Bell’s 1-yard scoring burst. Dallas took 53 seconds to strike back on Romo’s 50-yard TD pass to Bryant, but the Lions came back again to cut it to 27-24 on Reggie Bush’s 1-yard scoring run.
GAME NOTEBOOK: The Lions became the second team in NFL history to win with a minus-4 turnover margin. … Cowboys G Brian Waters left the game in the second quarter with a left leg injury, returned and exited again with a left triceps injury. … Johnson’s 329 receiving yards were the second-most in a single game in NFL history (Flipper Anderson, 336 on Nov. 26, 1989).