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Lions fall to Cowboys 26-24 on last-second field goal

Posted at 4:02 PM, Sep 30, 2018
and last updated 2018-09-30 17:16:43-04

DALLAS, Texas — The Detroit Lions fell to the Dallas Cowboys 26-24 on Brett Maher’s fourth field goal as time ran out in a battle of 1-2 NFL squads Sunday at AT&T Stadium.

Maher’s winning boot was 38 yards.

The Lions nearly rode the receiving of Golden Tate to victory. Tate finished the afternoon with eight catches for 132 yards and two touchdowns.

The Cowboys’ defensive coordinator is Rod Marinelli, who coached the Lions to a 10-38 record from 2006-2008.

After the opening kickoff, the two teams traded possessions until Dallas took a 3-0 lead on a 32-yard field goal by Maher with 4:30 remaining in the opening period.

With just 19 seconds to go in the opener, Tate hauled in a 45-yard TD pass from Matthew Stafford to give Detroit a 7-3 edge at the initial break.

The Lions’ defense continued to excel in the second stanza, as a lengthy Cowboy drive ran out of steam and Maher booted a 43-yard field goal to close the gap to 7-6 at the 11:01 juncture.

Detroit tacked on a Matt Prater field goal from 33 yards away for a 10-6 bulge with 2:50 to go until intermission. But Dallas came right back with a 38-yard screen pass to Ezekiel Elliott for a touchdown and a 13-10 edge with 1:39 showing on the clock, a margin that stood until halftime.

The Cowboys controlled most of the third quarter and went up 20-10 with 2:59 left in the period on a 1-yard pass from Dak Prescott to Geoff Swaim.

At the outset of the finale, the Lions began driving and eventually closed to within 20-17 at the 14:20 mark on an 8-yard run by Kerryon Johnson. But Dallas then put together a drive of its own that stalled near the goal line and Maher kicked a 22-yard field goal for a 23-17 Cowboy advantage with 5:49 remaining in the game.

Detroit retook the lead at 24-23 on Tate’s second touchdown — a 38-yard pass from Stafford with 2:17 left.

That left the last-second heroics up to Maher.

Coach Matt Patricia’s Lions are now 1-3 entering a homefield date with the Green Bay Packers, with kickoff scheduled for 1 p.m. next Sunday.

The Cowboys now stand 2-2 going into next Sunday night’s trip to meet their intrastate rivals, the Houston Texans.

EARLIER STORY:

https://fox17online.com/2018/09/30/lions-trail-dallas-cowboys-13-10-at-halftime/