Thursday Night Football: Lions pull away for 44-30 win over Cowboys

The Lions needed to win Thursday night, and so did the Cowboys.

Detroit's 44-30 win over Dallas in primetime greatly improved the Lions' playoff chances as they moved to 8-5. The Cowboys (6-6-1) desperately need a loss by the Eagles to the Chargers on Monday night to keep realistic hopes for an NFC East title alive.

The Cowboys never led, falling behind by as much as 27-9 after Dak Prescott threw an interception on the first play from scrimmage in the second half. They rallied, getting as close as 30-27 on Ryan Flournoy's 42-yard touchdown with 9:52 left in the fourth quarter and a 2-point conversion on a catch by Jake Ferguson.

But that was as close as they got.

Jahmyr Gibbs' third touchdown — a 13-yard run — was the nail with 2:19 remaining. Gibbs also had touchdown runs of 1 and 10 yards. David Montgomery had a 35-yard touchdown run.

Gibbs now has 47 career touchdowns before turning 24 years old, tying Barry Sanders for the most in NFL history.

The Cowboys outgained the Lions 417 to 408 but had too many mistakes and gave up too many big plays. Detroit had six plays of 25 yards or more.

Jared Goff went 25-of-34 for 309 yards and a touchdown, a 12-yard throw to tight end Isaac TeSlaa. Jameson Williams caught seven passes for 96 yards and Amon-Ra St. Brown six for 92. Gibbs ran for 43 yards on 12 carries and caught seven passes for 77 yards, and Montgomery had six carries for 60 yards.

Cowboys kicker Brandon Aubrey became the first kicker in NFL history with at least three field goals of 55 yards or more in a single game. He was good from 57, 42, 55, 63 and 29. His last field goal came with 3:42 remaining to cut the Lions' lead to seven points.

On the previous play, Ferguson was called for a questionable offensive pass interference penalty on Alex Anzalone. The Lions declined it, setting up Aubrey's red-zone field goal. Lions defensive back Brian Branch injured his right ankle on the play, needing a cart to get to the X-ray room.

The Lions' three-play, 51-yard drive that ended with Gibbs' 13-yard touchdown run iced it.

Prescott was 31-of-47 for 376 yards with a touchdown and two interceptions. CeeDee Lamb made six catches for 121 before leaving with a concussion in the first half, and Flournoy had a career night with nine catches for 115 yards. George Pickens, on a night they needed him most, had a rough night with five catches for 58 yards.

The Lions, who had only four sacks in the past four games, got three sacks of Prescott by Al-Quadin Muhammad and one each by Jack Campbell and Alim McNeill. Derrick Barnes and D.J. Reed each had an interception of Prescott, and Campbell forced a fumble by tight end Jake Ferguson.