Entering Sunday's game, the Cowboys defense ranked No. 1 in the NFL with 13 sacks, which theoretically would've been the way to keep Matt Stafford from connecting on a bunch of indefensible jump balls to Calvin Johnson.
It just didn't work out that way. Needing to keep more guys back in coverage to stop those jump balls, and blocked by extra protection from Lions tight ends for much of the game, the Cowboys didn't get to Stafford once, registering zero sacks.
"He got the ball out real quick," linebacker Anthony Spencer said. "He was getting the ball out to his running back. He was recognizing the blitzes, and he played a really good game."
The Cowboys actually did a nice job of disrupting Stafford for much of the game, as he entered the fourth quarter only 11-of-27 passing for 110 yards and an interception, but down the stretch they couldn't get people in his face, and he made the plays necessary to complete the comeback.
On his 23-yard touchdown to Johnson in the back of the end zone early in the fourth, Stafford had all day.
"If you look at everything up to the fourth quarter, I really felt we dominated that game," linebacker Sean Lee said. "They had some success at the end."
