Mickey Spagnola

DETROITHow so fitting this was going to be, right here in the birthplace of Motown for the Dallas Cowboys to pay their respects toward Marvin Gaye, imploring his 1967 hit, "Ain't No Mountain High Enough," really sort of their calling card of late, letting nothing get in their way of winning.

Because no matter what, these Cowboys seem to overcome them holes they dig for themselves to pull off victories during this recent three game winning streak.

Remember they dug themselves a 14-7 deficit against the Kansas City Chiefs, only to come back and win on Thanksgiving, 31-28.

Took them just 18:28 of game time to dig themselves into a 21-0 ditch against the Philadelphia Eagles just four days earlier, only to recover for a 24-21 win over the NFC East leading and defending Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles to climb that mountain for a the victory.

Heck even as if trying to prove themselves invincible, felt obligated to trail the lowly Raiders 3-0 right off the bat and then 6-3 before leaving Las Vegas with that 33-16 victory.

And get this, they even trailed the Jets 3-0, only to pull away for that convincing 37-22 victory and before that trailed the Giants 13-3, 30-27 and 37-34 with but 25 seconds left yet won that game in overtime.

Plus, you might have forgotten this, trailing the Green Bay Packers 13-0, 27-23, 34-30 before managing a tie at 40 the end of overtime thanks to a Pack walk-off tying field goal.

Then, if all that were not enough, the Cowboys had pushed aside their shaken emotions following the devastating death of teammate Marshawn Kneeland during their bye week to string together the aforementioned three-game winning streak.

Well, right here Thursday night at Ford Field the Cowboys went to the well one too many times, by trailing after pulling even at 3-3 by scores 10-3, 17-6, 20-9, 27-9, 30-19, 30-27 and 37-30. And you just had a feeling . . . .

Nope, not this time, thanks to self-inflicted wounds: Especially poor special teams kick coverage, allowing the Lions great field position too many times. Kicking far too many field goal (5). Two offensive pass interference calls raising the ire of head coach Brian Schottenheimer and quarterback Dak Prescott. Failing miserably to protect Dak (5 sacks, 11 QB hits) Turning the ball over three times. Landing star receiver CeeDee Lamb in concussion protocol early in the third quarter. And a Lions team that just plain playing better than the Cowboys all night long.

Yep, the Cowboys turning into pumpkins before the bells rang at 11 o'clock Central time.

Lions a roaring 44, Cowboys running out of gas 30.

Reality rang in their ears, too, drowning out all that erstwhile resiliency talk, putting an end to that three-game winning streak when previously no mountain seemed too high to climb. And this loss, dropping the Cowboys to 6-6-1, might have jeopardized any possibility of reaching the playoffs with a wildcard bid at even the seventh seed. And unless them others can stretch out the 8-4 Eagles' two-game losing streak, hopes of catching the NFC East first-place leaders are dissipating.

"This was an important game for both of us," Schottenheimer said, "and they were better than us," having said earlier in his postgame press conference, "We did not play very good tonight."

They sure did not, allowing the Lions to pull out of a 2-3 slump to push their record to 8-5, still hanging in NFC playoff contention.

These Cowboys at a roaring Ford Field before 63,028 turned into a bunch of teasers this night. Seems as Schotty would point out, "When we would get a little momentum, we couldn't get a stop."

Let us count the ways why.

The Cowboys pulled within 17-9 with one of Aubrey's five field goals from 55 yards out with but 50 seconds left in the half, and knowing they would get the ball to start the third quarter. But boom, boom, boom, the Lions gained 45 yards in six plays, enough for kicker Jake Bates to nail a half-ending 47-yard field goal for a Lions 20-9 lead.

OK, no biggie, the Cowboys were getting the ball to start the second half. But of all things, on the first play from scrimmage Dak's slant pass intended for George Pickens was tipped in the air, Lions Derrick Barnes picking the ball off, Dak saving a TD return with a tackle at the 14. But only momentarily, Lions quarterback Jared Goff two plays later throwing his only touchdown pass of the game, covering 12 yards of his 309 passing.

Just like that, 27-9, when optimistically thinking, we'll, come out to score a touchdown to narrow the lead to 20-16, a one score game.

Not so fast.

But here come the Cowboys again, chugging up that mountain, driving 65 yards for Javonte Williams one-yard touchdown run, just like that, the veteran running back notching his 1,000th yard rushing and the Cowboys pulling to 27-16. Then a stop, sort of, this defense back to its old ways, giving up a grand total of 408 yards, Sam Williams blocking a field goal attempt.

But then came some fishy occurrences. On a third-and-9 at the Lions 35, Dak hits Ryan Flournoy for an apparent completion to the 12, on their way to potentially cutting the lead down to 27-23. Un-uh, George Pickens is called for a flimsy pick play, offensive P.I, minus-10, leading to Aubrey's eventual 63-yard bomb, 27-19 instead. But hey, a one score game.

Yet, here go the Cowboys again, allowing the ensuing kickoff return out to the 45, the Lions needing to drive just 45 yards for Bates to match the field goal, 30-19. And within two minutes, just like that, it's 30-27, Dak to Ryan Flournoy for a 42-yard touchdown and then to Jake Ferguson for two more points, hey, it's 30-27. By golly, here come those resilient Cowboys, still 9:52 left in the game. We've seen this movie before.

Here we go we thought, the Lions facing a third-and-6 at their own 45. Remember these explosive plays? Well here comes one of the eight for at least 18 yards, this one of the 33-yard variety, and adding insult to injury, another 15 for roughing Goff. Took Jahmyr Gibbs just two plays to score his second of three rushing touchdowns. Dang, 37-27.

And then the final blow, throwing dirt on the hole the Cowboys had dug. Dak, on a third-and-three at the Lions 11, throws over the middle for Ferguson at the three tangled up with linebacker Alex Anzalone on the incompletion. Flags fly, right. Two of them, one from the line of scrimmage and one from the goal line. Going to at least be a hold, first-and-goal at the six.

Oh no, and look, go back and look at it, one of those flags invented pass interference on of all people, Ferguson. Ferguson, offensive P.I. Good gosh, minus 10 to the astonishment of everyone in the TV booth, announcers and rule analyst alike. Schottenheimer, too. Lions decline, fourth down, another Aubrey field goal, but just 3:42 to play, now but 37-30.

Talk about momentum busters.

And you guys know me by now, just enhancing when I always say, the more field goal you kick, the closer you are to losing. And the Cowboys lost, giving up 44 points, most in the last five games, since the Broncos 44 on Oct. 26, just another bummer of a road trip, the Cowboys now but 2-5 playing "at" games, all five losses against team with winning records.

Thus, this grind of playing four games in 17 days, three of those against not only teams with winning records and 2024 playoff teams, with two of those division champs and Super Bowl participants, the Cowboys can rest, 11 days until their Monday Night game against the Vikings at AT&T.

Treading water at 6-6-1, now that Green Bay tie that was a second away from a win, looming large, sort of a dagger. Because at least 7-6 with four games to go could get the Cowboys to 11 wins if they would win out. Now you'd think stringing together four consecutive wins is a must, getting to 10-6-1.

Even at that, and meaning beating the Vikings, Chargers, Commanders on Christmas and the Giants up there, this just might be a mountain too high.

From getting what you really want.