Detroit Lions grades: Dan Campbell gets a C for late-game decision making vs. Cowboys

ARLINGTON, Texas — Free Press sports writer Dave Birkett grades the Detroit Lions in their 20-19 loss to the Dallas Cowboys on Saturday at AT&T Stadium:

Quarterback

Jared Goff didn’t play particularly well for the first 58 minutes Saturday. He threw two costly interceptions, including one on the Lions’ penultimate drive, and struggled at times in the face of pressure. Goff did show plenty of moxie on the Lions’ final drive, however, completing all six of his pass attempts (not including spikes) to lead what was nearly a thrilling comeback. He could have put a little more air under his final two-point throw to James Mitchell, though that’s a ball Mitchell has to catch. Goff deserves credit for his late-game heroics, but for the Lions to win games like Saturday’s in the playoffs, he’ll need to be more consistently better from start to finish. Grade: C-plus

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Running back

David Montgomery was the bell cow on the Lions’ go-ahead third quarter touchdown drive, carrying seven times for 44 yards and barreling in for a 3-yard touchdown. Montgomery (14 carries, 65 yards) and Jahmyr Gibbs (15-43) split carries almost evenly Saturday, though Gibbs found running room tough to come by. Gibbs dropped a pass on the opening series, had one long run called back on a holding penalty and had 28 of his yards on back-to-back plays with the Cowboys defense reeling after a fake punt. Combined, Gibbs and Montgomery had nine rushes that went for no gain or negative yards, though there were blocking breakdowns on most of those plays. Grade: C

Receivers/tight ends

Sam LaPorta had seven catches for 84 yards to set a new franchise receiving record for a tight end, but the rookie whiffed on two blocks in the first quarter that resulted in run stuffs and a third in the fourth quarter that went for a short gain. Both LaPorta and Amon-Ra St. Brown came up big on the Lions’ final drive, though LaPorta probably cut his route too short on Goff’s fourth-and-goal incompletion in the second quarter. Josh Reynolds also missed a block on a third-and-2 run that went for no gain, and Mitchell had the costly holding penalty that wiped out Gibbs’ 34-yard run and the drop on the two-point throw. On the bright side, St. Brown had six catches for 90 yards and Jameson Williams had a nice block on St. Brown’s 13-yard gain on a first quarter bubble screen and ran by DaRon Bland for a 63-yard catch on the second play of the fourth quarter. Grade: D-plus

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Offensive line

I don’t know what really happened on the controversial two-point play that was nullified by penalty, when the Lions say Taylor Decker reported as eligible and referee Brad Allen said it was Dan Skipper who checked in on the play. Wherever the case, Allen announced Skipper as the eligible receiver to the crowd so there was some confusion in the reporting. From a blocking standpoint, the line wasn’t at its sharpest. Graham Glasgow had a false start in the first quarter, allowed a pressure on Goff’s first interception and got beat by DeMarcus Lawrence for a tackle-for-loss on the goal line. Micah Parsons beat Decker for the pressure on Goff’s fourth-and-goal incompletion late in the first half, and there was another blown assignment on a third-and-1 play just before halftime when Decker and Penei Sewell lined up next to each other and gave Lawrence a free rush lane. Frank Ragnow had the key block on Montgomery’s 22-yard run third quarter and made two blocks on Montgomery’s TD run, when he came off a double-team block to pick off a linebacker on the second level. Grade: C-minus

Defensive line

Aidan Hutchinson had a monster day with three sacks, another tackle for loss and a forced fumble. Hutchinson beat Tyron Smith for a drive-stalling sack just before the two-minute warning in the second quarter and overpowered Tyler Biadasz for his second sack on the final play of the first half. He also had a nice run stop early in the third quarter, when he shed a block and teamed with Cam Sutton to throw Tony Pollard for a 2-yard loss. Bruce Irvin and Hutchinson forced Dak Prescott off his spot on his first half interception, and Josh Paschal deserves an assist on Kindle Vildor’s tackle-for-loss for his disruptive rush. The Lions allowed one 18-yard run, but otherwise held the Cowboys to 43 yards rushing on 20 carries. Grade: B-plus

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Linebackers

Derrick Barnes whiffed on a safety when he failed to wrap up Prescott on a first quarter blitz, which allowed the Cowboys quarterback to step up in the pocket and hit CeeDee Lamb for a 92-yard touchdown on third-and-13 on Dallas’ second offensive series. Alex Anzalone had eight tackles, including one for loss, though he and Kerby Joseph missed tackles on Pollard’s 18-yard run on third-and-1 in the third quarter. Barnes (five tackles) came in unblocked on the back side of the next play for a TFL. Jalen Reeves-Maybin shed a block to make a first down-saving tackle on a third quarter screen pass to Deuce Vaughn. Collectively, the Lions held the Cowboys to their fewest points in a home game since Week 2 of last season. Grade: B

Defensive backs

Lamb torched the Lions for 13 catches, 227 yards and that 92-yard touchdown, when Vildor fell down trying to keep up with the play. Cam Sutton (10 tackles) was solid in run support, but the Lions also let Brandin Cooks get free for two key catches in the fourth quarter. Cooks made a tough grab over Brian Branch for a first down and beat Ifeatu Melifonwu for his touchdown. Melifonwu jumped a Prescott pass to Lamb for an interception on Dallas’ opening drive, after Sutton got beat for a 31-yard gain by Lamb and Cooks got behind Vildor on a deep route that didn’t connect. Vildor did force a Lamb fumble out of the end zone on the goal line in the second quarter. Grade: C

Special teams

The Lions got creative with a new fake punt Saturday, as Reeves-Maybin completed a 31-yard pass to Khalil Dorsey off a well-executed direct snap. Kalif Raymond had a nice punt return late in the first half to the Lions’ 40-yard line, though the Lions failed to capitalize with points. Michael Badgley made field goals of 41 and 30 yards and Jack Fox netted 43.8 yards on his four punts, but the Lions didn’t take any chances on kickoffs with KaVontae Turpin and couldn’t recover the late onside kick. Grade: A

Coaching

I love Dan Campbell’s aggressiveness. He’s good for a fake punt in most big games and there was no doubt he was going for two and the win after the Lions scored late. But once Decker was penalized for illegal touching, I thought Campbell should have stood down and kicked the extra point rather than try another two-point conversion from the 7. I also would have liked to see the Lions take the field goal on fourth-and-goal from the 4, to finish the drive with points after the fake punt in what appeared at the time (and turned out to be) a low-scoring game. The Lions took some risks leaving Lamb in single coverage, but they got a solid defensive effort overall. Offensively, they struggled with their blocking, but at least there was no let up coming off an emotional division-clinching win. Grade: C

Contact Dave Birkett at dbirkett@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @davebirkett.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit Lions grades: Offense a letdown in 20-19 loss at Cowboys