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Dan Campbell after the Dallas game
It was one of those weekends where Detroit fans wanted a big win over the Dallas Cowboys, who they should have beaten last year. Plus, fans were a bit down about the Detroit Tigers miraculous season coming to an end on Saturday in a loss to the Cleveland Guardians.
So, Sunday, everything seemed to be going so well. The Lions were crushing the hapless Cowboys and went on to win 47-9. That was extra gratifying.
But with 11:43 left in the third quarter, defensive end Aidan Hutchinson broke his left tibia and fibula, with reports saying he went off to the hospital for immediate surgery. The loss to the Lions is so big, so costly; he's been such an impactful player.
The tibia is the major weight-bearing bone in your lower leg.
It's not clear, but it's a good guess he's done for the season considering many medical websites say it can take at least three months for a tibia injury to heal.
"It's hard when you lose somebody like him," Coach Dan Campbell said after the game. "We'll know a lot more after this and obviously wish him the best."
The Lions were so tough that broadcaster Tom Brady said it appears they are the team to beat this year.
Here's what some of the media had to say about the game:
The Lions snapped a six-game losing streak against the Cowboys and avenged last year's controversial loss, but it came at the expense of Lions edge rusher and Defensive Player of the Year front-runner Aidan Hutchinson, who suffered a gruesome leg injury during the second half of a 47-9 Lions win.
Jon Machota, Saad Yousuf, Colton Pouncy and Cale Clinton, The Athletic
The Detroit Lions posted a statement 47-9 victory against the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday at AT&T Stadium, generating a season-best 492 yards offensively and forcing five turnovers defensively. The Lions leave Sunday with mixed emotions, however, after NFL sack leader and Lions edge rusher Aidan Hutchinson sustained a tibia injury in the third quarter with Detroit coach Dan Campbell saying Hutchinson will be “down for a while.”
For Dallas, the loss — which happened to come on Cowboys owner Jerry Jones’ birthday — is tied for the fifth-largest negative point differential (-38) in Cowboys franchise history.
The Lions (4-1) were able to move the ball at will offensively. Detroit’s 492 total yards is a season high for the team, while their 47 points is the most for the franchise since Week 11 of 2011. Seven different players caught passes for Detroit, four of whom put up at least 50 yards. David Montgomery posted 80 rushing yards and two touchdowns on 12 carries, his sixth-best yards per carry (6.67) of his career and his seventh career game with multiple rushing touchdowns. Detroit posted 40 points in back-to-back games for the first time since the 1970 NFL merger.
Home, cursed home.
That flow – or hex, trend, nightmare, embarrassment – continued for the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday with another rout at Jerry World.
Never mind that it was Cowboys owner Jerry Jones’ birthday. The Detroit Lions blew out the candles before halftime.
The 47-9 result was anything but a laugher for the Lions. Detroit’s star defensive end, Aidan Hutchinson, was carted off in the third quarter with his left leg immobilized by an air cast.
Vito Chirco, Sports Illustrated
The injury to Hutchinson leaves Campbell's squad with a huge void in the pass-rushing department. It begs the question: Should Detroit general manager Brad Holmes plug the hole with an external move in the coming weeks?
Dave Birkett, Detroit Free Press
The Detroit Lions looked like the best team in the NFC — maybe all of football — for most of Sunday’s 47-9 win over the decimated Dallas Cowboys.
And while they might be, their road to their first Super Bowl got significantly more difficult when they lost their best defensive player, Aidan Hutchinson, to a tibia fracture of his left leg suffered early in the third quarter.
