It was billed as “essentially a must-win’’ for both the Dallas Cowboys and the Detroit Lions as they faced off in Week 14’s “Thursday Night Football’’ showcase.

But too often in Detroit’s 44-30 victory at Ford Field, the visiting Cowboys looked like “Not Ready for Prime-Time Players’’ – as if this stage was somehow too big for them – by committing a series of odd gaffes to create a 20-9 halftime hole that they never quite escaped in the final two quarters.

Fish’s 10 Observations on a lost night in Detroit …

FISH TAKE 1 Weird plays like an offensive facemask penalty on George Pickens while running a route, a needless hands-to-the-face penalty on Jake Ferguson, and an illegal fair-catch signal by KaVontae Turpin consistently robbed Dallas of field position and even scoring chances.

Dallas needed to raise its level of intensity in this one. Instead, too many guys looked lost.

FISH TAKE 2 The Cowboys actually make this a one-score game in the late going before Jahmyr Gibbs turned on the gas again for his third rushing TD. Combine that with one by David Montgomery and Detroit never really needed to roll the dice.

The Lions just needed to keep pushing Dallas around.

FISH TAKE 3 CeeDee Lamb was on his way to a brilliant game with six catches for 121 yards before a valiant-but-failed effort on a Dak Prescott toss to the end zone resulted in Lamb’s exit due to a concussion.

In his place came Pickens, but this wasn’t his night, as he seemed to jog his way to five catches for 37 yards.

FISH TAKE 4 Brandon Aubrey represents Dallas’ most powerful weapon – and maybe the best kicker in NFL history.

Seriously.

His five field goals – including a monster from 63 yards – was about the only factor that kept things interesting.

Oh, by the way, further solidifying by best-ever idea? Aubrey’s bomb was his third field goal from 60-plus yards in 2025. That is the most 60-yard field goals in a season in NFL history.

FISH TAKE 5 Dallas entered the game ranking fifth in the NFL on third-down conversions.

Here, the Cowboys got a lot of cracks at it on third down (15) but managed to convert on just six of those.

FISH TAKE 6 The Cowboys did get a blocked field goal by Sam Williams here, the third blocked kick of his career. Does he have a knack? Apparently. Since 2023, Dallas has blocked six kicks. Williams has three of those six.

FISH TAKE 7 Dallas’ Javonte Williams has achieved a 1,000-yard rushing campaign in a breakout season. Oh, and young receiver Ryan Flournoy had a breakout game, with nine catches for 115 yards and a 42-yard TD.

And that’ll all matter to them. Someday. But not today.

FISH TAKE 8 Before the game, NFL reporter Jane Slater bumped into Dak Prescott and he told her that his memory of playing at Detroit is “that we lit them up. Lot of passing yards.’’

And then he added, “(We’re) about to do it again.’’

Well, kinda. Dak finished 31 of 47 for 326 yards. But the two interceptions were just as negative as anything that happened positively on offense.

FISH TAKE 9 The Cowboys didn’t give up a sack in last week’s win over the Chiefs. And in the last four games, the Lions had only four sacks total.

Maybe this is all about game script, but Detroit got three sacks of Prescott in this one.

FISH TAKE 10 So the Cowboys dip to 6-6-1 Cowboys and their three-game winning streak is over. And the Lions jump to 8-5 Lions, all of which according to the big computer shrinks Dallas’ chances of making the playoffs to 9 percent.

Dallas hosts the Vikings and Chargers in the next two weeks, and then closes the season on the road against the Commanders and Giants.

So the Cowboys aren’t done; it just very much feels that way.