Things had been lining up fairly well for the Dallas Cowboys before last week. The 44-30 defeat not only exposed their inconsistencies, but it also might have ended their playoff chances this season after they failed to restrict opponent QB Jared Goff. And now, to make things worse, the Cowboys have been handed another major setback.

For most of the afternoon, QB Jared Goff was comfortable. Dallas chased him, but rarely unsettled him. One of the few moments where the pocket finally collapsed came late, when the Cowboys were trying to claw their way back into the game. Dallas defensive end James Houston got there, but certainly not cleanly.

With 8:26 left in the fourth quarter and Detroit clinging to a 30–27 lead, Goff dropped back on third-and-six. He hit Jameson Williams for 29 yards, and Houston followed through with his right hand high. Too high. The officials flagged him for roughing the passer, ruling the contact landed in the head-and-neck area.

The ball was placed half the distance to the goal from the 26, and two plays later, Jahmyr Gibbs was in the end zone. Houston paid for it afterward as well. According to the NFL’s weekly gameday accountability report, he was fined $5,722. Because it was his first offense of the season, the number stayed relatively modest.

It’s still surprising. Roughing-the-passer fines are typically steeper. The standard first offense usually runs north of $17,000, with repeat offenses climbing past $23,000. First offense or not, Goff caught a bit of a break there.

But, well, none of it changed the larger story. Dallas never made Goff uncomfortable enough. He finished the day 25 of 34 for 309 yards and a touchdown, calmly distributing the ball while Detroit leaned into a pass-heavy plan. The Lions ran a 61.4 percent dropback rate against Dallas and rarely paid for it.

To make things worse, Houston wasn’t the only Cowboys player to be punished.

Two more Cowboys players were punished

For most of the season, Pickens has been a steady presence in the Cowboys’ passing game. However, that wasn’t the case against Detroit. Pickens turned in one of his quietest games of the year with five catches, 37 yards, and no touchdowns. He still saw nine targets, second-most on the team, which made the stat line stand out even more.

The night went sideways in other ways, too. Pickens found himself on the wrong side of the rulebook during a moment when Dallas couldn’t afford it.

It happened late in the second quarter. Second-and-10, 1:25 left before halftime. Dak Prescott zipped a nine-yard completion to Pickens, a small but useful gain as Dallas tried to steady itself. Then the flag came out. Face mask. The catch was erased, and the Cowboys were marched back 15 yards.

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The league followed up later. Pickens was fined $11,593, his sixth fine of the season. The running total now sits at $95,642. On top of the face mask, he was flagged earlier for an illegal pick and lost a fumble inside the 10-yard line. And it gets worse.

Fullback Hunter Luepke was hit with an $8,537 fine for unnecessary roughness after lowering his helmet while tackling Lions returner Jacob Saylors. Officials missed it in real time, but the league office didn’t. Yeah, pretty much sums up that night for Dallas.