This win wasn't about Calvin Johnson.
When you mount an impossible comeback on the road for the second straight week, it's never about one player.
But without Johnson -- hands down the most dominant receiver in the NFL -- the Lions aren't undefeated and tied atop the NFC.
Needled by Cowboys defensive coordinator Rob Ryan on Friday as someone who'd be Dallas' No. 3 receiver, Johnson caught two more touchdown passes Sunday -- his league-leading seventh and eighth of the year -- as the Lions rallied from 24 down in the third quarter to beat the Cowboys, 34-30.
"Indulge me for a second," Lions coach Jim Schwartz said he as he stepped to the podium for his postgame news conference. "I'm just glad that the third-best receiver on their team is on our team."
Johnson, who matched Cris Carter's record for of four consecutive games with multiple touchdown catches, said he didn't pay attention to Ryan's comments, though they clearly made their way onto the Lions' bulletin board.
Trailing, 30-17, after two interception-return touchdowns woke them from their first-half slumber, the Lions put the game in Johnson's and quarterback Matthew Stafford's hands in the final 15 minutes.
Johnson, as he has all year, came through with highlight plays.
He beat triple coverage, outjumping safety Barry Church for his first touchdown early in the fourth quarter.
Cornerback Michael Jenkins and linebacker Sean Lee also surrounded Johnson on the play, and Stafford heaved the ball to the back of the end zone only after Johnson caught his eye and pointed to the sky, asking for a jump ball.
"The first touchdown, I didn't see the instant replay, but I'm excited to go home and watch this on my DVR," receiver Nate Burleson said. "Three guys surrounding him, him basically doing the Shawn Kemp-Gary Payton, throw the alley-oop up. And Matt said he looked at him like, 'OK, I'll throw it to you,' and he went and got that. That's stuff you can't teach."
Johnson finished with eight catches for 96 yards despite constant bracket coverage, but he scored the game-winner when the Cowboys somehow forgot about him -- despite having 12 men on the field -- with 1:39 left.
Split wide to the right side with only cornerback Terence Newman in front of him, Johnson soared high for another jump ball that everyone in Cowboys Stadium knew was coming.
"To tell you the truth, I was really surprised they came out there one-on-one, off coverage, and just a chance for the guy to go post up," Stafford said. "I'm throwing it to him every time, four downs in a row, I don't care, if they give me that coverage. I believe in him that much, and I think he knows I can put it there, too."
Stafford, playing for the first time in his native Dallas, had far from his best day.
He completed 21 of 43 passes for 240 yards, but threw a bad interception behind Johnson on the fourth play. He struggled to get anything going in the first half.
Dallas (2-2) scored the first 17 points on two Tony Romo-to-Dez Bryant touchdown passes and a Dan Bailey field goal, but Romo fell apart in the second half as he's prone to do in close games.
With the Cowboys up, 27-3, Bobby Carpenter returned a Romo interception 34 yards for a touchdown to spark the Lions.
"I don't know if 'sparked' is a strong enough word, because that sort of insinuates that there was a little kindling there and there was none," Schwartz said.
Chris Houston returned a Romo interception 56 yards for a touchdown on the next series, and Stephen Tulloch picked off Romo a third time to set up Johnson's game-winning score.
The Lions, 4-0 for the first time since 1980 and just the second time since their championship year of 1957, have come back from sizable second-half deficits each of the past two weeks. They beat the Vikings in overtime last Sunday after trailing, 20-0, at halftime.
"I think anytime you come back from 20-something, you're doing some kind of stealing," Stafford said. "We played good in the second half to come back and steal it, but we need to play better in the first half. We know that. We've got to come out and prove it next week and play better."
When you mount an impossible comeback on the road for the second straight week, it's never about one player.
But without Johnson -- hands down the most dominant receiver in the NFL -- the Lions aren't undefeated and tied atop the NFC.
Needled by Cowboys defensive coordinator Rob Ryan on Friday as someone who'd be Dallas' No. 3 receiver, Johnson caught two more touchdown passes Sunday -- his league-leading seventh and eighth of the year -- as the Lions rallied from 24 down in the third quarter to beat the Cowboys, 34-30.
"Indulge me for a second," Lions coach Jim Schwartz said he as he stepped to the podium for his postgame news conference. "I'm just glad that the third-best receiver on their team is on our team."
Johnson, who matched Cris Carter's record for of four consecutive games with multiple touchdown catches, said he didn't pay attention to Ryan's comments, though they clearly made their way onto the Lions' bulletin board.
Trailing, 30-17, after two interception-return touchdowns woke them from their first-half slumber, the Lions put the game in Johnson's and quarterback Matthew Stafford's hands in the final 15 minutes.
Johnson, as he has all year, came through with highlight plays.
He beat triple coverage, outjumping safety Barry Church for his first touchdown early in the fourth quarter.
Cornerback Michael Jenkins and linebacker Sean Lee also surrounded Johnson on the play, and Stafford heaved the ball to the back of the end zone only after Johnson caught his eye and pointed to the sky, asking for a jump ball.
"The first touchdown, I didn't see the instant replay, but I'm excited to go home and watch this on my DVR," receiver Nate Burleson said. "Three guys surrounding him, him basically doing the Shawn Kemp-Gary Payton, throw the alley-oop up. And Matt said he looked at him like, 'OK, I'll throw it to you,' and he went and got that. That's stuff you can't teach."
Johnson finished with eight catches for 96 yards despite constant bracket coverage, but he scored the game-winner when the Cowboys somehow forgot about him -- despite having 12 men on the field -- with 1:39 left.
Split wide to the right side with only cornerback Terence Newman in front of him, Johnson soared high for another jump ball that everyone in Cowboys Stadium knew was coming.
"To tell you the truth, I was really surprised they came out there one-on-one, off coverage, and just a chance for the guy to go post up," Stafford said. "I'm throwing it to him every time, four downs in a row, I don't care, if they give me that coverage. I believe in him that much, and I think he knows I can put it there, too."
Stafford, playing for the first time in his native Dallas, had far from his best day.
He completed 21 of 43 passes for 240 yards, but threw a bad interception behind Johnson on the fourth play. He struggled to get anything going in the first half.
Dallas (2-2) scored the first 17 points on two Tony Romo-to-Dez Bryant touchdown passes and a Dan Bailey field goal, but Romo fell apart in the second half as he's prone to do in close games.
With the Cowboys up, 27-3, Bobby Carpenter returned a Romo interception 34 yards for a touchdown to spark the Lions.
"I don't know if 'sparked' is a strong enough word, because that sort of insinuates that there was a little kindling there and there was none," Schwartz said.
Chris Houston returned a Romo interception 56 yards for a touchdown on the next series, and Stephen Tulloch picked off Romo a third time to set up Johnson's game-winning score.
The Lions, 4-0 for the first time since 1980 and just the second time since their championship year of 1957, have come back from sizable second-half deficits each of the past two weeks. They beat the Vikings in overtime last Sunday after trailing, 20-0, at halftime.
"I think anytime you come back from 20-something, you're doing some kind of stealing," Stafford said. "We played good in the second half to come back and steal it, but we need to play better in the first half. We know that. We've got to come out and prove it next week and play better."
