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    • Lions ‘unload the clip’ with tricks in a big win against Cowboys
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    Lions ‘unload the clip’ with tricks in a big win against Cowboys

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    ARLINGTON, Texas – Dan Campbell was dealing with a “controlled anger” over the Detroit Lions’ controversial loss to the Dallas Cowboys last season, and on Sunday he unleashed it on the Cowboys.

    The Lions ran for 184 yards and beat the Cowboys with a barrage of trick plays, scoring the most points in 13 years in a 47-9 win.

    “Dan said he was going to release the clip this week and I think we all definitely saw him do that,” linebacker Alex Anzalone said Sunday night at AT&T Stadium.

    The Lions scored early in the second quarter on a 52-yard reverse flea flicker from Jared Goff to Sam LaPorta, and nearly added a touchdown in the second half on a hook-and-lateral to right tackle Penei Sewell. Goff threw one pass to left tackle Taylor Decker, the Lions waved Dan Skipper wide on a play in the fourth quarter when backup quarterback Hendon Hooker was in the game, and they ran four plays with both Decker and Skipper as in eligible recipients.

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    Last year, the Lions lost to the Cowboys 20-19 after their two-point lead was wiped out by an illegal touching penalty. Officials mismanaged the play and announced Skipper as the eligible receiver when Decker reported.

    Goff insisted the Lions weren’t seeking revenge with their play-calling Sunday, and simply saw cracks in the Cowboys’ defense that they wanted to exploit.

    “Whatever their defense presented this week provided an opportunity to execute on some of those plays,” he said. “They were in (the game plan), but that doesn’t mean they’re all getting called. … We were moving the ball pretty well. When that happens, they usually get called more. We usually have a lot in each week, they get just never called.”

    On Sunday, Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson seemed determined to complete every trick play on his sheet, even as the game spiraled out of control in the second half.

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    LaPorta’s 52-yard touchdown gave the Lions an early 17-3 lead on a play that started with a toss to David Montgomery. Montgomery threw the ball to Amon-Ra St. Brown, who turned it back to Goff, who saw LaPorta running wide open down the field.

    Goff threw incomplete to Decker on first and goal from the 2 with 7:18 left in the third quarter and the Lions ahead, 34-9. And one offensive sequence and one made field goal later, they ran the hook-and-lateral for Sewell and threw a quick pass to St. Brown, who threw around the end to Sewell.

    Sewell dove for the goal line and was marked just short of the end zone, but the play was negated by an ineligible man downfield penalty on center Frank Ragnow.

    “That was a good one,” Campbell said. “They’re going to have to do that in the O-line room because one of his teammates on the O-line cost him that one.”

    St. Brown said Sewell’s play, called “Grenade Special,” “would have been the highlight of the game if it had held up.”

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    As it was, it was still made to be the icing on the cake of a dominant and purposeful attacking day.

    “It’s hilarious,” Anzalone said. “It’s like I don’t even know if (the coaches) are going to shake hands after the game.”

    Dave Birkett will sign copies of his new book, “Detroit Lions: An Illustrated Timeline” at 7 p.m., Oct. 21, at 24 Seconds Bar & Grill in Berkley, and from 5:30-7 p.m., Oct. 22 at Stadium Cards & Comics in Ypsilanti. Order your copy here.

    Contact Dave Birkett at [email protected]. Follow him on X and Instagram on @davebirkett.

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