DETROIT — Brandon Aubrey and Sam Williams were the bright spots on a long night for special teams in the Cowboys’ loss to the Lions on Thursday.
Aubrey made five field goals, including a 63-yarder, his third of the season from at least 60. That’s the most 60-plus-yard made field goals in a season in league history.
Williams blocked a 52-yard field goal attempt by the Lions, the third block of his career.
Beyond that, the special teams unit was a mess.
Cowboys
Related
Returner KaVontae Turpin was called for an invalid fair catch for the second time in three weeks. The kick return unit allowed a season-high 261 yards.
The Lions’ average starting field position was at the 41. Dallas’ was the 28.
Turpin was penalized in the first quarter when he raised his hands slightly. After fielding the ball, he ran a few yards only to stop after the whistle. The penalty pushed the Cowboys to their own five.
Turpin was penalized for the same infraction in a victory over the Eagles on Nov. 23.
“Turp knows better than that,” coach Brian Schottenheimer said. “It’s pretty simple, just don’t do it. If you put your hand up you can’t run. If you call for the fair catch you got to be clear and decisive with it. If you do that, don’t run.”
The Lions’ Tom Kennedy had three returns for 120 yards. In the fourth quarter, Kennedy had returns of 42 and 38 yards. He was so productive, he met the media at the podium after the game.
Jacob Saylors also had a strong game with five kick returns for 141 yards.
“I don’t know the numbers off the top of my head. They seemed to be starting off around the 40 and we didn’t cover very well,” Schottenheimer said. “And I thought they kinda flipped the field and it gave them a bunch of short fields and we have to look at why that was. We’ll do that, certainly an area for us to clean up.”
Twitter/X: @calvinwatkins
Down and out? See photos from Cowboys’ late-season loss to Detroit Lions
View GalleryFull coverage: Cowboys can’t contain Lions’ speedy playmakers in Thursday night lossRyan Flournoy’s performance in Detroit was important marker in Cowboys WR’s development
Find more Cowboys coverage from The Dallas Morning News here.