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FOUR DOWNS: Lions score 40+ points in consecutive games

FIRST DOWN: OFFENSIVE OUTPUT

When the Lions' offense was sputtering a bit to begin the season, head coach Dan Campbell was preaching patience. He knew it would only be a matter of time before the offense found the kind of groove that made them a top five unit last season.

Campbell predicted it would take around their Week 5 bye before they hit their rhythm. He ended up being a week off after the offense broke out Week 4 in a 42-point outing against Seattle.

Coming out of their bye Week 5, Detroit's offense stayed red hot Sunday to the tune of 47 points and 492 total yards against the Dallas Cowboys on the road in a 47-9 win to improve their record to 4-1 on the season.

"Things have started to come together a little bit," quarterback Jared Goff said after completing 18 of his 25 passes for 305 yards and three touchdowns Sunday. "Those first two or three weeks were out of our rhythm, and it seems like we've found it."

Detroit's now scored 40-plus points in consecutive games for the first time since 1962. The 89 points scored over their last two games are the most points scored in any two-game span since that same year. Detroit hadn't scored at least 47 points in a game since 2011 before Sunday's effort where they scored on each of their first nine possessions of the game.

"There was a period at the beginning of the season where we were trying to figure out our identity," said Lions running back David Montgomery, who rushed for two touchdowns Sunday.

"Now, we are starting to execute a lot more. The funny thing is we're all not even on the same page. There's small things here or there that we can clean up. The sky is really the limit for us."

SECOND DOWN: REPORTING ELIGIBLE

After what happened last year in Dallas Week 17 with the tackle eligible two-point conversion pass to Taylor Decker that was called back on a controversial penalty and cost the Lions a chance at a win, it almost seemed fitting the Lions tried three different times to get their tackles a touchdown Sunday.

Goff threw a pass to Decker in the back of the end zone that got broken up. Dan Skipper ran a route that Goff looked for but Dallas did a good job recognizing. Offensive coordinator Ben Johnson even dialed up a pass to Amon-Ra St. Brown and a lateral to right tackle Penei Sewell that almost scored, but was called back for an ineligible man downfield penalty on center Frank Ragnow.

"We tried to get one to Decker and it didn't work out," Campbell said. "We were close, real close. Didn't quite get there. We try to score a number of different ways, and we didn't get that one. That was about the only one."

Campbell joked that Sewell would have to have it out with Ragnow in the o-line room this week for getting a penalty on his chance to score.

View photos from the Detroit Lions vs. Dallas Cowboys Week 6 game at AT&T Stadium on Sunday, October 13 in Arlington, Texas.

THIRD DOWN: SAFETY PICKS

Third-year safety Kerby Joseph certainly has a knack for the football near the goal line. Joseph intercepted Cowboys backup quarterback Cooper Rush midway through the fourth quarter in Detroit's end zone on a 4th & goal play from the 5-yard line.

It's the fourth interception for Joseph in Detroit's first five contests and all four have come inside Detroit's end zone to take away scoring opportunities in all four of Detroit's wins this season.

Joseph had four interceptions in each of his first two seasons in the NFL and has already matched that in just five games this season. The last safety in the NFL to produce at least four interceptions in each of his first three seasons was Ed Reed from 2002-04.

With fellow safety Brian Branch having two interceptions Sunday and a forced fumble, the Lions have arguably one of the best playmaking safety duos in the NFL in Joseph and Branch.

FOURTH DOWN: MONTGOMERY'S EXTENSION

After signing a two-year extension Saturday night that will keep him in Detroit through the 2027 season, Montgomery stepped on the AT&T Stadium field Sunday afternoon in front of a national audience and ran for two touchdowns and 80 yards on just 12 carries for a average of 6.7 yards per carry. Not a bad 24 hours.

"Just to be in a place where I know I'm wanted and I'm able to showcase what I can really do, I'm really appreciative," Montgomery said after the game.

The two first-half touchdowns for Montgomery were the fifth and sixth of the season, which tied for the most rushing touchdowns a Lions player has ever logged through the first five games of a season. Montgomery has a touchdown run in eight straight games now dating back to last season, also a franchise record.

Campbell said after the game that watching Montgomery run and break tackles and refuse to go down makes him wish he could put the pads on again and block for a back like him.

"He's somebody that we want here long-term," Campbell said of Montgomery after the game. "We just wanted to make it happen. We didn't see ourselves a year or two from now without having No. 5 here with us. We didn't see it. It didn't make sense. He's too much a part of us. He's everything we are looking for and we're not going to just let that guy leave."

Montgomery has played 19 games for the Lions and has rushed for a touchdown in 16 games (84.2 percent).

"He means as much as anyone (to this team)," Goff said of Montgomery. "He really is a special player and special teammate. One of my favorites of all time. I think I've told him that. He's a special guy."

Goff said Montgomery and Jahmyr Gibbs should both be in the conversation for being considered among the top five running backs in the NFL.

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