Your Five Things For January 5th: Lions Lose Heartbreaker To Cowboys

1. Lions Fall To Cowboys In Wild Card Round

In the final wild card game of this years NFL Playoffs, the Lions fell to Dallas in Arlington, Texas 24-20. The Lions had a 17-7 lead heading into halftime and a 20-7 lead midway through the 3rd quarter.  But, the Cowboys stormed back, scoring 17 points, 10 in the 4th quarter.  Matthew Stafford played well but turnovers got in the way as he went 28/42 with 323 yards and 1 touchdown and 1 interception and 2 fumbles.  His counterpart, Tony Romo went 19/31 for 293 yards and 2 touchdowns.  The Lions defense held the rushing attack of the Cowboys as running back Demarco Murray was held to 75 yards on 19 carries with 1 touchdown.  Ndamukong Suh had 3 tackles, 2 of which being sacks on Tony Romo.  The Lions will end the season at 11-6 with the one playoff loss.

2. Pistons Extend Winning Steak To 5 Games

The Detroit Pistons topped the Sacramento Kings at the Palace 114-95 to extend the winning streak to 5 games. Brandon Jennings lead the way for the pistons with 35 points on 14/21 shooting.  He also had 7 assists during the game.  The Kings big center, Demarcus Cousins, had 18 points and 15 rebounds but it was not enough to stop the Pistons.  Both of Detroit's big men had double-doubles as Andre Drummond had 15 points and 14 rebounds and Greg Monroe had 14 points and 11 rebounds.  The Pistons will travel to San Antonio to take on the Spurs as they look to extend their win steak to 6 games.

3. Detroit Red Wings Fall In Vancouver

Over the weekend, the Detroit Red Wings took on Ryan Miller and the Vancouver Canucks in Vancouver as part of a west coast road trip.  The Red Wings fell 4-1 but not after 2 empty net goals.  Ryan Miller, who was the first star for the game, stopped 29 of the 30 shots he faced.  Jimmy Howard stopped 20 of the 22 shots he faced.  Both of Vancouver's non-empty net goals were on the powerplay as they went 2/4 on the powerplay.  The Red Wings went 0/3 on the power play.  The Red Wings will play in Edmonton at 9:30 PM as they take on the Oilers.

4. Junior Cornerback Trae Waynes Declares For NFL Draft

MSU cornerback Trae Waynes declared for the NFL Draft over the weekend.  Joe Schad of ESPN first reported the decision on Friday night.  Trae Waynes is considered the number 1 corner according to Mel Kiper Jr. of ESPN.  Michigan State has confirmed the decision of Waynes.  Waynes is a second year starter for Michigan State.  Read everything about Trae Waynes and his decision to go to the draft here.

5. Divisional Rounds Are Set For NFL Playoffs

The wildcard weekend is now behind us and the Divisional Round of the NFL Playoffs are now set.  There will be two games Saturday and two games Sunday this week.  First game will be Baltimore at New England set for a 4:30 pm Saturday kickoff followed by Carolina at Seattle at 8:30 pm.  On Sunday, the Cowboys will take on the Packers in Green Bay at 1:00 pm followed by Indianapolis at Denver at 4:40 pm.  For a recap on all of the Wild Card games, click here.