ARLINGTON, Texas -- The Detroit Lions suffered their worst loss of the season Monday night to the Dallas Cowboys, a 42-21 beatdown that spun out of control in the second half.

But at least one Lion said he wants to see the NFC's best team again in the playoffs.

"I hope so," Lions tight end Eric Ebron said after the game. "I plan on it. They couldn’t really stop us, we stopped ourselves, so we hope so."

The Lions scored touchdowns on their first three possessions and led, 21-14, after Zach Zenner's second touchdown run of the game midway through the second quarter only to watch Dallas rattle of 28 straight points for the victory.

Ezekiel Elliott ran for two touchdowns and Dez Bryant caught two touchdowns and threw for a third for the Cowboys, and the Lions managed just 127 yards of offense and had two turnovers after halftime.

“We were battling. We were battling out," Ebron said. "We knew it was going to be a dogfight. We were 21-21. We gave them the game in the second half. We didn’t execute, we didn’t play as well as we should. I don’t know what we expected, for them to just lay down and roll over for us. But we didn’t do it."

Lions coach Jim Caldwell blamed turnovers and penalties for his team's second-half implosion, and cautioned not to read too much into the final score.

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The Lions (9-6) likely need a win or a tie next week against the Green Bay Packers in order to reach the postseason -- they'll win the NFC North and get a home playoff game if they beat the Packers on Sunday night at Ford Field -- while the Cowboys (13-2) have the best record in the NFC and home-field advantage throughout the playoffs locked up.

If the Lions win the division and a home playoff game, they could meet the Cowboys again in the second round.

"I think the score in itself that with the penalties and the turnovers, it was probably a little bit more of a lopsided game than it would have been," Caldwell said. "And I think a lot of that was self-inflicted. But that's not taking anything away from (them). This is a really good football team now. I mean, their quarterback play is outstanding, Dez Bryant's a talent and they have one of the best running backs, obviously, in the league at this point, if not the best. So let's not kid ourselves. This is a good football team we played. We just didn't play well enough to hang in there with them."

Contact Dave Birkett: dbirkett@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @davebirkett. Download our Lions Xtra app for free on Apple and Android!