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Dez Bryant engages in multiple sideline meltdowns as Cowboys collapse in loss to Lions

Dez Bryant wasn't happy with his team's game-planning versus the Lions. (Wesley Hitt/Getty Images) Dallas Cowboys receiver Dez Bryant made an amazing
Doug Farrar|
Dez Bryant engages in multiple sideline meltdowns as Cowboys collapse in loss to Lions
Dez Bryant engages in multiple sideline meltdowns as Cowboys collapse in loss to Lions

Dez Bryant wasn't happy with his team's game-planning versus the Lions. (Wesley Hitt/Getty Images)

Dallas Cowboys receiver Dez Bryant made an amazing one-handed touchdown catch in his team's game against the Detroit Lions, but it appeared that in the second half, communication between Bryant and quarterback Tony Romo broke down.

At one point on the sideline near the end of the third quarter, Bryant came off the field at the end of a Dallas drive and started yelling in a very animated fashion in the general direction of anybody who would listen -- coaches, teammates, and eventually Romo, who was sitting on the bench going over the gameplan. (GIF below courtesy of BuzzFeed Sports):

Bryant, who claimed during the week leading up to the game that he was capable of doing everything that Lions receiver Calvin Johnson can do, may have been unhappy at his lack of opportunities. At the end of the third quarter, Bryant had two catches for 22 yards on five targets, while Johnson had ripped the Cowboys secondary to bits with nine catches for 221 yards on 11 targets.

By the way, the Cowboys were leading, 13-10, at the time of his little fracas.

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It's possible that Mr. Bryant had a point. With 6:54 left in the game, Romo threw to Bryant, who rumbled for a 50-yard touchdown that put Dallas up, 27-17 (GIF here also via BuzzFeed). Bryant wasn't alone either: Jason Witten also reportedly engaged in a slight meltdown on the sideline earlier in the game.

Of course, the Cowboys managed to throw this game away with weird fundamentals, questionable clock management and the inexplicable decision to put a single safety on Johnson, who finished the day with 329 yards, the second-most in league history for a single game. And near the end of Detroit's 31-30 win, Bryant went off again. This time, he was given a talking-to by Witten and injured teammate DeMarcus Ware. This could be general frustration, or it could be that Bryant's teammates are simply sick of his antics.

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Doug Farrar
DOUG FARRAR

SI.com contributing NFL writer and Seattle resident Doug Farrar started writing about football locally in 2002, and became Football Outsiders' West Coast NFL guy in 2006. He was fascinated by FO's idea to combine Bill James with Dr. Z, and wrote for the site for six years. He wrote a game-tape column called "Cover-2" for a number of years, and contributed to six editions of "Pro Football Prospectus" and the "Football Outsiders Almanac." In 2009,  Doug was invited to join Yahoo Sports' NFL team, and covered Senior Bowls, scouting combines, Super Bowls, and all sorts of other things for Yahoo Sports and the Shutdown Corner blog through June, 2013. Doug received the proverbial offer he couldn't refuse from SI.com in 2013, and that was that. Doug has also written for the Seattle Times, the Washington Post, the New York Sun, FOX Sports, ESPN.com, and ESPN The Magazine.  He also makes regular appearances on several local and national radio shows, and has hosted several podcasts over the years. He counts Dan Jenkins, Thomas Boswell, Frank Deford, Ralph Wiley, Peter King, and Bill Simmons as the writers who made him want to do this for a living. In his rare off-time, Doug can be found reading, hiking, working out, searching for new Hendrix, Who, and MC5 bootlegs, and wondering if the Mariners will ever be good again.

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