Pride of Detroit
A “get-right” game, a “bounce-back” performance, whatever you want to call it, the Detroit Lions needed it on Sunday afternoon. How the game was played, however, was far from that for the Lions.
From the start of the game, the Lions were struggling heavily. Trick plays fooled them throughout as the New York Giants’ offense did everything it could to win this game. Their defense also did everything it could to lose this game as the Lions came back, down by 10, in the fourth quarter. Kicker Jake Bates made a clutch 59-yard kick to force overtime where running back Jahmyr Gibbs and the Lions defense came up big to pull off the win.
This was easily the most stressful win of the season, so let me dive into my six takeaways from the win against the Giants.
Weeks ago, I argued that Lions quarterback Jared Goff should be in the MVP race with his play. He was making smart decisions, looked comfortable despite the offensive line woes, and looked strong. Now? He’s far from the same player.
The excuse people gave him last week was the poor offensive line play, which is true, but also the weather, which I don’t believe was a factor. Today, against the Giants, at home and indoors, Goff looked the same as last week. Sure, the offensive line didn’t play its best, but Goff made plenty of mistakes. He once again missed multiple open receivers, and not because of his arm. Goff has seemingly locked onto a certain target and isn’t checking his other reads that are open in front of him.
He’s also panicking more when he faces an ounce of pressure, something he excelled at last season. I remember the days of Goff, fearless of the blitz. Now, when the opponent sends three and he has to move a little bit in the pocket, he thinks he’ll be on his back soon. He had an impressive break from a sack against edge defender Brian Burns, but besides that, Goff ran into the Giants defense when there was pressure, and he gave up quickly. He helped lead the team to overtime on the final drive of the fourth quarter, so you can give him credit there.
This offense runs through Gibbs. No matter if it’s with his hands or his legs, Gibbs moves this offense more than any other player. Against the Giants, most of the explosive plays came from Gibbs, and he finished with 15 carries for 219 yards for two touchdowns, 11 catches for 45 yards, and a receiving touchdown. The way he continues to give the offense a spark is like no other when the team needs it most.
I believed that Gibbs would start to take over as the top running back on the team, but in a 60/40 role with David Montgomery. That doesn’t seem to be the split this season as Gibbs is...
