Pride of Detroit
The Detroit Lions turned in one of their worst performances of the year against the Minnesota Vikings, falling 27-24 to their divisional foes. While the score suggests a close battle, the Lions were playing from behind nearly the entire game, and they required a 3-for-3 conversion rate on fourth downs just to keep it close.
So, naturally, the report card this week is going to look a little ugly. Here are my grades for the Detroit Lions’ Week 9 game against the Vikings.
The offensive problems were multifaceted against the Vikings, but Jared Goff didn’t do the team any favors. He missed some relatively easy throws (crosser to Kalif Raymond), held onto the ball too long, and was uncomfortable in the pocket for the entire day.
At his best, Goff can make defenses pay when they blitz and pressure him, but on Sunday against the Vikings, he seemingly had zero answers. At the very least, he’s becoming good at avoiding negative plays, but with five sacks taken, Detroit was playing behind the sticks all day.
The longest play by Jahmyr Gibbs and David Montgomery was a 13-yard catch and run from Montgomery. Jahmyr Gibbs, the team’s most explosive player, didn’t have a gain above 7 yards. At times, both running backs looked indecisive in their reads. And while the offensive line certainly didn’t help them a ton, outside of that one Montgomery catch, neither back did anything to produce any yardage on their own. Gibbs’ 25 rushing yards were his third-lowest output in a single game—and the second time this year he’s been held below 30 (Packers, Week 1).
Worst of all, Montgomery’s third-quarter fumble turned quickly into a Vikings touchdown, extending their lead to 10 at the time.
The running backs were leaned on heavily this game in pass protection, and it was mostly a rough go. Several times, they were fooled by simulated pressures, and even when they got the assignment right, they were overpowered more often than not.
Sam LaPorta was the Lions’ biggest weapon in this game. He hauled in 66 yards and a touchdown on the first drive of the game alone. Unfortunately, the Lions seemed to go away from him for the rest of the game, as the Pro Bowl tight end only caught three passes for 31 yards the rest of the way. Brock Wright also had a big play, converting a third down with an 11-yard catch.
I hesitate to give the unit a full A because of how poor the run and pass protection were on the day. On live viewing, it’s hard to assign blame, but given that this position is so important to both phases, I’m sure they had their hand in it.
Overall, both Jameson Williams (four catches, 66 yards, 1 TD) and Amon-Ra St. Brown (9 for 97) had productive days receiving. However, both had drops at critical times in the game....
