Pride of Detroit
We often like to play the blame game after a Detroit Lions loss, but in their 41-34 defeat at the hands of the Los Angeles Rams, there is not just one finger to point. Detroit had their struggles on both sides of the ball. The offense stalled dramatically at the worst possible time, and the defense didn’t capitalize enough times on their opportunities to get off the field.
Let’s break down the entire Lions’ performance with our Week 15 report card.
Hard to blame Jared Goff for anything that happened on Sunday. The Lions quarterback produced stellar numbers against a tough Rams defense and often created plays on his own. His 52-yard pass to Amon-Ra St. Brown displayed his sneaky ability to maneuver in the pocket and excellent touch on the pass.
More importantly, on a day in which the offense needed to play mistake-free football, he avoided any major errors. He didn’t turn the ball over, he got rid of the ball fast enough to only be sacked once on 42 dropbacks, and I didn’t see many missed opportunities he passed up.
Obviously, Goff’s efficiency dropped significantly in the second half, but that was largely based on a running game that was non-existent and some questionable play calls.
It’s hard to place direct blame on the running backs for Detroit’s poor rushing attack (20 rushes, 75 yards, 29% success rate). I didn’t see many rushing lanes that they missed or tackles they should have broken. In a shootout game, Jahmyr Gibbs needs to contribute more than 58 yards of offense, but he can only do so much. David Montgomery did have one drive of promise and finished with a respectable 32 yards on seven carries (4.6 YPC), but neither player posted a single explosive play.
I think the Lions are really starting to feel the loss of Sam LaPorta and Brock Wright. Tight ends didn’t account for a single passing target, and their most notable contribution all game was a holding penalty on Giovanni Ricci that led to the first of three consecutive three-and-outs.
The return of Shane Zylstra went largely unnoticed, and I get a strong feeling that when I dive into the all-22 tape, the tight ends are going to be a big reason why the run game struggled.
Amon-Ra St. Brown and Jameson Williams are superstars. For the entire season, the Rams had allowed just a total of five 100+ yard receivers. Both St. Brown (164 yards) and Williams (134) managed to cross that threshold—almost in the first half alone.
St. Brown continues to be as reliable as they come, and Williams has become so much more than a big-play threat. If the conversation hasn’t begun already, a very good case could be made that Detroit has the best receiver duo in football, and that’s saying a lot considering the competition.
For the third straight week, I...
