Pride of Detroit
The Detroit Lions’ 34–10 win over the Cleveland Browns wasn’t always pretty, but the outcome never truly felt in doubt. Against a defense as talented as Cleveland’s, style points are rare. Not every win needs to be dazzling to punch your ticket to January—these are the same Browns who dragged the Green Bay Packers into the deep end and drowned them a week ago. Great teams win when they’re supposed to, even after an emotionally draining primetime road game and a short week.
All three phases—offense, defense, and special teams—complemented each other to secure a decisive win in what could have become a four-quarter barroom brawl. Most impressively, after surrendering an opening-drive touchdown, the defense spent the next 12 possessions playing like a saloon-style skirmish—forcing five three-and-outs and generating three takeaways.
The Lions have now started 3-1 or better for only the 12th time in the last 50 seasons, and there’s no shortage of stock-ups to report—along with a few stock-downs.
Stock up: Jack Campbell, LB
Detroit’s defense held Cleveland to a 26.2% offensive success rate—fourth-best by any defense in a game this season and the Lions’ best single-game mark since 2013, when Browns defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz was Detroit’s head coach. No player was more central to that showing than green-dot linebacker Jack Campbell.
Mr. Nip/Tuck himself was everywhere, hacking away at the Browns’ offense. Campbell led the team with 11 tackles (one for loss). These weren’t hollow stats, either. At least half a dozen were defensive stops that help to thwart drives. He consistently met Jerome Ford and Quinshon Judkins in the hole, but it wasn’t just his usual run-stuffing. Campbell moved fluidly in coverage to limit David Njoku and the running backs passing gains and flashed as a blitzer—both positive strides. It was arguably an even more complete game than last week, despite the lack of a splash play, and he looked like a hybrid of DeAndre Levy and Stephen Tulloch patrolling the middle.
Stock down: Jameson Williams, WR
After converting a first down on Detroit’s opening drive, Williams endured a rough stretch, failing to connect with Jared Goff on six straight targets—including an interception and several drops. The Lions could have put the game out of reach earlier had Williams capitalized on a few of those chances.
He also wasn’t as impactful as a run blocker as he’s been in other weeks. As one of the NFL’s 15 highest-paid receivers and a key offensive pillar for the franchise, Williams needs to leave outings like this behind—though there’s every reason to believe he’ll rebound and produce a few big games heading into the bye week.
Stock up: Aidan Hutchinson, DE
Boy oh boy, Hutch is heating up. The stat line says it all: four tackles, two sacks, four QB hits, nine total pressures (a 25.0% pressure rate) and a forced fumble. It’s his highest single-game pressure total since Week 4 of last season against Seattle, when he was at his peak, and he’s starting to show that...
