Pride of Detroit
For a few brief moments—when Aidan Hutchinson’s red-zone interception immediately turned into a Jared Goff strike to Amon-Ra St. Brown on the very next play, or when Goff hit Jameson Williams for a 31-yard touchdown to briefly take a 24–14 lead late in the second quarter—it finally felt like this Lions team had rediscovered its identity. They looked ready for their close-up again in La La Land. For a fleeting stretch, they resembled the 2023 and 2024 versions of themselves.
But it dissipated just as quickly.
Soon after, the Lions looked more like the team that hasn’t won consecutive games since Weeks 4–5. And while they still are very likely to make the playoffs if they win out, the reality is Dan Campbell’s team has been a below-.500 football team for the better part of two and a half months.
The unraveling began when Detroit allowed the Rams to steal a field goal in the final 30 seconds of the first half. That moment snowballed into 20 unanswered Rams points over a 15-minute span of game time, a 17-point third-quarter hole, and eventually a 27–3 run by the Super Bowl-favorite Rams. After the Lions landed their best punch and held their own early, Los Angeles looked like an entirely different caliber of team.
Offensively, Detroit became rudderless to open the second half, sinking into a three-drive quicksand stretch of three-and-outs—just nine plays for -4 yards—and just like that, the game slipped away.
A handful of Lions stepped up enough to give Detroit a chance against the NFC’s current No. 1 seed. But too many others underwhelmed, and the collective result was another sobering reminder of where this team currently stands—and a stock report that leans heavily toward down.
Stock down: D.J. Reed, CB & DJ Reader, NT
D.J. Reed made a few tackles of Kyren Williams and Blake Corum, often after they had already gained 5 yards, which was admirable, but otherwise, it was another disappointing outing. He was beaten early on the Rams’ first drive by Davante Adams on a jump ball along the sideline, and then repeatedly overmatched by Puka Nacua—first on the Rams’ initial fourth-down conversion, then on a 30+ yard deep ball setting up their second touchdown, and again on a 30+ yard deep ball down the right sideline at the end of the first half. Nacua consistently won their matchups in some of the game’s most pivotal moments. While the weight on Reed’s shoulders was immense—without Brian Branch, Kerby Joseph, and Terrion Arnold—the Lions needed a more consistent performance.
DJ Reader was unable to make an impact as a pass rusher, which is unsurprising given he has zero sacks and three QB hits this season. What was more concerning was his play against the run. Tasked with holding the point of attack, Reader was repeatedly controlled or cut off by Rams center Coleman Shelton, a player the Rams had originally let walk after 2023 and whom the Bears sought to upgrade from this offseason. On...
