Pride of Detroit
The Detroit Lions (7-4) pulled out a win over the New York Giants (2-10) in overtime in Week 12, overcoming several self-inflicted mistakes and holding off a scappy team that put it all on the line. The Lions slightly altered their approach on both sides of the ball this week and may have given some hints about how they plan to deploy their personnel moving forward.
Let’s take a look at how the Lions utilized their personnel against the Giants in Week 12.
Goff had a better game than in Week 11, finding ways to escape pressure and pushing the ball into tough spots. While he ended with a decent stat line—28 of 42 for 279 yards, 2 TD, an interception, and a 91.3 passer rating—it certainly could have been better, as Lions receivers dropped, at least, five passes in this game.
With a career-high 264 all-purpose yards and three touchdowns, including the game-winning score, Gibbs has once again made the case that he should be in the conversation for best player in the NFL. While the Lions likely entered this game looking to split Gibbs’ carries with Montgomery, it quickly became clear that they had no answer for Gibbs, and the Lions leaned on him to carry them to victory.
With tight end Sam LaPorta on injured reserve, the Lions have leaned on their receivers more, and that shows up in their snap counts. Not only are St. Brown and Williams seeing slight upticks in their snaps, but TeSlaa and Raymond have also seen their time on the field increase.
Raymond injured his ankle in this game, which opened up the door for more TeSlaa opportunities to increase, and on a short week, the Lions may need their rookie to step into a WR3 role against the Packers on Thanksgiving Day.
While still technically an offensive lineman, I’m grouping Skipper in with the tight ends because that’s how the Lions are using him right now. With Wright elevated into LaPorta’s TE1 role, the Lions need a reliable run blocker that they feel comfortable lining up in space as their TE2, and the 6-foot-10 Skipper fits the bill. The towering offensive tackle will line up in-line, in the slot, and even out wide. And while they haven’t thrown...
