Lions News

[CGVT]

The pAckers that year is consider of the best in history. If it wasn’t for a Milt Plum interception the Lions would have beat them twice that year. Lions had great defense, but they also had Milt Plum.

Legend has it that Alex Karras threw his helmet at Plum in the locker room after that game.

[whatever_gong82]

Earlier today:

[whatever_gong82]

Detroit Lions grades: Running backs carry otherwise average showing in win over Bears


Justin Rogers
The Detroit News



Detroit — Justin Rogers grades the Detroit Lions' performance in their 31-26 win over the Chicago Bears.

Quarterbacks

Jared Goff had a rough day, even if it wasn't entirely his fault. For the first time since he joined the Lions in 2021, he threw three interceptions in a game. But really, only the middle one was his fault, when he failed to locate a dropping defender and threw it directly to him. The other two were the result of a midfield collision disrupting a timing route and a tip drill on a ball deflected at the line of scrimmage. On the flip side of that equation, Goff got away with a potential pick-six at the end of the first half, when cornerback Jaylen Johnson dropped it after jumping the route.

Where Goff shined, outside of that aforementioned miscue late in the second quarter, was during the two-minute drill. He showed poise both at the end of the first half and the end of the fourth quarter to lead the Lions to the dramatic come-from-behind victory. Grade: C-


Running backs

The turnovers likely altered the game script because David Montgomery and Jahmyr Gibbs combined for just 20 carries in the victory. But against one of the best rush defenses in the NFL, the tandem combined for 112 yards (5.6 yards per carry) and two touchdowns, punctuated by Montgomery's game-winner in the closing seconds.


Montgomery was electric on the game-winning drive, putting the Lions on his back, with a combination of catches and carries for 45 yards. Speaking of the passing game, Gibbs chipped in a season-high 59 yards on six catches. Grade: A


Wide receivers/tight ends

Amon-Ra St. Brown didn't break 100 yards for the first time in five games but still managed to pace the Lions with eight grabs for 77 yards, including a 7-yard score to cap the scoring drive at the end of the first half. And Jameson Williams came up huge with a 32-yard touchdown grab late in the fourth quarter that kept the comeback hopes afloat.

The team got little from the rest of the group, and Sam LaPorta needed better awareness on the play where he collided with a defender, leading to Goff's first interception, but overall, the pass-catchers did their job in the win. Grade: B+

Jahmyr Gibbs runs vs. Chicago_11-19-2023.jpg

Offensive line

As noted, the running backs performed well against one of the league's best defensive fronts. Obviously, a lot of the credit goes to Detroit's blocking for that success. And Goff only ate two sacks, one of which the defender was left unblocked within the play's design. Still, there was quite a bit of pressure, leading to eight QB hits, while rookie Colby Sorsdal had a bad hold that contributed to killing a drive. More good than bad, without a doubt, but this group has set its bar sky-high with their performances throughout the season. Grade: B


Defensive line

Justin Fields made life tough on Detroit's front, consistently breaking contain, en route to racking up 104 rushing. Other than the QB, Chicago's ground game was inefficient, with their backs averaging 2.8 yards on 22 carries. Critically, the Lions' front stuffed a third-and-1 late in the game, forcing the opposition to settle for a field goal to keep it a two-score game.

With the pass rush, the Lions did get home for a couple of sacks, including Aidan Hutchinson forcing a fumble that resulted in a game-sealing safety. But overall, it lacked consistency, which is a season-long issue. Of note, John Cominsky was able to bat down a pass at the line of scrimmage to force a punt. Grade: C


Linebackers

The corps racked up a ton of tackles against the run-heavy Bears. Alex Anzalone paced the group with 15 tackles, as the starting trio combined for 32 stops, even though only one went for a loss. Jack Campbell settled own after a rocky first series, in which he overran Fields on one play, got drawn out of his zone coverage on another and missed a tackle on a third. He finished with nine tackles. Grade: C-


Secondary

Brian Branch had some highs and lows, racking up two impressive tackles for loss in the run game, but also getting flagged for a pair of penalties on third downs that extended two Chicago scoring drives. Penalties were an issue across the board in the secondary, with Will Harris getting flagged for pass interference in the end zone, while tackling was also suspect, particularly Kerby Joseph letting D.J. Moore break out of his grasp for a third-down conversion.

Overall, the coverage was decent, but the group did give up one long touchdown, when Moore beat Jerry Jacobs in man coverage. And they probably got a little lucky that Fields' deep throw late in the game was a touch long; otherwise, we're talking about a loss. Grade: D+


Special teams

Riley Patterson didn't attempt a field goal, but made all three of his extra points. Jack Fox continued his strong season by pinning Chicago inside the 20 with both of his punts, and Detroit's kick coverage was stellar the couple of times it was needed. But, all those positive vibes are undone by Craig Reynolds losing a fumble on a kickoff return in the third quarter. That one resulted in the Lions giving up the lead and could have cost them the game. Grade: D+


Coaching

The Lions believed Fields was going to run more than he had earlier in the season, but they still didn't have a good enough plan to contain that element of Chicago's attack. Other than that, Detroit's defense held its own despite being continually put in bad field position by the four turnovers, holding Chicago to field goals more often than not to create the comeback opportunity.

The offensive play calling feels worse than it was because of the turnovers, but those weren't on coordinator Ben Johnson. Two were fluky and the other was on Goff for not reading the linebacker. And despite all those blunders, the Lions still managed to put up 30 points.

Where coaching deserves the most credit was the poise the roster exhibited when under the gun. They could have wilted in those closing minutes, down 12, but both sides of the ball delivered to facilitate the double-digit comeback effort in the closing minutes of the fourth quarter. Grade: B-


jdrogers@detroitnews.com

@Justin_Rogers

[-Deborah-]

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[whatever_gong82]

[CGVT]

Can somebody explain this to me?

[kayrone]

apparently Jamo puts McFlurry on his burgers, so they tried it to pay homage.

[jaadam4]

Just keep catching routes like he caught yesterday. That TD catch was really cool.

[whatever_gong82]

[CGVT]

apparently Jamo puts McFlurry on his burgers, so they tried it to pay homage.

Thank you

[edindetroit]

▶ The average price of gas in 1962 was 31 cents

According to the inflation calculator 31 cents in 1962 is the equivalent of $3.18 today. I paid $2.97 at Costco yesterday.

[Mainevent]

Just keep catching routes like he caught yesterday. That TD catch was really cool.

All TD catches are really cool.

[froot loops]

Jameson Williams was the lead blocker on that Montgomery TD. He had a lot wash to cover and the whole opened so quickly that he probably wasn't needed but he was like a sidecar to Montgomery when he crossed the goaline.

[CGVT]

Jameson Williams was the lead blocker on that Montgomery TD. He had a lot wash to cover and the whole opened so quickly that he probably wasn't needed but he was like a sidecar to Montgomery when he crossed the goaline.

Yep. He was on the right end. It looked as if he was supposed to pull and lead through the hole. He got chipped a bit and ended up running alongside Montgomery instead of leading.

The O line did such a good job that his block wasn't needed, but it was another well designed play

[El Axe]

Just a really good breakdown

What I see when I see this is that the Bears specifically changed their defense for this game. They changed the way they play zone. This isn't easy. Eberflus should get some credit for coming up with this defensive game plan to cause Goff problems. They did things that they had not done before, the unpredictability of this is what causes Goff problems.

What this says is that the Bears schemed for just the Lions -- and I don't mean your typical one-week game plan. This seems more like something they put together over time.

This is the kind of thing you go through when you go from underdog to favorite. Teams scheme specifically for you, you play with a target on your back.