Tag: David Montgomery

Browns’ defense is stellar, but they haven’t faced a run game like the Lions

RBs David Montgomery and Jahmyr Gibbs provide 1-2 punch

ALLEN PARK — Running against the Cleveland Browns defense has been problematic for the first three opponents. It’s why the Browns are rated tops in the NFL in rushing defense allowing just 57.3 rushing yards per game.

It should be interesting when the Lions (2-1) host the Browns (1-2) at Ford Field on Sunday.

“I don’t think they’ve seen a run game like ours yet,’’ Lions offensive coordinator John Morton said on Thursday.

Something will have to give because the Lions own the NFL’s fourth best rushing offense, averaging 149 yards per game. The Browns have given up an average of 57.3 rushing yards per game.

Running backs David Montgomery and Jahmyr Gibbs combined for 218 rushing yards and four rushing touchdowns.

 “They feed off each other, they’re both obviously incredibly hard-working and good players,’’ Lions quarterback Jared Goff said. “But I think the energy, they kind of feed off each other. One of them’s running well, the other guy wants to run well too and they’re as good as it gets.”

In his first season as Lions offensive coordinator, Morton is no stranger to Montgomery and Gibbs. He said he’s known they were special since the day they arrived in Detroit. 

“Really, I mean both of them. I saw D-Mo from across the field for years in Chicago and I was shocked when they let him walk. And then shoot, when we landed him it was like, ‘Holy smokes, we just got one of the best backs in the League,’’’ Morton said. “And then you draft Gibbs, it’s like, ‘Wow, we’ve got two of the best backs in the League.’’’

He agrees with Goff that they feed off each other. Of course, they do not do it alone.

In the Week 1 loss, the offensive line had communication issues. Gibbs and Montgomery combined for just 44 yards in the loss. Since the O-line has meshed and improved communication, the pair combined for 151 rushing yards and two rushing TDs in a win over Bears and 218 yards and 4 rushing touchdowns  in Baltimore.

They also benefit from blocking by the wide receivers and tight ends.

“It’s the best I’ve ever seen in my 28 years of coaching, the way these WRs block, the way Scottie (Montgomery, running backs coach) gets these guys to play. I don’t think there’s too many teams — the Rams with Cooper Kupp and those guys — they do the same thing,’’ Morton said.

“I always tell the wideouts, man, when the tight ends and the O-line and backs block for us, when the time comes our turn to block for them, we have to do the same thing,’’ Morton said. “That’s the beauty about this team. It’s so team oriented nobody cares about how many balls, this and that, it’s just about winning. When we do that we’re pretty good.’’

SUNDAY: Browns (1-2) at Lions (2-1), 1 p.m. at Ford Field. The game will be televised on FOX with Kenny Albert and Jonathan Vilma on the call.

Five reasons the Lions beat the Ravens, 38-30, at Baltimore

Seems like sometimes outsiders lose track of the fact that the Detroit Lions are built with plenty of fight. You might call it grit.

They showed it again on Monday night with a 38-30 win over the Ravens at Baltimore where the Lions have never previously found success. It was the second straight win for the Lions (2-1). The Ravens fell to 1-2.

Coach Dan Campbell loves complementary football and that’s exactly what he saw against QB Lamar Jackson and RB Derrick Henry. The Lions defense sacked Jackson seven times and the offense scored on drives of 96 and 98 yards. The run game was amazing, when they needed a big pass Jared Goff came through. 

“We did exactly what we wanted to do,” Jared Goff said.

ESPN analysts prior to the game all picked the Ravens to win. Not sure if the Lions  knew that but it didn’t matter. They had all the motivation they needed.

Five reasons the Lions won:

ONE: Lions defense made a statement with a huge goal-line stop with 2 minutes left in half. The Ravens had first-and-goal at Detroit’s 3 and gained 2 yards. Then they were stopped on second and third downs. Then on fourth down Lions’ Jack Campbell strip-sacked Lamar Jackson, giving the Lions possession. 

TWO: It was the 11th game in which Lions RBs Jahmyr Gibbs and David Montgomery both rushed for TDs. In fact, they each had two. It established a new NFL record for the most games in which each member of an RB duo have rushed for TDs. Montgomery’s 72-yard break-through run late in the third, set up a 4-yard trick play touchdown with ball going from Goff to Amon-Ra St. Brown who tossed it to Gibbs for the score. Oh, and it happened on fourth-and-1. Then to wrap up the win, Montgomery ran in for a 31-yard touchdown. Credit the offensive line for their part in the run game and protecting Goff who was never sacked.

THREE: There’s running down the clock and then there is the Lions offense running an 18-play, 98-yard touchdown series taking up 10:48 in the second quarter. Montgomery’s TD gave Detroit a 14-7 lead.  But the Ravens drove and scored on a Jackson pass to Rashod Bateman with 1:23 left to tie it at 14-14 at the half. The Lions also scored on a 96-yard drive. 

FOUR: Lamar Jackson was sacked five times in the Ravens’ first two games. The Lions defense sacked him seven times including twice in the fourth quarter. The Lions defense came up big AGAIN midway through the fourth quarter when Aidan Hutchinson knocked the ball out of Derrick Henry’s arms and D.J. Read recovered it at Baltimore’s 16. The Lions settled for a 45-yard field goal which gave them a 31-24 lead with 6:35 left.

FIVE: Time of possession was an emphasis for the Lions. In the first half they had the ball 19:48 to 10:12. Offensive coordinator John Morton stuck with the run game even when at times they weren’t picking up many yards. Smart move. They finished with 225 rushing yards and four rushing TDs. The best defense was keeping the Ravens offense on the sidelines.  And to keep it interesting, Morton reached into his bag of trick plays.

UP NEXT: Cleveland Browns at Lions, 1 p.m. on Sunday, Sept. 28.

Five reasons the Lions bounced back and routed the Bears, 52-21

DETROIT — For the Detroit Lions, the train might have nearly gone off the track a week ago in Green Bay, but the boys were back on Sunday in a 52-21 rout of the Chicago Bears at Ford Field

“I’ve said this all along, this train keeps rolling and it’s always going to start with the players,’’ coach Dan Campbell said. “We have players, we have playmakers, and they’re made the right way. They’re the right kind of guys. They know how to get in the ditch and just start digging. They don’t worry about the other stuff.’’

The fact they were facing former offensive coordinator Ben Johnson, now the Bears head coach, did not play a huge role in their turn-around. Moreso it was just motivation to win a division game.

Both offensive and defensive lines stepped up their games.

“I knew we would play better because our guys came into work and we knew what we needed to clean up and we worked at cleaning it up,’’ Campbell said. “They had the right look and they came out fighting – that’s what they do.”

The Lions came out and scored the first touchdown on a 5-play, 60-yard drive ending with a Jahmyr Gibbs 6-yard touchdown run.

They were up 28-14 at the half and held the Bears to just one touchdown in the second half. The Lions moved to 1-1 while the Bears dropped to 0-2.

Five of the reasons the Lions won:

ONE: Jared Goff pitched a near-perfect game, passing for five touchdowns and completing 23 of 28 passes for 334 yards. He got plenty of help from WR Amon-Ra St. Brown who caught nine balls for three touchdowns and 115 yards. “He’s a stud. He’s as good as they get in our league, he’s a stud, he does everything in the run game, everything in the pass game,’’ Goff said. “As reliable of a player as I’ve ever thrown to in my life. We have a pretty good chemistry going on in our fifth year. We push each other really hard.’’

TWO: Explosive plays were huge. Goff threw five passes of 29 or more yards. Jameson Williams had just 2 catches — one for 64, the other a 44-yard touchdown.  He wasn’t alone. “It always starts with the O-line here, it does, probably most teams but for sure us. When they play well it allows us to do a lot,’’ Campbell said. 

THREE: The defense made huge stops, none better than stuffing the Bears on back-to-back plays of third-and-1 and fourth-and-1 early in the second quarter. Safety Brian Branch was all over the field finishing with a sack, a forced fumble, a pass defense, two tackles for loss and six tackles. Bears QB Caleb Williams was sacked four times with Aidan Hutchinson getting first sack of the season and Branch, Al-Quadin Muhammad and Marcus Davenport also pitching in. “Just moving forward we re-established our brand of football,’’ Branch said.

FOUR: The Lions created two turnovers with a Kerby Joseph second-quarter interception that led to a Brock Wright TD catch. Earlier Branch forced a fumble with Jack Campbell recovering. Terion Arnold’s interception with 12:15 left was negated by a roughing the passer penalty. “It’s huge in this league, that’s what it’s all about getting takeaways, coach Campbell and coach Shep (DC Kelvin Sheppard), all our coaches preach that — no matter what the offense is doing the defense has to force turnovers,’’ Branch said, “We force turnovers then it gives our offense another chance to score.’’

FIVE: The offensive line settled down and was much improved from Week 1. RBs Jahmyr Gibbs (12-94 yards, 1 TD) and David Montgomery (11-57, 1 TD) got the run game in gear averaging 5.9 yards per carry – much improved over 2.1 in the Green Bay opener. Gibbs scampered 42 yards to set up another Goff-St. Brown touchdown late in the third. Goff could see the line really jell. “In particular, Tate (Ratledge) and (Christian) Mahogany as younger players were able to get last week out of the way and settle in a little bit today,’’ Goff said. “More Tate than Mahogany who had experience last year. I thought Tate played great today. I haven’t seen the tape but at least in pass pro I felt firm there, you felt strong, it felt like he was pushing downhill.’’

UP NEXT: Lions (1-1) at Baltimore Ravens (1-1), Monday, Sept. 22 at 8:15 p.m.