Tag: Jahmyr Gibbs

Lions play their best aggressive football in 52-6 win over Jaguars

5 reasons why win streak extended to 8 games

It wasn’t just a win, it wasn’t just a shellacking, it was likely the best game the Detorit Lions have played in the Dan Campbell era.

The Lions (9-1) dominated the hapless Jacksonville Jaguars, 52-6, at Ford Field on Sunday for the Lions’ eighth straight win. It’s the best start to a season since 1934 and longest win streak since that same year.

In Sunday’s win the Lions set franchise records with margin of win (plus-46 points), total net yards (645) and total first downs (38).

Campbell said it was their best game to date and then gave in when asked if it was the best game he’s seen his Lions play.

“Probably top to bottom this is probably the best game — offense, defense, special teams —  everything, it was pretty good, man,’’ Campbell said. “We did what we needed to do on both sides of the ball.’’

The Lions were coming off a win at Houston where the offense faltered. “We were proud of that win last week that was hard fought, but we also wanted to get that bad taste out of our mouth and we did that today,’’ Campbell said. “It’s outstanding.’’

They flicked the switch and Goff and his guys came out and scored touchdowns on their first seven possessions.

“There’s a collective will power they can use together. I really felt like we pulled on each other today and played some of our best ball up to date,’’ Campbell said. “That was satisfying always to get a win in this league because they’re hard to come by but when you play up to your potential in all areas it’s a really good feeling.’’

It’s a talent-rich offense and it showed once again on Sunday. Goff connected with nine different pass catchers and the offense finished with 645 total net yards. Jahmyr Gibbs, David Montgomery and Amon-Ra St. Brown all scored a touchdown in the same game for the eighth time. That is the most instances of a trio of teammates doing so in NFL history.

The Lions  have scored six-plus touchdowns in three-straight home games for the first time in franchise history. And they have also scored 42-plus points in three-straight home games, tying the franchise record-long streak, which was done in 1952. The franchise records crumble each week. And these Lions are not done yet.

Five reasons the Lions won:

ONE: They are a confident, talented team that plays with a violent, aggressive streak on both sides of the ball. They were heavy favorites and weren’t going to let the opportunity for their ninth win slip by. “It was an outstanding effort by a ton of players,’’ Campbell said. The offensive play stood out. “It’s fun, we were moving the ball pretty good. Our run game was pretty good, our pass game obviously pretty good too,’’ Goff said. “Everything was working. It felt like Ben (Johnson, the offensive coordinator) could call anything and we would make it work.’’

TWO: Goff was taken out early in the fourth quarter when the Lions held a 49-6 lead. He finished with a perfect passer rating (158.3) for just the second time in his career. He completed 24 of 29 passes for 412 yards and four touchdowns. It was an amazing comeback from last week at Houston when nothing seemed to go right for him and he threw five interceptions. “I thought Goff was outstanding once again. I’m not surprised, that’s the type of player we have, that’s the type of football he’s been playing for a while now,’’ Campbell said. “He’s a stud.’’

THREE: Jahmyr Gibbs and David Montgomery, or Sonic and Knuckles as they like to be called, can also be called the best running back duo in the NFL today. It’s impossible to rate one above the other. Both display jaw-dropping moves with the football in hand. Montgomery had two rushing touchdowns while Gibbs added another. Both can also be a threat in the passing game. Gibbs had a 54-yard passing play (on a checkdown) to go with his 69 rushing yards. Montgomery had 3 catches for 20 yards along with 75 rushing yards. 

FOUR: Oh, and the Lions have the best safety duo in the NFL with Brian Branch and Kerby Joseph. Never was that more apparent than in back-to-back plays in the first quarter when Branch bulldozed Evan Engram after a 9-yard catch and then Joseph blasted Travis Etienne Jr. for no gain. Joseph intercepted Mac Jones in the third quarter with the Jaguars closing in on perhaps scoring a touchdown. Detroit’s defense held the Jags to just 170 yards, 10 first downs and two field goals.

FIVE: Wide receivers Amon-Ra St. Brown and Jameson Williams played outstanding against the NFL’s worst defense. St. Brown had 11 catches for 161 yards and a pair of touchdowns, while Williams had 4 catches for 124 yards, including a 64-yard pass play for a touchdown where he just outran his defenders as he neared the end zone. Campbell called St. Brown their rock – he can line up anywhere and is dependable. It was Williams second game back after a suspension, he had critical catches and continues to improve each week.

INJURY UPDATE: LB Alex Anzalone is out for 6-8 weeks with a broken forearm. He left the game in the second quarter holding his arm.

UP NEXT: The Lions (9-1) at the Indianapolis Colts (5-6), 1 p.m. on Sunday, Nov. 24.

Five things to watch as the Lions face the Jaguars, look to extend win streak

The Detroit LIons continue to demolish the franchise record books with their 8-1 start to the season. A win over the lowly Jaguars (2-8) on Sunday would give them the best start to the season since 1934 and their eighth straight win.

With the talent and expectations, nothing about the season so far is surprising. Key injuries haven’t stopped them – the only flaw was a bad game against the Tampa Bay Bucs.

Coach Dan Campbell said the team’s love for one another plays into the success.

“It’s a huge part of it because it’s – there’s so much that goes into it. There’s an unselfishness in a selfish business. It’s hard, and I’m talking about not just players, I’m talking about coaches too,’’ Campbell said. “That’s the nature of this game, man. This is type-A personalities and very confident, especially if you’re competing at the highest level.

“But to be able to put your ego aside for the guy next to you and you say you care about him, will you care about him enough to do everything it takes to get on the field and do your job and produce, and it should break your heart when you don’t finish for a player next to you, you don’t finish a block or you don’t chase the ball down and it turned into something bigger than it needed to be or you’re not in the gap you’re supposed to be in. Those should drive you and motivate you not to let the guy next to you – and that’s the common thread in all great teams, man. That’s how they function, that’s how they work, it’s how they practice, and they hold each other accountable,’’ Campbell added.

Five things to watch against the Jaguars:

ONE: Jared Goff is fully expected to bounce back to his old self after throwing five interceptions in the win at the Texans. Offensive coordinator Ben Johnson has gotten to know Goff well and said he handled the game at Houston as well as he could. “I mean, on the sideline, we’re talking through what he’s seeing and he’s seeing it all great and as much as I can, I’m trying to reassure him, it’s on me as much as anything else because what we saw on tape and what we said was going to happen didn’t quite turn out the way that we wanted,’’ Johnson said. “So, just telling him that I’m as responsible as he is for those interceptions and he certainly showed up there, like I said, in the fourth quarter, he came out and was still firing that ball. A lot of guys would clam up and be afraid to make a mistake and he did not do that.”

TWO: Za’Darius Smith gets first action with the Lions after the trade 10 days ago. While he was inactive at Houston, he was on the sidelines helping to coach the defensive line. Left tackle Taylor Decker has faced Smith through the years. “ Incredibly violent hands, powerful guy, I think one thing he’s able to line up all across the field,’’ Decker said. ‘You’ve seen him over center, over guards and and then tons of times you’ll see him one-on-one with offensive tackles. He’s got some of that swagger, that confidence.’’

THREE: Quarterback Trevor Lawrence will sit out with an injured non-throwing shoulder. The Jags have a bye week coming up so it will add to his rest time. Mac Jones will get his second straight start. In the 12-7 loss to the Vikings last week, Jones was 14 of 22 for 111 yards, zero interceptions and a pair of interceptions.

FOUR: The Jaguars defense has struggled, giving up 261.2 passing yards and 129.4 rushing yards per game makes them the NFL’s worst defense. Five Jags are tied with one interception each while the Lions have a total of 13 — Kerby Joseph with 6 and Brian Branch with 4. Sounds like a good time for Joseph and Branch to step up again.

FIVE: Jameson Williams, after a two-game suspension, was thrown back into the fire. He had two key third-down catches including one where he was sandwiched between two defenders.  “He’s really coming on and showing up,’’ Johnson said. “ When you challenge him on the sidelines, he typically responds in a positive way and we knew, particularly with the turnovers, our margin for error had gone down, so he needed to make that play for us at that time and he did. But the level of confidence in him and his hands and his detail continues to rise.”

LIONS INJURY REPORT: TE Sam LaPorta (shoulder), DT Bodric Martin (knee). S Ifeatu Melifonwu (ankle/finger) and CB Emmanuel Moseley (pectoral) are out; LB Ben Niemann (ankle) is questionable.

JAGUARS INJURY REPORT: QB Trevor Lawrence and RB Tank Bigsby are out; OL Ezra Cleveland, DT Maason Smith and RB Keilan Robinson are questionable.

PREDICTION: Lions 42, Jaguars 6

Five reasons the Lions roared back in second half to top the Texans, 26-23

Lions kicker Jake Bates answered the bell and kicked two 50-yard plus field goals in the fourth quarter on Sunday night, including the 52-yard game winner.

With his leg, Bates led the Lions to a 26-23 win over the Texans in Houston. The Lions won their seventh straight game and improved to 8-1 while the Texans fell to 6-4.

The Lions were down 23-7 at the half and it wasn’t looking good from the outside. Inside the locker room they made adjustments at halftime, came out and played a gritty second half. It worked.

“Every team gets punched in the mouth and the good ones respond. We responded,’’ said quarterback Jared Goff who threw five interceptions and a pair of touchdowns.

Houston was coming off a loss to the Jets and was fired up in front of their home crowd which included many Detroit fans.

“We had to fight our way back in there. I’m proud of the guys. There are things that obviously we have to clean up, but our guys wouldn’t go away. For our defense to play the way they played, I thought our defense played good early, we just had one play here or one play there that hurt us,’’ Campbell said.

“Second half you come out it’s four punts, two picks and a missed field goal. That’s huge. We talked about it at halftime, we needed to get our takeaways. I knew we’d wake up on offense, it was just a matter of time,’’ the coach added. “Once we were able to pull within one score you felt now we’re starting to find our way.”

Campbell said after nine games he feels really good about his team. “They haven’t done anything that would surprise me negatively,’’ Campbell said.

Five main reasons why the Lions won:

ONE: Jake Bates, a hometown Houston kid, got a well-deserved game ball. Both of his long field goals were good by inches. Hey, they all count the same. Campbell was confident in Bates in part because at the end of practice Thursday they went through an end-of-game drill and Bates hit that field goal outdoors in the wind. “I felt he was going to make it,’’ Campbell said.

TWO: Jared Goff proved once again he has ice flowing through his veins. Despite the five interceptions (he had four in the first eight games), the quarterback hung in there. Credit the Texans’ defense for pressure on Goff. He led the Lions to score 19 unanswered points in the second half. “I honestly didn’t feel like I was playing all that bad, I was seeing things well, I was throwing it well. I had some unfortunate things happen early,’’ Goff said. “I’ve been through a whole lot worse than that. I’ve been to the bottom mentally, some unlucky plays aren’t going to throw me off my game.’’

THREE: It was a sloppy game for both sides. The Lions had five giveaways and just two takeaways. A minus-3 ratio in turnovers doesn’t often lead to wins in the NFL. Carlton Davis III had both of the Lions interceptions, his first career two-interception game. 

FOUR: While WR Amon-Ra St. Brown was double-covered most of the game, he had six catches for 60 yards and a touchdown. The biggest reception was on third-and-6 on the last possession when he caught a 11-yarder for the first down. Three plays later Bates kicked the game-winner. 

FIVE: It was a total team defense. Campbell said he challenged the defensive line during the week to step up and help the secondary which has been playing solid football. They held the quarterback C.J. Stroud and the Texans scoreless in the second half, after allowing 23 points in the first half. Detroit’s defense had seven tackles for loss including two sacks in the first half so they weren’t playing horribly to start, just a few big plays including a 41-yard pass interference penalty hurt them. Alim McNeill, Josh Paschal and Pat O’Connor each sacked C.J. Stroud. Safety Brian Branch finished with two pass defenses, a tackle for loss, a quarterback hit and a team-high 10 tackles.

BONUS: A close, sloppy win like this can pay dividends down the road and perhaps in the playoffs. In the second half, the Lions dug deep and found what kind of team they were. 

NEXT UP: Jacksonville Jaguars (2-8) at Lions (8-1), 1 p.m. on Sunday at Ford Field.