In the ranking, style points do not count. The Detroit Lions’ 19-9 win over the Miami Dolphins counts as if the Lions knocked out the Dolphins 38-3.
But in our weekly newsletters, we only talk about style points. We look at the good and the bad, because life isn’t just a binary of wins and losses. So let’s hand out mediocre grades on the Lions’ Week 9 win.
Jared Goff wasn’t exceptionally bad in this game, but there was probably more bad than good. He was put in some tough positions early on, with pressure seemingly coming from all sides. It’s hard to blame him for the interception when his arm was hit on a throw, but Goff didn’t handle pressure particularly well in that game either.
There are two plays in which I think illustrate Goff’s self-made struggles in this game. The first was Detroit’s throwback CFL type play with Amon-Ra St. Brown 15 yards behind the line of scrimmage. The play managed to distract the Dolphins defense from properly covering Jahmyr Gibbs’ wheel route in the backfield, but Goff, under light pressure, did not make that throw and checked it instead. Then, late in the game, the Lions faced a third-and-7 at the Dolphins 25-yard line. With a defender in his face, Goff attempted to hit St. Brown on an outside route. When he’s at his best, Goff goes into that throw knowing he’s going to get hit and delivers a perfect ball. On Sunday, feeling the effects of the pressure, Goff passed out and threw a ball several yards out of St. Brown’s reach.
Again, not a horrible day for Goff, but certainly below average.
I thought the running backs did a decent job in pass protection, but there weren’t any standout plays in which it looked like they created ground on their own. The Lions managed just 1.55 yards after the deal on Sunday, the second-lowest mark of any team in Week 9.
This unit certainly wasn’t helped by the offensive line for much of this game, but I still left the game wanting more from Jahmyr Gibbs and Sione Vaki.
Last week’s “sidecar” formation – with two tight ends in the backfield – was so successful against the Vikings. On Sunday, it didn’t seem to have the same effectiveness. There were several times when it felt like the tight ends weren’t getting the push they got last week, and I think that impacted both the running and passing game.
That said, Sam LaPorta was an effective receiver who I wish Detroit had targeted more. He caught four of his five targets for 32 yards, although he also took a false start penalty.
Jameson Williams’ drop would have been costly if the Lions hadn’t followed with a successful fake punt. And he made up for it with a 31-yard grab and a 9-yard run. But it really was Amon-Ra St. Brown’s afternoon. He was the team’s best offensive player on Sunday, consistently finding space in the Dolphins’ zone coverage. He finished with eight catches on 10 targets for 86 yards.
Christian Mahogany’s violation of team rules proved costly, as Miles Frazier struggled in his first NFL start. But he was far from alone in his troubles among the top five. The Lions gave up a 35.5% pressure rate (11th highest in Week 9), but they at least improved as the game went on:
T1 pressure rate: 55.6%
T2: 37.5%
T3: 14.3%
T4: 28.6%
This has been a strange trend all year, as our own Al Karsten pointed out:
Frazier and rookie right tackle Blake Miller were the worst offenders Sunday. Miller allowed three pressures, according to PFF, and Frazier finished with the worst overall grade on the offense (44.1).
But they finished strong and the Lions were again able to gain time on offense with their offensive line.
The Lions completely shut down the Dolphins rushing attack, limiting the Dolphins to just 77 yards and 3.7 yards per carry. Dolphins running back Ollie Gordon had his worst game since September in rushing yards (55) and yards per carry (3.4). And as a team, the Dolphins had just a 23.8% completion rate, ranking 27 out of 28 teams this week, and their 28.6% completion rate was third highest.
Even if the pressure was a little unequal among the first four (35.5%, 11th best this week), they intervened in the big moments. All three of Detroit’s sacks came in the second half, helping secure their lead.
But the biggest impact of this unit isn’t easily seen in the box score. The Lions defensive line helped produce five holding penalties that absolutely killed several Dolphins drives. And if we’re honest, they probably should have been called out for at least a handful more.
Aidan Hutchinson quietly dominated. Derrick Moore looked extremely promising in his first major action. And Alim McNeill continues to be an absolute force in the middle of the defense.
Without Jack Campbell, it was difficult to know how this unit would respond. Consider me very pleasantly surprised. I think Malcolm Rodriguez had a very solid year and he built on that performance in this game. He led the team with eight tackles, was a force in the running game and made an impressive punch on a third-down pass, preventing a conversion.
Trevor Nowaske may be the most reliable coverage linebacker on the team right now. Out of 15 coverage shots, he wasn’t even targeted.
Derrick Barnes continues to be higher and lower than the rest of the room. There are still some coverage gaps that are concerning, but this was one of his better games as a run defender, and he also had a QB hit.
The Lions are clearly still trying to figure some things out in the cornerback room, especially without DJ Reed in this game. I think Rock Ya-Sin is slowly returning to form and he had a solid performance against the Dolphins. But against this young Dolphins receiving corps, I was hoping for more from Roger McCreary and Ennis Rakestraw. McCreary probably had it the worst, credited by PFF as allowing four catches on seven targets for 49 yards — and he also allowed a deep completion that was fortunately negated by a holding penalty.
That said, this is the best game the Lions have gotten from their safety duo. Brian Branch was quiet, but worked steadily near the line of scrimmage. And Chuck Clark was essentially impeccable as a deep defender. His interception was an incredibly athletic play, and his return immediately put Detroit within field goal range.
There’s a lot going on on special teams this week. The good: Jake Bates went a perfect 5-for-5 on his kicks, Jack Fox dropped his only punt inside the 15-yard line, Fox converted a fake punt with a great throw to Tay Martin, and the coverage teams performed well.
However, Bates threw a kickoff short of the touchdown zone and placed another kickoff in the end zone for a 35-yard touchdown. Christian Izien committed a holding penalty that erased good field position on the punt return. And even worse, the Lions allowed a massive 46-yard pass on a fake Miami punt.
In the end, I think it all balances out for an average rating.
I think the coaching staff deserves a lot of credit for getting through an extremely difficult week. The emotions brought on by Jack Campbell’s traumatic injury haven’t been easy to deal with and get the team ready to go, but the Lions have clearly found a successful balance. They opened Wednesday’s meeting by putting football aside completely and talking about Campbell through their emotions. They’re downgrading Wednesday’s practice to a walkthrough. Life was more important than football, and they thought they could move on with the shortened week they had left. And they did.
There isn’t much to the game in terms of gameplay, game management, or anything else that I had issues with. I don’t attribute many of the offensive issues to Drew Petzing, as it’s clear that the loss of the offensive line in one-on-ones has had the biggest impact on the struggles.
I guess we can complain about Dan Campbell’s decision to punish Christian Mahogany and how it hurt this team’s ability to perform. But without knowing Mahogany’s actions that resulted in the punishment, I cannot fairly judge whether it was the right decision. That said, I agree that the coaching staff prioritizes maintaining a strict culture here.
Gn sports
