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Detroit Lions grades against Seattle Seahawks: Straight A for offense

ByJasper

Oct 1, 2024 #Aidan, #Aidan Hutchinson, #AJ, #AJ Barner, #Alex, #Alex Anzalone, #Alim, #Alim McNeill, #American, #American Football, #Anzalone, #Arnold, #Awosika, #Barner, #Ben, #Ben Niemann, #Campbell, #Carlton, #Carlton Davis III, #David, #David Montgomery, #Davis, #De'Von, #Derick, #Derick Hall, #Detroit, #Detroit Lions, #Devon Witherspoon, #fox, #Frank, #Frank Ragnow, #Geno, #Geno Smith( t)Sam LaPorta, #gibbs, #Goff, #Hall, #Hesse, #Houston, #Hutchinson, #III, #Jack, #Jack Campbell, #Jack Fox, #Jahmyr, #Jahmyr Gibbs, #James, #James Houston, #Jared, #Jared Goff, #Joshua, #Joshua Paschal, #Kayode, #Kayode Awosika, #Kenneth, #Kenneth Walker III, #LaPorta, #levi, #Levi Onwuzurike, #Lions, #McNeill, #Montgomery, #Neutral, #News, #Niemann, #Onwuzurike, #Parker, #Parker Hesse, #Paschal, #Ragnow, #Sam, #Smith, #Soccer, #Sports, #Sports News, #Terrion, #Terrion Arnold, #Total, #Total Neutral, #Walker, #Witherspoon
Detroit Lions grades against Seattle Seahawks: Straight A for offense

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Free Press sports writer Dave Birkett assesses the Detroit Lions’ performance following their 42-29 victory over the Seattle Seahawks on Monday at Ford Field.

quarterback

Jared Goff literally couldn’t have been better on Monday. Goff was 18 of 18 passes for 292 yards and two touchdowns. He had the most attempts by a quarterback without an incompletion in NFL history and narrowly missed a perfect passer rating at 155.8 (158.3). Goff pivoted out of a sack by Dre’Mont Jones to keep the offense from falling behind the sticks on the Lions’ first touchdown drive, settling for checking the ball to his receivers all game about nothing was open in the field. That patience paid off late in the third quarter when Goff successfully hit Jameson Williams with a 70-yard touchdown pass against a six-man blitz. Technically, Goff missed a pass after completing a pass incomplete in the fourth quarter that was negated by an offensive pass interference penalty, but he and the offense played at a championship level and he followed up his day with a 7- Yard touchdown catch the icing on the cake on a trick play. Grade: A

CARLOS MONARREZ: David Montgomery was MVP for the Detroit Lions early in the season after a thrilling catch

Running backs

Jahmyr Gibbs got the bulk of the work in the backfield on Monday with 14 carries for 78 yards and two touchdowns. He was electric as usual, starting with his first carry from scrimmage for 20 yards and showing his underrated power between the tackles with TD runs of 1 and 3 yards. David Montgomery played his usual tone-setting role for the Lions before handing over to Gibbs. He rushed for 39 yards on the Lions’ first touchdown drive and broke three tackles on a 40-yard catch in the third quarter, earning him high praise from Dan Campbell. “I would never block this guy because the game is never over with him,” Campbell said. “He will keep every game alive, he is a strong runner. He can force himself to make things happen.” Grade: A

Receivers/Tight Ends

Campbell said he gave Williams (and Kerby Joseph) a game ball on Monday to reward him for his blocking downfield. Williams’ aggressiveness in this area stood out in front of St. Brown on a bubble as he struggled to stay ahead of Devon Witherspoon. Williams ran away from the defense with his long catch and St. Brown caught an 8-yard touchdown to match the TD pass he threw – his first at any level. Tight end Sam LaPorta (four catches, 53 yards) didn’t have a big day, but was the most involved in the offense all year. All three of the Lions’ tight ends contributed to their 116-yard rushing day, with Parker Hesse making a crucial block on a 7-yard Montgomery run on the Lions’ first touchdown drive. Grade: A

Offensive line

The Lions’ 116 yards rushing was their lowest of the season, but I thought the offensive line moved the Seattle defense with ease early in the game. Taylor Decker and Kayode Awosika, who started at left guard in Frank Ragnow’s absence and Graham Glasgow played center, had the key blocks on Gibbs’ long run and the right side of the line guided Gibbs into the end zone for his second touchdown. Taylor Decker and Penei Sewell were called for breaking up the same play, Decker gave up a sack to Derick Hall and the line allowed a safety late in the game. But Awosika held his own well in his first start of the season, and the line is tipped for Goff’s 18-for-18 game day. Grade: A

PERFECTION: Jared Goff sets NFL record as Detroit Lions survive shootout against Seahawks 42-29

Defensive line

Aidan Hutchinson’s sack streak came to an end after he amassed an NFL-best 6½ sacks through the first three games, but he had three quarterback hits on Monday, drew a holding penalty on Pharaoh Brown and teamed with Josh Paschal on Geno Pressuring Smith resulted in a DJ Reader sack. Paschal, starting in place of the injured Marcus Davenport, had two tackles on the same second-quarter drive but otherwise had a quiet record, and Levi Onwuzurike and Alim McNeill shared a sack and each had a pass deflection. Onwuzurike was criticized for roughing the passer late in the game, James Houston had two offsides penalties and the Lions allowed 133 yards rushing and didn’t get enough pressure on third down. Grade: C-plus

Linebackers

I thought the Lions had their linebackers play really well in the first half, but then missed tackles and moved players out of position in the second half. Jack Campbell delivered a Kenneth Walker III run that ended in a 1-yard tackle-for-loss by Joseph, and Malcolm Rodriguez made a nice open-field tackle on third-and-11 on DK Metcalf for one Punt to force Seattle’s opening possession, and Campbell forced a Metcalf fumble on fourth down later in the first quarter. Campbell and Alex Anzalone each had seven tackles, and Rodriguez was cleared off the edge and recorded his first sack of the season. Anzalone was beaten on Smith’s touchdown pass to AJ Barner when he appeared to run into traffic on a shallow drag with Ben Niemann and Niemann was out of position on Walker’s 21-yard cutback run for a touchdown. Derrick Barnes’ absence was evident as the Lions shuffled personnel to try to replace their powerhouse linebacker. Grade: B-minus

Defensive backs

The Lions were penalized 12 times for 101 yards on Monday, and seven of those penalties went to cornerbacks Terrion Arnold (one pass interference, two defensive holds) and Carlton Davis III (three PIs, one hold). Davis had a tough matchup with Metcalf and played well for most of the game, despite Metcalf’s seven catches for 104 yards. He had a pass breakup in the second quarter, fended off a 2-point attempt by Jake Bobo and was a good run support, but also allowed a 29-yard catch that set up Seattle’s first touchdown when he was beaten at the line of scrimmage. Arnold wasn’t nearly as effective. He lost control on a Walker run in the third quarter while attempting to stab into a block and was cautioned for defensive holding in the end zone. Joseph let Smith slip out of his hands on a sack but was able to end the game with an interception, even though the Lions missed the playmaking abilities of Brian Branch (due to illness) at the other safety spot. Grade: B-minus

Special teams

There wasn’t much action on special teams Monday, as both teams outscored three teams and Seattle attempted the game’s only field goal, a 62-yarder that fell short at the end of the first half. Khalil Dorsey caught the miss in the back of the end zone but appeared indecisive on his return against Seattle’s strong team. Jack Fox gained 46.3 yards on his punts and Kalif Raymond had 7 yards on his only punt return, a ceiling scratch that most returners would have caught fairly. Grade: A-minus

Coaching

The Lions defeated the Seahawks for the first time in four tries under Dan Campbell, moving to 3-1 entering their bye. They struggled to keep up with some of Seattle’s offensive players, but had their best game of the season on offense. Ben Johnson spoke of a balanced and creative game. For the second straight year, he pulled off a trick at the right time and kept his offense going in positive down-and-distance situations. I didn’t like the third-and-1 throw to Montgomery in the fourth quarter when the Lions were successful between the tackles, but that doesn’t take away from an otherwise efficient performance. The Lions can’t get as many penalties as they did on Monday and expect to consistently beat good teams and that didn’t matter to the final result, but I didn’t understand why Campbell rejected the face mask penalty at the end of the first half as that Lions may have had a chance to throw a Hail Mary into the end zone or attempt a kick from the middle of the field. Grade: A-minus

Dave Birkett will be signing copies of his new book, “Detroit Lions: An Illustrated Timeline,” at the Pro Sports Zone at Laurel Park Place on Saturday from 10 a.m. to noon. Order it now from Reedy Press.

Contact him at [email protected]. Follow him on X and Instagram at @davebirkett.

By Jasper

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