The Detroit Lions’ performance against the New York Giants was as frustrating as it was awe-inspiring. For much of the game, the Lions defense struggled and the offense sputtered. But when it came to the most important points in the game, individual players stepped up and delivered a much-needed win to Detroit.
Here are the positional grades for the Lions in my Week 12 report card.
Quarterback: B
There was certainly more good than bad from Jared Goff on Sunday. Though he was sacked three times against the Giants, he was actually pretty evasive in the pocket, avoiding another few tackles for loss on the day. His accuracy was up-and-down, but he wasn’t helped by a handful of drops from his receivers.
If there’s anything frustrating about the passing game’s performance, it’s the overreliance on Amon-Ra St. Brown and Jahmyr Gibbs. Those two accounted for 25 of Goffs 42 targets and 20 of his 28 completions. Even Goff admitted he probably checked to Gibbs too often.
“I probably went to him a couple too many times, honestly, on some of those balls to the sideline,” Goff said. “But sometimes you are playing quarterback, you’re trying to be a point guard, and he’s the hot hand. If I’m in between (reads), just kind of give it to him. Again, probably one too many times.”
The interception falls mostly on St. Brown, but the ball certainly could’ve been delivered better, so I’m only going to ding him a little—even though it came in an absolutely critical moment. Detroit was driving to take their first lead of the game and were already in field goal range to at least tie it. Previous in that drive, too, Goff had overshot St. Brown on a crossers he could’ve housed.
Still, Goff managed the game fairly well, and deserves some credit for an offense that drive at least 50 yards on six different drives.
Running backs: A+
If that’s not an A+ performance from Jahmyr Gibbs, I don’t know what is. The Lions’ running back was absolutely electric against the Giants, tallying three different rushes of 40+ yards. Obviously, those splash plays were critical for Detroit’s win, but it’s worth noting that Gibbs was getting it done between those rushes, as well. Of his 15 rushes, 11 were considered a “success,” giving Gibbs the second-highest success rate (73.3%) of the week. His +9.6 rushing yards over expected per carry was obviously first in Week 12. Second closest was James Cook… at +2.6.
I could create an endless list of jaw-dropping stats from Gibbs’ performance, but wouldn’t it just be more fun to watch his highlights from the game?
Tight ends: C+
It’s obvious this team misses Sam LaPorta, particularly as an option on third-and-medium and third-and-long. Brock Wright managed just three catches for 29 yards on the afternoon. I don’t have a good feel for how he was in blocking based on the live view, but he certainly had one of the key blocks on Gibbs’ 69-yard, game-winning touchdown run. Given his high snap count percentage (88%), he likely had a significant hand in Detroit’s 237 rushing yards on the day.
Wide receivers: D+
Is it too early to say the Lions have a receiver problem right now? Box score scouting would have you believe St. Brown had a phenomenal day, catching nine passes for 149 yards and a touchdown, but he also had two critical drops—one which turned into an interception. St. Brown said he wasn’t expected the ball to come in that fast on that huge mistake, but still took responsibility for the error.
Elsewhere… there wasn’t anything. Jameson Williams failed to catch his three targets, and at least two of them should’ve been considered a drop. Again, the Lions failed to incorporate their third wide receivers. Kalif Raymond and Isaac TeSlaa combined for just two catches and 37 yards (all from Raymond) on three targets.
The passing game simply will not survive if they are this over-reliant on St. Brown. Teams will take him away (or at least attempt to do so. Someone needs to step up and step up fast.
Offensive line: B+
Pass protection was still very shaky, with too many players losing their one-on-ones. It seemed like a particularly tough afternoon for Kayode Awosika, who gave up interior pressure multiple times. Still, it actually wasn’t as bad as it looked at times, as the Giants’ 26.7% pressure rate ranked 21st out of 26 teams in Week 12.
But the line deserves a ton of credit for the run game. This stat is obviously highly skewed by some of Gibbs’ long runs, but Detroit averaged 4.96 yards before contact on Sunday. No other team was above 3.0.
Defensive line: C
I’m having a tough time with the Lions defensive line, because I think they’re doing what they’re designed to do, but it’s resulting in a mixed bag for the defense. In the run game, they’re continuing to be dominant. They allowed just 3.1 yards per carry against a Giants offense that is averaging 4.1 per carry on the season. New York’s rushing success rate of 25.6% was the worst of the season for the Giants.
But the pass rush was absolutely vacant. Oddly, the Lions actually posted the highest pressure rate of Week 12 (51.3%), but that’s largely influenced by the fact that Detroit also allowed Jameis Winston to have the second-longest average time to throw of the week (3.22 seconds). The pressure isn’t getting there quick enough, and Winston made the Lions defense pay.
Linebackers: C-
While the linebackers certainly deserve some credit for Detroit’s stout run defense—mostly Jack Campbell and his continued dominance (11 tackles, one tackle for loss)—this was a really tough day for the linebackers in coverage. Alex Anzalone was beat several times—including a third-and-17 conversion from New York where Anzalone left his assignment to try and chase down Winston. Derrick Barnes did a good job sniffing out a trick play to Winston, but he failed to defend the pass or take the quarterback down after catching the ball.
The Giants hit on six passing plays of at least 30 yards on Sunday, and at least a couple of those fall on the linebacking corps.
Secondary: D
The rest of the culpability on the Giants’ explosive passing offense falls on a very disappointing day from Detroit’s secondary. After stringing together a handful of great performances from the reserves, the Lions seemingly did not have an answer for Wan’Dale Robinson, who finished the day with 156 yards and a touchdown. The Lions secondary also showed a lack of discipline several times, be it the trick plays or failing to stick to their assignment after a play broke down.
But I can’t give the unit a full F, because if it weren’t for a few plays in crunch time, the Lions wouldn’t have been able to mount a comeback. Rock Ya-Sin had fantastic coverage and notched pass breakup on a fourth-and-goal that immediately led to Detroit’s game-tying field goal near the end of regulation. And a full-extension pass breakup from Amik Robertson at the end of the fourth quarter prevented what would’ve been a big gain for the Giants. Additionally, Thomas Harper’s fourth-quarter interception should’ve given Detroit an opportunity to tie the game much earlier, but the offense failed them.
Special teams: A
Hey, that’s the special teams unit we’ve come to love! Jack Fox was phenomenal in pinning the Giants back, punting four of his five inside the 20 and three at the 10-yard line or deeper. Jake Bates squeezed a game-tying 59-yard kick inside the right upright, and made the rest of his kicks. Even the kick return game had some life. Including touchbacks, the Lions started at their 35-yard line or further upfield on three of their seven attempts. They out-averaged the Giants on kick return yards 30.5 to 24.4.
Coaching: C
There were a lot of weird things that happened in this game. Detroit wasted a timeout in the first half, with Dan Campbell seemingly taking too long to decide if he should challenge a Jameson Williams drop. Then he failed to use a timeout after a Kalif Raymond catch, choosing instead to spike the ball—which cost Detroit about 10-15 seconds.
At the end of regulation, the Lions did something similar—spiking the ball instead of using their final timeout—then they used the timeout anyways before the next play. However, Campbell said after the game that there was a malfunction with the headset, so it’s hard to put that on him.
Some will say the Campbell didn’t have the team prepared or they were overlooking the Giants, but I don’t believe that to be true. All week, the team was saying this Giants team is better than their record. That said, it was tough to see the Lions play so undisciplined on trick plays, and there is still something missing from this team’s offensive strategy. They just don’t have an answer for third-and-longs—really on either side of the ball. This has been a problem all year, and it’s frustrating they haven’t found an answer yet.
But, again, give the Lions coaching staff credit for building a resilient group that didn’t lose their composure in this game, and was able to make plays at the very last opportunity to make them.
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