Jahmyr Gibbs carried the Detroit Lions’ entire team against the New York Giants. He scored three of the team’s four touchdowns on the day, and his 264 yards of offense accounted for over 53 percent of the team’s entire output.
Since coach Dan Campbell has taken over play-calling on offense, it’s been the Jahmyr Gibbs show. In three weeks, Gibbs has totaled 582 scrimmage yards and six touchdowns. He’s a big-play threat every single time he touches the football, and it’s clear the Lions are starting to lean into that.
But the team is obviously flawed in other areas. They continue to give up far too many big plays on defense in the passing game, the quarterback pressure is inconsistent and too slow, and on offense, they’re still seeking a consistent identity in the passing game. The offensive line continues to be a problem in pass protection, and Detroit is still figuring out how to adjust to the loss of Sam LaPorta in the receiving game.
Sunday’s game against the New York Giants was a perfect example of all of those things coming to a head. Jared Goff didn’t look fully comfortable in the pocket, the Lions’ receivers dropped balls and failed to test a mediocre Giants secondary, and Jameis Winston torched the Lions’ secondary for six plays of 30+ yards.
But Gibbs managed to pull the entire team out of the abyss. To be fair, the defense does deserve some credit for some late-game heroics, and it was an impressive day from the Lions’ special teams unit. Still, it feels like Gibbs was the biggest savior of the day.
The question now becomes: can this be a formula to win against better teams? Can Gibbs carry an inconsistent offense and help a defense that gives up too many big plays? And with the NFC contenders continuing to win, how realistic are their chances of missing the playoffs?
We discuss all of that on this week’s PODcast while recapping everything from the Lions’ 34-27 overtime win over the Giants. You can catch the show on your favorite podcast platform or by using the Spotify embed below.
You can also catch the PODcast in video form over on our Twitch and YouTube pages. Those video streams have some bonus content between segments that you won’t find on the audio podcasts.
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