The Detroit Lions (8-5) got back to their winning ways, emphatically cooling off the Dallas Cowboys’ (6-6-1) hot streak with a 44-30 win in Week 14. The Lions were dealing with a handful of injuries and needed to make several roster adjustments to operate at their maximum. They also slightly adjusted their personnel usage to help unlock the pass rush on defense, which could be a sign of things to come.
Let’s take a look at how the Lions adjusted to all the moving parts on their roster by exploring how they utilized their personnel against the Cowboys in Week 14.
Quarterbacks:
- Jared Goff: 62 snaps (100%)
- Kyle Allen: 0 (0%)
Goff was poised in the pocket, took what was there, didn’t turn the ball over, and wrapped another game with over 300 yards passing and a passer rating over 110.0+.
Running backs:
- Jahmyr Gibbs: 43 (69%)
- David Montgomery: 19 (31%)
- Jacob Saylors: 2 (3%) — 19 special teams snaps (56%)
- Sione Vaki: 0 (0%) — 19 (56%)
The Lions kept their split the same as it’s been in recent weeks, leaning on their stud in Gibbs and allowing Montgomery to be rested and at his best when given an opportunity. While Gibbs will steal the headlines with his three-touchdown performance, this was Montgomery’s best game in quite some time, registering 60 yards and a touchdown on just six carries. Saylors found the field in the Lions’ victory formation and on special teams. Vaki appeared to have aggravated his thumb covering a kick return and will be worth monitoring next week.
Wide receivers:
- Amon-Ra St. Brown: 57 (92%)
- Jameson Williams: 57 (92%)
- Isaac TeSlaa: 48 (77%)
- Tom Kennedy: 5 (8%) — 9 (26%)
- Dominic Lovett: 2 (3%) — 1 (3%)
- Malik Cunningham: 1 (2%)
- Kalif Raymond: Inactive (injured)
St. Brown defied the odds and not only played in this game, but also produced in critical moments. Meanwhile, Williams continues his developmental ascent and put in another dominant game, converting several first downs and proving his worth in the moment. TeSlaa has seen his role increase as the Lions use more 11 personnel while they deal with injuries at tight end, and the rookie was rewarded for his hard work with another touchdown. Of his eight catches on the season, he’s found the paint on four of them, including one in each of the last two games.
Kennedy saw his role on offense reduced with St. Brown returning, but he was absolutely stellar on special teams. Kennedy simply looks like he is made for the NFL’s new special teams formations and returned three kicks for 120 yards (an average of 40 yards per return), as well as returning a punt for 21 yards.
Lovett saw the field in victory formation, while Cunningham—a former Louisville quarterback—took one direct snap out of a Wildcat formation.
Tight ends:
- Anthony Firkser: 35 (56%) — 19 (56%)
- Dan Skipper: 23 (37%) — 9 (26%)
- Ross Dwelley: 18 (29%) — 17 (50%)
- Hayden Rucci: Inactive
While Dwelley is the more senior tight end of the remaining reserves, Firkser is the better pass catcher and thus more balanced, which could be the reason why he saw a larger role this week. Skipper’s usage at tight end will likely lead to record numbers in Jumbo package (six offensive linemen) usage.
Fun fact: All three of Gibbs’ touchdowns happened when in the Jumbo formation:
Offensive line:
- Tate Ratledge: 62 (100%) — 9 (26%)
- Penei Sewell: 62 (100%) — 8 (24%)
- Graham Glasgow: 62 (100%) — 1 (3%)
- Taylor Decker: 62 (100%)
- Trystan Colon: 36 (58%) — 9 (26%)
- Miles Frazier: 26 (42%) — 9 (26%)
- Michael Niese: 0 (0%) — 9 (26%)
- Kayode Awosika: Inactive (injured)
With Awosika being downgraded to out just a few hours ahead of kickoff, the Lions opted for a rotation at left guard with veteran Colon starting and rookie Frazier entering the game after the first two series. Colon’s start was rough, especially in pass protection, but he managed to reset his base as the game went on and was very impressive as a run blocker. Frazier was more up and down in his first career NFL action, but the Lions wanted to get some experience, and he certainly got that against a formidable Dallas front.
Also, Sewell is the best run blocker in the game, and it’s not close, full stop.
Defensive end:
- Aidan Hutchinson: 77 (94%)
- Marcus Davenport: 39 (48%) — 6 (18%)
- Al-Quadin Muhammad: 38 (46%) — 8 (24%)
- Tyrus Wheat: 7 (9%) — 22 (65%)
- Tyler Lacy: Inactive
Lions defensive coordinator Kelvin Sheppard challenged his pass rushers to produce better and vowed to make changes to see it happen. After four games with a combined four sacks, the Lions’ pass rush answered the bell by recording 20 pressures and five sacks against the Cowboys.
An impressive 10 of those pressures belonged to Hutchinson, who saw his role unchanged, while Davenport saw his opportunities increase as he continues to acclimate. The real change came with Muhammad—who hadn’t broken 40% of defensive snaps in a month—who saw his snaps double from the previous week (from 19 to 38). Once allowed to pin his ears back and rush, Muhammad thrived, producing four pressures and three sacks, bringing his season totals to 42 pressures and nine sacks, per Next Gen Stats.
Defensive tackle:
- Alim McNeill: 60 (73%) — 6 (18%)
- DJ Reader: 28 (34%)
- Tyleik Williams: 22 (27%)
- Roy Lopez: 23 (28%) — 5 (21%)
- Mekhi Wingo: Inactive
With an increase of opportunities for edge rushers (and linebackers, we’ll get there in a second), Sheppard reduced his interior defensive linemen’s roles. He scaled back the usage of the 4i—and the recent trend of using McNeill in that role—and instead put his defensive tackles in more traditional roles. As a result, McNeill, Reader, and Williams each saw their snaps reduced by over 20%, while Lopez saw his reduced by around eight percent.
Linebacker:
- Jack Campbell: 82 (100%) — 8 (24%)
- Alex Anzalone: 80 (98%)
- Derrick Barnes: 58 (71%) — 2 (6%)
- Trevor Nowaske: 14 (17%) — 25 (74%)
- Malcolm Rodriguez: 2 (2%) — 25 (74%)
- Grant Stuard: 0 (0%) — 25 (74%)
Campbell and Anzalone continue to see nearly every snap on defense, while Barnes has settled in at around 70% of defensive snaps over the past few weeks. We did see a significant uptick in Nowaske’s usage, mainly using him as an interior pass rusher and trying to use his athleticism to take advantage of the Cowboys’ guards. Rodriguez was also used situationally in short-yardage rushing situations when the Lions deploy two inside linebackers to stack the box.
Another schematic wrinkle implemented by Sheppard was him blitzing his linebackers (and defensive backs) on second down rather than the traditional third down. This appeared to catch Dallas a bit off guard and resulted in more challenging third down situations; Dallas converted just six of 15 third down attempts (40% success rate).
Cornerback:
- D.J. Reed: 81 (99%)
- Amik Robertson: 80 (98%)
- Rock Ya-Sin: 47 (57%) — 15 (44%)
- Khalil Dorsey: 0 (0%) — 17 (50%)
- Nick Whiteside: 0 (0%) — 1 (3%)
Reed was finally fully reacclimated and back to seeing a full game’s worth of snaps. Robertson continued to rep on the outside in two cornerback sets and inside in subpackages, where Ya-Sin took over on the outside. With Terrion Arnold done for the season, this trio will be asked to play a similar split of reps moving forward, though it’s fair to wonder if Ya-Sin deserves more opportunities for his recent stellar play.
Safety:
- Avonte Maddox: 80 (98%) — 2 (6%)
- Brian Branch: 74 (90%) — 4 (12%) — Injured (achilles)
- Daniels Thomas: 8 (10%) — 25 (74%)
- Thomas Harper: 2 (2%) — Injured (concussion)
- Kerby Joseph: Inactive (injured)
With Harper suffering a concussion on the second defensive play of the game, Maddox was called upon to step into Joseph’s role at free safety. The savvy veteran was terrific on short notice and should give Lions fans some confidence in his readiness moving forward.
Unfortunately, Maddox will likely be called upon sooner rather than later, as it is being reported that Branch tore his achillies, which will end his season. That is brutal news for the Lions’ defense, and something they’ll be forced to deal with while also waiting on the recovery status of Joseph and Harper. While a gut punch for certain, the Lions’ secondary can survive if either Joseph or Harper (or both) are able to return soon.
Specialists:
- Jake Bates: 17 (50%)
- Jack Fox: 11 (32%)
- Hogan Hatten: 11 (32%)
Despite a blocked field goal attempt, the Lions’ special teams unit was otherwise very solid in all other phases. Kennedy was a strong returner, coverage units were in lanes and stood firm, while kick placements were accurate.
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