Make it three straight AFC North matchups for the Detroit Lions, as they went back on the road to play the Cincinnati Bengals.
The Lions offense scored on their opening drive, and for the first time this season, the defense stopped the opposing team from scoring on their first drive. Detroit was up 14-3 at halftime, with the defense getting takeaways, but the offense was not finishing the job every time. Entering the fourth quarter, the Lions were up 28-3, but suddenly the Bengals cut the lead to 11, making it 28-17. Detroit reinforced that it was the better team and scored to go up 35-17. The Bengals didn’t give up and made it 35-24 before Detroit finished with a safety to win 37-24.
While it was a victory, this game had a lot of highs and lows. I’ll explain in my eight takeaways from the Lions’ victory against the Bengals.
Giovanni Manu, welcome to being a starter
For weeks, Lions starting left tackle Taylor Decker hasn’t practiced, but has played in every game. After missing another week of practice, Decker was expected to play until Sunday morning when the Lions downgraded him from questionable to doubtful. Decker was a scratch, meaning second-year tackle Giovanni Manu got the start. Making your first-ever start against a top edge rusher in Bengals’ Trey Hendrickson is a tough challenge.
After doing well on the opening drive, Manu made his first crucial mistake on the next drive. The Lions were moving with ease once again, and Manu got beaten quickly by Hendrickson, leading to him strip-sacking Lions quarterback Jared Goff and the Bengals recovering the football. After that, Manu did well until late in the fourth quarter, as he was beaten cleanly by Bengals defensive end Joseph Ossai.
Both sacks were at the worst times, once stopping the offense that was moving down the field with ease, giving the Bengals the ball back. The second forced the Lions out of field goal range in the fourth quarter to make it a two-touchdown game and gave the Bengals life. Thankfully, the defense got a game-clinching safety to eliminate any chance of a comeback for the Bengals. Manu was a tough watch for those plays, but besides those, he did as well as he could.
Punt returner unknown after Kalif injury
Lions wide receiver and punt returner Kalif Raymond took a nasty hit on his first punt return of the day and left the game with a neck injury. Raymond didn’t return, so that meant rookie wide receiver Dominic Lovett filled in for him for the rest of the game. Neck injuries can be scary, and I hope Raymond can return from it. As of now, though, it seems like the news is promising.
If Raymond misses time, Lovett should be his replacement, but I’m sure Detroit will try a few others out to see if they could fill the role. Raymond being down doesn’t affect just the punt returning job, though. Rookie wide receiver Isaac TeSlaa should see an increased playing time, and that opens the door for Lovett and possibly Jackson Meeks or Tom Kennedy from the practice squad could see an elevation or two.
Lions’ secondary shines against difficult Bengals WR… until late
The Lions were down without starting cornerback D.J. Reed, who was put on IR earlier in the week. They were also down some depth with Khalil Dorsey missing the game. And midway through the game, Terrion Arnold left with a shoulder injury.
So Detroit was down their top cornerback and fifth-string, leaving them with just four cornerbacks on the gameday roster on Sunday, with Arnold, nickelback Amik Robertson, Rock Ya-Sin, and newly-signed Tre Flowers. Despite being thin, the Lions’ secondary played excellently. First, Robertson had an interception on Bengals quarterback Jake Browning as he was covering Bengals star wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase, which put the Lions offense in the red zone. Ya-Sin would force a punt on the next drive as he was step-for-step with Bengals wide receiver Tee Higgins and knocked the ball away.
After forcing a punt on their next drive, Detroit would create another turnover as Browning threw a deep ball that safety Kerby Joseph would jump (and steal from Arnold) and snag to give Detroit a short field. The Lions’ secondary finished with seven pass deflections and two interceptions. Despite being down two players, the secondary did all it could and some to put this game away as early as possible.
While there were some positives in the secondary, we have to talk about the negatives.
Secondary injuries piling up
While the Lions’ secondary’s first-half performance was strong, despite being down two players, more players left the field in the second half. Arnold left due to a shoulder injury and didn’t return, and Ya-Sin left but would later return and leave again. With Ya-Sin down, Flowers had to play, and thankfully, it didn’t seem to interest Browning to target him. This team dealt with many injuries last season, and this year, one position is getting hit instead.
The pass rush for Detroit, while having double-digit sacks this season, needs the secondary to be at its best. When the Lions’ secondary is healthy or guys are stepping up like they did today, the pass rush can have more time to get to the quarterback. The Lions play the Kansas City Chiefs next week, and with a quarterback like Patrick Mahomes, you can’t give him time to throw the football or an easy secondary to beat down.
Aidan Hutchinson continues to succeed but it won’t show on the stat sheet
This was a frustrating game to watch when it came to Lions’ defensive end Aidan Hutchinson. He had not one, but two sacks get wiped away due to penalties. The first was on himself as he was offside, and the second was wiped away due to a holding penalty on Arnold. Not only was that second sack wiped away, but it also would have been a safety. The penalty was poorly-called in my opinion, as the replay showed Arnold’s neck bent back as the Bengals’ wide receiver had his arms extended.
Thankfully, Hutchinson ended up getting a sack that did count, and it was another strip sack, recovered by the Bengals. Hutchinson finished with nine pressures, four tackles, a tackle for loss, a sack, and a forced fumble.
In total, Hutchinson now has three sacks eliminated from penalties this season. Hutchinson is having a better season than what you see, and it’s just great that he’s back on the field after how his season ended last year, but he deserves his stats that he’s earned.
Montgomery balls out in his home state
Lions running back David Montgomery had a homecoming Sunday afternoon, being one of the best players on offense. Montgomery had 18 carries for 65 yards and a touchdown, but also threw a touchdown pass to tight end Brock Wright. Montgomery wanted to return home and have a game for his sister to see in person for the first time since she was in a car accident that left her paralyzed from the neck down. While seeing him play against the Chicago Bears is always fun, this was nice to see him succeed in his home state and make the game a little more personal.
FOX did a nice job talking to Montgomery about what it felt like for him to return home and how he grew up. If you have three minutes, take the time to watch it.
Refs did all they could for the Bengals
The Lions have struggled with penalties the past few weeks, and the team needs to address those and clean them up. While some penalties on Detroit this week were rightfully called, there were just as many that were incorrect. Detroit was called for eight penalties for 56 yards, and only four were legit penalties.
The defensive holding call on Arnold was horrible and took away a safety for Detroit. It was a play where no flag should have been thrown at all. The holding by center Graham Glasgow didn’t make sense as he was blocking for his running back on the play, no grab of the jersey or anything that looked illegal, which thankfully Detroit overcame by scoring on the next play.
The other two were defensive pass interference calls, one on Arnold and the other on Anzalone, both on the same drive. The Arnold call was good defense, and both players slid to the ground, leaving me wondering how anything was done illegally. The Anzalone one was where Browning threw an uncatchable ball to tight end Mike Gesicki, and that drive turned into a touchdown for the Bengals. So with the help of the officials, the Bengals got a touchdown and the Lions weren’t awarded a safety, a nine-point swing that makes this 13-point win a more comfortable 22-point victory.
Getting concerned with offensive woes
In back-to-back games, the Lions’ offense has sputtered and wasn’t as effective as they should’ve been. Against the Browns, the Lions needed the defense and special teams to score to help put Cleveland away. Without those two touchdowns, that 24-point victory turns only into 10, and things could’ve been worse as well.
This week, the defense got three turnovers, and the offense scored off of two of them with the shortened field. If the Lions’ offense isn’t gifted the short field on those two scoring drives, it’s unclear if they can move down the field with ease. Detroit’s offense was looking great on the first two drives, but when Goff fumbled the ball, they only scored one more time in the first half.
I’m unsure what is causing the issue of the offense appearing to be stuck in the mud, but in a game where the Lions were leagues above the Bengals—despite their records not being far apart—the Lions made it close. Manu’s play had an impact, but he wasn’t the main reason for the offense not creating lanes for the running backs or helping get receivers open.
The Lions escaped these games due to the talent that they went up against, but the road is about to get tougher. Next up for Detroit are the Chiefs and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Detroit doesn’t need to score on every drive against those teams, but they can’t sputter as often as they did these past two weeks. Those opponents will make you pay, so Detroit has to clean up its act on offense… and fast.
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