With five games left in the season, the Detroit Lions are running out of time to make the playoffs. The room for error is thin, as one loss doesn’t knock them out of the race, but it forces them to finish the season undefeated. It started with a Thursday night primetime game against the Dallas Cowboys, who were also fighting for their playoff hopes.
The Lions answered the call when it came to the big play moments. Despite poor officiating early on, the team overcame that, and once they were up 10-6, Detroit never looked back. They were up 20-9 at halftime, and despite the Cowboys fighting with all their might to stay in the game, Detroit answered the bell each time Dallas did something big.
Detroit improves to 8-5 on the year, and their playoff chances increase with the win. I came away with six takeaways from the win.
Welcome to the NFL, Miles Frazier
Last season, rookie guard Christian Mahogany missed training camp, preseason, and most of the regular season due to Mononucleosis. He ended up playing, filling in for injuries to the team’s starting guard. This year, rookie guard Miles Frazier missed training camp, preseason, and most of the regular season due to an injury. He was activated from IR recently and was inactive last week.
This week, starting left guard Kayode Awosika missed the game due to injury, so offensive lineman Trystan Colon stepped in to start. After two drives where Colon was getting bullied, the Lions benched him and replaced him with Frazier, and saw an instant upgrade at the position. Quarterback Jared Goff was faced with pressure quickly with Colon at guard, but when Fraizer came in, Goff had time to throw, and it gave the offense life.
Frazier wasn’t perfect, as he did get called for two false starts, but he impressed me with his play between the whistles. Frazier didn’t get the rest of the snaps, though, as he and Colon rotated in and out in the second half. Personally, I think Frazier did better and would start him over Awosika even when he’s healthy until Mahogany possibly returns later this month.
Refs continue to make big mistakes
It’s honestly sad that I have to continue to discuss the poor job the officials do every game. It shouldn’t be something that changes the game, but this game could’ve been worse for Dallas if the refs called the game correctly. Things started rough when the Lions sacked Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott in the end zone for a safety. That was until the officials said the ball was clearly at the one-yard line in a very debatable call, as angles showed the ball was touching the white at the very least.
Twice, the replay assistance had to make up for the officials’ mistakes, and I appreciate it now, as both times it saved the Lions from getting screwed. The first was a clear incomplete pass thrown by Goff towards the dirt, the refs called it a fumble and recovered by Dallas. It would be overturned by replay assist and ruled an incomplete pass, which was correct. The other time was Prescott throwing a pass backwards, recovered by Dallas, and it was ruled an incomplete pass, and replay assistance ruled it a fumble, which was the correct call once again.
There was also a kick return by Detroit where kick returner Jacob Saylors was down as the play was over, and a Cowboys defender grabbed his head and slammed it into the ground: no call there. I could go on about the missed penalties that were crucial and what was even more frustrating was hearing the commentary team ignore the plays that hurt Detroit. Any time a flag hurt Dallas, they acted like it was the biggest mistake of the refs’ careers.
Jack Campbell takes over
No defensive player had a better game for the Lions than linebacker Jack Campbell. The sack—that should’ve been ruled a safety—was massive on third down in a stop that the team needed with Dallas backed up to their end zone. Not only was Campbell sacking quarterbacks, but he was creating turnovers as he forced a fumble out of Cowboys tight end Jake Ferguson. He finished the game with 12 tackles as he was a huge part of the team’s victory on Thursday night.
Campbell has played like an All-Pro linebacker this season, taking over as the top player at the position on the team. If you had any hopes of Anzalone possibly re-signing with the Lions after this season, Campbell has shown this year that he is the play-caller on this defense now, and he’ll be a leader for the defense. A big question for the offseason will be, which first-round pick from 2023 could get an extension first: Campbell or running back Jahmyr Gibbs?
Gibbs is stepping up as a receiver
Speaking of Gibbs, how he’s been used in the offense the past month has been interesting. Beforehand, he averaged three and a half catches per game. In the last four games, Gibbs has caught an average of six and a half catches per game. Almost doubling his production isn’t an accident; it’s been by design.
Goff likes to have a safety net checkdown. With tight end Sam LaPorta out for the season with a back injury, and the team now without backup tight end Brock Wright for at least four games, Goff needs someone who can get open quickly. Not only can Gibbs get open quickly, but he can also make people miss with his quickness, and his ability to stop on a dime is nasty.
Gibbs finished the game with seven catches for 77 yards and found the end zone three times on the ground with 43 yards on 12 carries. He struggled to have any explosive plays, as his longest run was for 19 yards. He was contained on the ground for the most part, even though he scored three times. His damage was mostly with his hands and YAC, and I can see that being a bigger point of how this team moves the ball for the rest of the year.
Secondary looked rough
Earlier this week, the Lions announced that starting cornerback Terrion Arnold would be moved to IR with a shoulder injury, the same shoulder that was bothering him earlier this season. With that, cornerback Rock Ya-Sin got the start on the outside to play with Amik Robertson and D.J. Reed. Ya-Sin did well in the move up the depth chart, but his teammates took a step back.
It wasn’t an easy matchup to be fair, but Reed was struggling in coverage with Cowboys wide receiver CeeDee Lamb before he left with a concussion. Lamb had six catches for 121 yards, with some being a screen pass, and Reed missed the tackle multiple times. When he wasn’t missing tackles, he was struggling in coverage, but he did come up clutch with the game-sealing interception late in the fourth quarter.
Robertson has had a rough few weeks in coverage, and the struggles continued this week as he had to cover George Pickens at times. While Pickens was held to 37 yards on five catches, it was Ryan Flournoy who had a big game with nine catches for 115 yards and a touchdown. Robertson was mostly matched up against him, and he couldn’t seem to get the best of him for most of the game.
Safety Brian Branch also made some mistakes in coverage as he and Robertson had a blown assignment between them. Sadly, Branch left the game early with an ankle injury. While it was a tough ask for this secondary to contain the Cowboys’ passing offense, they allowed 376 yards with a touchdown, and came away with an interception, as the other was by linebacker Derrick Barnes. With the Los Angeles Rams game next week, the secondary must have a better performance and quick.
Tom Kennedy must be the starting kick returner
The Lions’ best returner on the team is easily wide receiver Kalif Raymond, but he mostly handles the punt returns. For kick returns, we’ve seen a mixed bag with running back Sione Vaki, Jacob Saylors, Craig Reynolds, linebacker Grant Stuard, wide receivers Tom Kennedy, Dominic Lovett, and Raymond all getting chances this year. Nobody has stood out more at kick return than Kennedy.
While he didn’t score tonight on his returns, he returned three for 120 yards and put the Lions in good field position multiple times, especially on the final drive of the game. With the team needing at least a field goal to ice the game, Kennedy returned it 42 yards to the Lions’ 49-yard line, making it a quick objective to score points.
With Reynolds off the team and Stuard seemingly done trying to return kicks, the competition is getting thinner. Saylors seems to pursue contact and doesn’t have the vision a returner should have. Vaki has been in and out of the lineup due to injuries, so he can’t be reliable. That leaves you with Lovett or Kennedy if you don’t want to have Raymond out there when healthy. Kennedy is quick, can find the lanes fast, and he isn’t afraid of the contact.
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