Handing out grades after the Detroit Lions’ 42-29 victory over the Seattle Seahawks, and let’s just say this report card is going on the fridge.
Let’s hand out some grades after the Detroit Lions’ win over the Seattle Seahawks.
Quarterback: A+
How could I possibly give Jared Goff any other grade after going a perfect 18-of-18 for 293 yards and two touchdowns… plus a receiving touchdown? It may not be a perfect passer rating, but Goff was patient with his progressions, accurate with his passes, and absolutely lethal against one of the best secondaries in football. He’s managed to turn his year around in a hurry.
Running backs: A
Detroit continues to have a lethal combination with David Montgomery and Jahmyr Gibbs. Montgomery had 40 rushing yards and 40 receiving yards plus a touchdown. Gibbs had 78 yards and two touchdown. Their interchangeability is truly something to behold, as Gibbs continues to be as good of a goal line back as Montgomery, while Montgomery is proving he can be a lethal threat to catch the ball, too.
Both did an excellent job earning as many yards as possible, and Gibbs, in particular, finished with the fourth highest EPA (+4.4) of the week among running backs.
Tight ends: A-
Sam LaPorta returned to form with a 53 yard performance, including a huge 30-yard gain where he made an impressive cutback. Brock Wright pitched it another pair of timely receptions. And LaPorta had at least one block on the edge that helped spring a Gibbs run around the corner. I’ll have to go back and watch the tape, but I think blocking was generally much better this week from the tight ends.
Wide receivers: A+
Yes, Jared Goff completed all of his passes, but that also means the Lions receivers caught all of their targets. Amon-Ra St. Brown proved again that he’s unguardable in big moments, plus we now know he’s got an accurate arm. Jameson Williams’ 70-yard touchdown smack-back was a statement from Detroit that Seattle better keep it coming. And Tim Patrick is looking more and more like he belongs in this offense. This is turning out to be an extremely talented group.
Offensive line: A-
Goff may have taken three sacks on Monday night, but at least two of those were coverage sacks. No offensive line is going to reasonably hold up that long. Otherwise, protection was a huge reason for Goff’s success. Only four of his 18 passes were made under pressure, according to NFL Pro. And on his non-pressured throws, Goff held the ball an average of 2.95 seconds—the fourth-highest mark of the week.
Plus, the Lions run game was dominant once again, totaling 118 yards on 26 carries between the running backs, for a 4.5 yards per carry average.
Oh, and did I mention they did all of this without their All-Pro center?
Defensive line: B+
Three sacks on Geno Smith (one from a linebacker), plus a bunch of other pressure that forced the Seahawks quarterback to throw from awkward stances and arm angles. Smith was pressured on 15 of his 56 passing attempts and only completed seven of those passes. Aidan Hutchinson may have been kept off the sack scoreboard, but he was still a beast out there:
Aidan Hutchinson generated a career-high 10 pressures on 54 pass rush snaps against the Seahawks (18.5%), the most pressures by any player in a game this season.
Hutchinson now has 25 pressures on the season, most in the NFL through four weeks.#SEAvsDET | @Lions pic.twitter.com/5ICF9DANHV
— Next Gen Stats (@NextGenStats) October 1, 2024
And while the Lions allowed an uncharacteristic 133 rushing yards and 7.0 per carry, almost all of that damage was done to the outside—where the linebackers and cornerbacks were not run fitting well. The interior of that defensive line absolutely did their job.
Linebackers: C+
The Lions got individual plays from their three main starters. Malcolm Rodriguez had a sack. Alex Anzalone nearly had a game-ending pick and a pair of QB hits. Jack Campbell had the biggest defensive play of the game, plowing into DK Metcalf and forcing a fumble.
But I thought for most of the rest of the game, it was rough sledding for the linebacking crew. They were getting eaten up by play-action. Ben Niemann struggled in filling Derrick Barnes’ role and often gave up the edge. And the tackling was generally abysmal.
Defensive backs: D+
This is a really tough group to grade. On one hand, the Lions secondary combined for seven passes defended, an interception, and a fumble recovery. On the other hand, they allowed nearly 400 passing yards, were responsible for six penalties (seven if you could an offsetting penalty), and were definitely part of the problem in the run defense struggles.
Personally, I think they were on the tough end of a few calls there, but they definitely aren’t doing themselves any favors with the grabby hands. Still, their coverage has been relatively sticky, and seven pass breakups is a ton for a defense. I’m taking the optimistic outlook for the future, even though I have to ding them pretty hard in this game.
Special teams: B
It wasn’t Jack Fox’s best day, with a long of just 50 on three attempts. However, the punt coverage team was fantastic, allowing just a single yard on two attempts.
And kudos to Jake Bates, who was a perfect 6-for-6 on extra points, including a 48-yard extra point after Williams’ penalty on his touchdown.
Coaching: B+
Honestly, this may have been Ben Johnson’s greatest performance. He still had one play call I didn’t like (the pitch run on third-and-1), but how can you argue with his overall day? This was a Seahawks defense that may have been shorthanded, but was coming into the week ranked top three in just about every statistical category, and they had no answers for Detroit’s offense.
Defensively, there are certainly some concerns about this game, but it felt more execution based than anything. Too many penalties, too many missed tackles. Truth be told, the Lions made the Seahawks one dimensional in the first half, and it resulted in just seven points allowed. Once Seattle figured out they could have success running the ball outside, that’s when things started to fall apart.
As for Dan Campbell, it was a relatively quiet day for in-game decisions. He didn’t go for it a single time on fourth down, and he didn’t really ever have the opportunity. I suppose I could ding the coaching staff for the too many men penalty, but it cost the Lions a half-yard. Overall, I think this was a solid coaching performance, led by Ben Johnson’s masterclass.
