Detroit Lions report card, grades: Special teams carries average play vs. Titans

There was some good, some bad, and some outstanding play for the Detroit Lions vs. the Titans. Here are our grades for their Week 8 performance.

The Detroit Lions walked away with a huge 52-14 victory over the Tennessee Titans, but it didn’t exactly feel like a dominating performance. The two teams were tied early in the second quarter, and Detroit was showing clear issues on both sides of the ball. But they eventually cleaned things up, and despite being outgained on offense 416 to 225, they certainly seemed like the better team on Sunday.

Let’s hand out some grades in our Week 8 report card.

Quarterback: B

Jared Goff may as well have had the day off. He finished the day with just 85 passing yards—the second-lowest of his career. While he did finish the game with three passing touchdowns, all three passes were to wide-open receivers.

Goff was sacked four times on Sunday, and I would argue at least two were his fault. And while the two fumbles weren’t necessarily his fault—getting hit on the blind side is tough—it certainly is worth noting he’s now fumbled the ball four times in the past two games. Detroit is lucky to have recovered all four.

Still, Goff never made any bad decisions with the football, converted in the red zone, and walked away with an easy win.

Running backs: A

In back-to-back weeks now, the Lions have successfully ran the ball against top-five run defenses. And while the offensive line deserves a ton of credit for both performances, the running backs came up huge as well. Jahmyr Gibbs earned the highest Rushing Yards over Expected mark of the week with 72 and also led the league in rush EPA (+6.3). David Montgomery wasn’t far behind with a +2.3 EPA mark while also averaging 3.6 yards after contact.

Sonic and Knuckles Gibbs and Montgomery combined for 160 rushing yards, two touchdowns, and an impressive 6.0 yards per carry.

Tight ends: A-

Detroit was clearly in the celebrating mood for National Tight Ends Day, as both Sam LaPorta and Brock Wright found the end zone. LaPorta finished with a season-high six catches for 48 yards and a score, while Wright’s only catch was a wide-open, 8-yard touchdown. That may not sound like a big day from the tight ends, but they were responsible for over half of the receiving yardage in this game.

Wide receivers: C

Note: Kalif Raymond’s day on special teams is reflected in the special teams area, not here.

Lions wideouts combined for just six catches for 27 yards and two touchdowns. While it’s hard to point to any bad plays from this unit, it did feel like there was something missing from the passing game without Jameson Williams. Tim Patrick and Allen Robinson were both catchless in this game, and it felt like at least two of the sacks the Lions incurred were of the coverage sack variety.

Again, no big complaints about this unit at all, but it just wasn’t their day to make a huge impact. So they’re right there in the middle with a C.

Offensive line: C

It’s time to start talking about some pass protection issues. The Lions have allowed four sacks in back-to-back games, and they’ve allowed 15 sacks in the last five contests. Detroit cannot be allowing an average of 3.0 sacks a game if they want to continue this offensive explosion.

Taylor Decker has put together a couple of rough performances here, allowing Arden Key to pick up two sacks after having just one sack for the entire season.

That said, Harold Landry was almost kept off the box score entirely (one tackle), and Detroit was phenomenal in their run blocking against a devastatingly good Titans interior defensive line. So it was overall a mixed bag from the offensive line that averages out to a C.

Defensive line: D+

I thought Detroit was able to generate a little more pressure this week with their makeshift defensive line, but some of that was likely due to game situation. The Titans were playing from behind for the majority of the game, and that allowed the Lions to pin their ears back a bit. Even still, they produced just one sack (via a linebacker) and five quarterback hits (only three from the defensive line). It’s still very clear Detroit needs to add talent to their defensive line before the trade deadline passes.

The Titans specifically attacked the edge of the defense with read options and naked bootlegs, and for the first half of the game, it was all working. That said, Detroit’s defense settled in nicely for a second-half shutout.

Shoutout to Levi Onwuzurike, too. He had two quarterback hits on the day, the first of which forced an interception.

Linebackers: C

It wasn’t the best tackling day for the Lions defense, although Tony Pollard is a tough running back to take down. I also thought a lot of the Titans’ misdirection plays fooled Detroit’s second level of the defense.

That said, the linebacking corps was responsible for a couple big plays on defense: Trevor Nowaske’s interception and Alex Anzalone’s sack. It was a step down from last week’s dominant performance, but considering they had to adjust on the fly to Malcolm Rodriguez’s injury early in the game, I think they were just fine.

Secondary: B-

Let’s start with the concerns. in the first half, Mason Rudolph complete 13-of-23 passes for 220 yards and a touchdown. Allowing Rudolph to average 9.6 yards per attempt through two quarter with a makeshift receiver room is undoubtedly concerning—despite the two interceptions that helped mitigate the damage. Detroit had no answer for Calvin Ridley in the first half, as the former first-round pick was beating every defensive back the Lions put in front of him.

That said, the Lions ended the half with a goal-line stand, forcing Rudolph to throw four straight incompletions from the 1-yard line. That was, perhaps, the most impressive feat from the defense this entire season, and it prevented any hope of a comeback heading into halftime. Additionally, they shut Rudolph completely down in the second half. He went just 9-of-15 for 46 yards the rest of the way, as they finally contained Ridley (17 second-half yards).

Oh, and three turnovers forced from this unit. Safe to say, that had a pretty huge impact on the game.

Special teams: A++++++

Kalif Raymond was an absolute stud in the return game. While he credited his blockers in the postgame press conference, looking back at those plays, it’s incredible how much was actually the result of his individual effort.

Lost in his 90-yard punt return touchdowns is that Detroit’s typical punt return unit wasn’t even in the game. It was fourth-and-1, so the Lions actually had their defensive starters in the game, defending for a potential fake or audible. The atypical jammers on the play (Terrion Arnold, Carlton Davis) both failed their jobs, but Raymond made them both miss. That said, Brian Branch and Anzalone both made key blocks.

Elsewhere, Khalil Dorsey had a 72-yard kickoff return, Jake Bates remains perfect on field goals with a 51-yard make, and Jack Fox is still an alien, averaging 61.0 yards per punt in this game. Only negative from this group is that a holding penalty by Jalen Reeves-Maybin erased another big Raymond return. Otherwise, a phenomenal day from the special teams unit.

Coaching: B+

Dan Campbell didn’t have to make notable in-game decisions to make, but credit to him and the staff for having the Lions ready for an early Titans attack. Detroit quickly responded to each Titans score early in the game. Gibbs’ 70-yard touchdown was the first play after a Titans score, and Dorsey’s big kick return happened right after the other.

Ben Johnson gets more love this week for some brilliant play designs that led Detroit to be a perfect five-of-five in the red zone. And while Aaron Glenn is still very much figuring things out with a depleted front-seven, the team’s focus on punching the ball out certainly came in handy this week with Amik Robertson’s two forced fumbles.

Overall, solid day from the Lions coaching staff.