For the second time this season the Lions defense did it’s job and aided an offense that seemed to be hitting every speed bump possible. 3 injuries along the offensive line, along with the starting RB David Montgomery out as well, Jared Goff stayed tough and hung in there for every throw for as long as possible. Scoring just 20 points, this was by no means a great day for the offense, but what do great teams do? They play 3 phases of football and when one part of the team looks bad, the other 2 pick them up! Before I forget to mention them, both Riley Patterson (2/2 on field goals with a long of 37 yards) and Jack Fox ( 6 punts for an avg of 45.7 yards per punt and a long of 62 yards) had great games. Often times we take Mr. Jack Fox for granted back there, but his booming kicks really aid the defense in giving opponents a significantly longer and more difficult road to scoring. Overall not the cleanest game but what was really reassuring was seeing that defense step up, and the pass rush especially 7 sacks….HOLY SHIT DID HELL FREEZE OVER??!!

First things first, lets give Coach Aaron Glenn some damn credit! I’ll be the first here to throw my hand up. I called him out, I said his ass was getting hot on that seat, well after Sunday and that 6 point performance he’s cooled off a bit no doubt. We truly got everything we could have asked for. The pass rush was heavy and consistent, the blitz was dialed up, and the containment of relatively mobile QB in Desmond Ridder was all on display for us to see. The coverage was nothing to sneeze at either, keeping Ridder at bay in the air with 201 yards and no touchdowns. The really big stat on the box score was Bijan Robinson 10 carries for 33 yards. We all knew the story that was going to be brought up at nauseum going into this game was the comparison of Bijan and Jahmyr Gibbs and why Detroit passed up on one, to get the other. I think the line between the 2 guys is still a bit murky, as both of them are really talented running backs with different skill sets, but one thing is for sure: the Lions defense had an answer for Robinson and Atlanta had no counter punch. Now what really helped Detroit was the limited pass game that comes with a young QB in Ridder. If the Falcons really figure out a consistent pass game that offense would be a scary sight. But I digress, to wrap it up, Detroit’s defense had the best game we have seen them play in this regime’s tenure so far. And that starts with a phenomenal game plan by Aaron Glenn, and gets carried out by the players, putting “x’s and o’s” to paper. Great job coach Glenn, let’s see that defense ball out in Lambeu on Thursday night!

Brian Branch and Aidan Hutchinson: What an afternoon for both of these young men! Let’s start with Branch, #32 was all over the field, quite literally playing sideline to sideline. For a guy that slipped to day 2, It’s really starting to look like Detroit found a STEAL in this guy. The pick 6 on opening night was really great to see, but some of that can be chalked up to “right place at the right time”. Sunday, it seemed like everywhere Brian Branch was, a play was to be made. Really outstanding stuff from him all day long from both the back end – to the back field. 11 tackles, 3 tackles for loss, and 2 passes defended he really balled out in every way possible, a great day for the rookie out of Alabama. Aidan Hutchinson also had a career game yesterday, recording 2 sacks, a forced fumble and a recovery to go along with it, and 2 passes defended. Pro football focus graded him out at 91.8 (they also graded Derrick Barnes at 49.1 even after recording a sack and being all over the field as well so I’m not totally sure what to do with those grades). Hutchinson was pretty much unblockable and Atlanta’s O-line had their hands full all day. This resulted in 5 other guys on the defense sacking the quarterback and making his life a living hell back there. That is the recipe to a good Lions defense. Aidan Hutchinson needs to be the catalyst and fire starter, it really all revolves around him. If the opposing offenses are concerned with him and devoting resources to stopping him then it leaves plenty of room for everyone else to eat.

Jared Goff and Sam LaPorta: 20 points isn’t great, but it also doesn’t tell the whole story. The Lions were already down their starting left tackle, then they lost swing tackle Matt Nelson to injury, shortly after that they lost his replacement in Tom Skipper so it came down to 2023 5th round pick Colby Sorsdal out of William & Mary to salvage the day. And honestly, Colby looked pretty good out there. There was clear deficiency on the right side of the line but Sorsdale held his own and was serviceable for the duration of the game. However as good as the replacement line looked, it was still a significant step below what JG16 is used to. You could see there was an elevated look of concern on Goff’s face but as I stated before he hung in there and took some blow up shots to deliver the passes needed to move the sticks. He maintained his composure and outside of that drive in which he threw an interception, he was a steady ship most of the way. JG16 also showed the off the wheels a bit with a designed run in the red zone to score his first ever rushing touchdown as a Detroit Lion. On the line of scrimmage and out wide, rookie tight end Sam LaPorta looked fantastic going 8 for 84 yards and a touchdown connecting with a deep 45 yard play action bomb from Jared Goff to score early in the game. It almost feels like OC Ben Johnson has a trick up his sleeve each week in the middle of the field to score a deep touchdown and bring the Lions right back into a game. A few other guys stood out yesterday but I really wanted to highlight these 2 especially given the awful injury circumstances that occurred mid game to the offense.

Overall not a perfect performance but a real good one to build upon and carry some momentum into Green Bay this Thursday night on Amazon Prime. I do believe for the Lions to win this week, they need a stronger offense, and what they need most of all is for Taylor Decker to heal up so this line can get back to a relative normal. Coach Campbell seemed optimistic in some of the limited guys to come back this week, so let’s see what the next couple of days produce in the practice report. So to close this out, did the win feel nice yesterday? Of course it did. But nothing and I mean NOTHING in this game feels better than beating Green Bay in the bright lights, in front of their home crowd.