The Detroit Lions controlled the final three quarters against the Cleveland Browns in a way that made the game feel in hand all afternoon, even if the game was closer than the 34-10 final score would suggest.
Let’s take a look at how individual positions performed with our Lions Week 4 report card and grades.
Quarterback: B+
Jared Goff was a little hard on himself after the game—particularly when it came to his lack of chemistry with Jameson Williams. I think he was falling on that grenade, to be honest. For the majority
of the game, Goff was in command, delivering accurate balls, and—most importantly—avoiding negative plyas.
The Lions have not allowed a sack in three consecutive games, and while most give credit to the offensive line for such an accomplishment, the quarterback deserves just as much. Goff’s internal clock is elite, and he manages the pocket better than most think. On one particular play against the Browns, he stepped up, ran to his right, and found a wide-open Amon-Ra St. Brown for a big 25-yard gain to avoid an early three-and-out. The Lions finished that drive with a touchdown.
Running back: B
Prior to this game, the longest run the Browns allowed was 11 yards. Jahmyr Gibbs ripped off rushes of 22 and 24 yards against this impressive defense. Those explosive plays were huge in a run game that otherwise struggled to move the ball (17 of 27 designed rushes gained 3 yards or less). That said, I thought Gibbs could have fought harder on his failed fourth-and-2 run, and it was tough sledding out there for David Montgomery (nine rushes, 12 yards).
Tight ends: C-
In terms of the passing game, Sam LaPorta finished with just three catches for 39 yards. Blocking didn’t seem particularly good or bad, although there were certainly a few cases where Myles Garrett made them look silly (as he does against most tight ends).
This group has set a pretty high standard this year, so there’s no shame in a bit of a down game against Cleveland’s defensive front.
Wide receivers: C-
This was one of those weird down days from Jameson Williams. Unfortunately, it’s not completely foreign to see. There have been days and practices where Williams and Goff just aren’t on the same page. It’s hard to assign blame to one or the other, but it rarely seems to happen with the other receivers. Regardless, it happens, and Williams’ two drops and erratic route running would’ve proven costly against a better foe.
Of course, the receiver room isn’t just made up of Williams, and St. Brown was fantastic, yet again. After adding seven catches for 70 yards and two touchdowns, St. Brown now leads the NFL in receiving touchdowns (6), and is sixth in receiving yards (307).
Offensive line: C+
It’s really hard to grade the offensive line in this one. On one hand, rushing lanes were few and far between against the Browns defense. Yet, they still managed a handful of explosive plays that every other rushing attack has failed to accomplish against Cleveland.
And while they allowed zero sacks, Goff was under pressure a lot in this game (on 12 of 27 dropbacks, per NFL Pro), and Garrett was always seemingly a half-second away from taking the Lions quarterback to the ground. I gave them a half-grade bump over average simply because the degree of difficulty was extremely high this week. But if we’re talking the Lions’ standard of offensive line play, the Lions fell short.
Defensive line: B+
The Lions defensive front did what they do and mostly shut down the Browns’ run game. While Quinshon Judkins finished with a respectable 82 yards on 21 carries, he had to fight for every inch of those yards, and none gained more than 11 yards. The Browns averaged just 0.03 rushing yards before contact per rush, the second-worst mark of any team in Week 4.
Detroit’s pass rush, though, was inconsistent. Aidan Hutchinson was a beast with nine pressures (per NFL Pro), two sacks, and a forced fumble, but he didn’t get much help. DJ Reader and Tyler Lacy were the only other defensive linemen to record QB hits. While the Lions recorded the highest pressure rate of Week 4 per NFL Pro (52.6%), the average time they allowed to throw (2.78 seconds) ranked 23rd out of 28 teams.
Linebackers: A
The Lions’ linebacking crew continues to play at an elite level. Jack Campbell played one of the better games of his career, finishing with a team-high 11 tackles, and keeping the entire game in front of him. At this point, he’s an elite run defender, and the other parts of his game (blitzing, coverage) are starting to come along, too.
On top of that, Alex Anzalone recorded six tackles, 1.0 sack, and a pass defended. Derrick Barnes had six tackles and a QB hit. And don’t sleep on Trevor Nowaske, who has become a key part of Detroit’s third-down defense. He logged a QB hit and a fumble recovery.
Secondary: C
The Lions’ defensive backs gave up a lot of big plays and made a lot of big plays. Early in the game, it looked like Joe Flacco had finally found the fountain of youth, completing his first six passes of the game, including deep shots of 16 and 33 yards. But then the Lions essentially shut him down and tallied two critical interceptions.
The Lions’ secondary finished with an impressive eight pass breakups, despite the fact that it felt like Browns’ receivers got open on too many occasions. Detroit’s secondary also committed four penalties, continuing their issues of being a little too handsy in coverage.
Special teams: A+
Let’s start small and work our way up.
Detroit’s kick return and kick coverage look way better than it did earlier in the season. On kickoffs—excluding two touchbacks—the Browns averaged field position at their own 30-yard line. On the Lions’ kick returns, they averaged the 34.3-yard line. That may seem like a minor win, but I know Dave Fipp will take a +4.3 yard advantage.
Then there was Jake Bates. Two touchbacks aside (the second of which looked intentional with the game out of hand), Bates was perfect on the day, including difficult kicks for 48 and 58 yards.
Kalif Raymonds punt return touchdown, however, was the play of the game. It essentially put the game on ice, and was a nice sigh of relief after a tough start to the season for Raymond.
In short, special teams bailed out an inconsistent offense a few times on the day.
Coaching: B+
I didn’t have any issues with the Lions’ game management. I thought it was right to go for it on fourth-and-2 in the second half, because pushing a 10-point lead to a 13-point lead didn’t feel significant enough.
There’s really not much to be said here, other than the fact that Dan Campbell continues to know how these games will play out before they even start. He admitted as much in his opening statement after the game.
“We said going into this game our defense was going to have to set the tone and special teams. And offensively, man, we’ll be smart, we’ll find our spots,” Campbell said. “And really, for the most part, that’s the way the day went.”
That shows a keen understanding of not only who the Lions are, but how teams will try to attack them. That puts the Lions at an advantage before the day has even begun.
