For many, the New York Jets were not an intimidating threat on the schedule, but on Sunday, they pushed the Detroit Lions for a full 60 minutes. Detroit walked away with a 31-24 victory, but there is work to be done going forward. The offense yet again scored 31 points, but the defense yet again struggled to hold a favorable lead.
Which players walked away from Week 3 as a winner or loser?
Winner: Jahmyr Gibbs, RB
Going forward, I might have to include Gibbs as a winner by default. Yet again, he was the driving force on offense.
He was electric on the ground and through the air.
As a runner, he finished with 20 carries for 99 yards and notched himself a pair of touchdown runs. His longest run, a 17-yard touchdown scamper, came on a brilliant play in which he evaded five Jets defenders in the backfield and broke away with speed and elusiveness.
Another promising part of his game is his impact in the receiving game. Gibbs was heavily involved, recording seven catches for 65 yards and a touchdown. Best of all, these were not exclusively screens or shovel passes. The Lions were lining up Gibbs out wide on multiple occasions (at least five times by my count) and letting him win his matchups.
I am running out of ways to praise Gibbs. He is on early Offensive Player of the Year watch.
Winners: DJ Wonnum and Alim McNeill, DL
Last week, one of my concerns with the defense was the lack of pass rush from players that weren’t Aidan Hutchinson. Safe to say, the Lions answered the call this week.
DJ Wonnum looked more electric as a pass rusher on Sunday and gave left tackle Olu Fashanu fits. He beat Fashanu for a pivotal sack on third-and-4 to kill a Jets drive late in the first quarter. Along the interior, Alim McNeill continued to be a wrecking ball, collapsing the pocket on multiple instances. With the Jets threatening in the third quarter, McNeill used his strength to wrap up Geno Smith for a sack. On the very next play, he and Wonnum combined for a sack, forcing the Jets to settle for a field goal.
On a day when Hutchinson was the focus of the Jets blockers (yet he still notched himself a half-sack), it was nice to get some other contributions up front.
Winner: Christian Izien, S
Playing Izien at safety was not the Lions’ plan entering the season, but it might need to be going forward. With injuries to Avonte Maddox and Thomas Harper, the Lions were thin at safety. That meant Izien, the usual nickel corner, had to shift into the Brian Branch role with Chuck Clark playing deep.
Clark was solid (including a game-winning strip sack), but the real highlight was Izien. Izien was a tackling machine on Sunday, leading the team with 11 tackles, three of which came as tackles for loss. He even added a pass breakup in coverage. Given how many miscommunications that the secondary has had over the first two games, it was a breath of fresh air to see Izien playing with decisiveness.
When Branch returns, it will be interesting to see how Izien slots into the lineup. He does not project as a deep safety (like Kerby Joseph), nor does Branch. However, given the other cornerback struggles, he might be needed at nickel. Speaking of which…
Losers: D.J. Reed, Roger McCreary, and Rock Ya-Sin, CBs
The cornerback carousel continues without success. Rock Ya-Sin had been a significant liability in the first two weeks of the season, and the coaching staff took action in Week 3. For the Lions base defense, it was Roger McCreary out wide opposite D.J. Reed. When the team transitioned into nickel sets, McCreary was sliding inside while Ennis Rakestraw manned the outside. For a while, this worked: Reed and Rakestraw each had a pass breakup, while the Jets offense punted on their first three possessions.
That did not hold up. The Jets were nearly perfect when targeting McCreary, with the cornerback allowing five catches for over 70 yards. One of those plays was a brilliant touchdown throw and catch by Geno Smith and Kenyon Sadiq, but it nonetheless highlights McCreary’s lack of positive impactful plays. As for Reed, he was put into a blender by Garrett Wilson throughout the game, including a touchdown grab in the final minutes. He was solid in run defense as usual, but it is becoming apparent that he is not a true CB1.
Interestingly, Ya-Sin returned from his benching for the final drive of the first half with McCreary returning to his nickel-only role. On Ya-Sin’s very first snap of the game, he got flagged for defensive pass interference (it was declined due to a gain of 11 yards). He gave up a catch on that drive and rode the bench for most of the second half.
Now that the Lions are confirmed to have reached out about Joey Porter Jr., the pressure will mount for the Lions to find some kind of solution at cornerback—and they are running out of internal options.
Loser: Amon-Ra St. Brown, WR
It was a rare off-day for St. Brown. The star receiver finished with only four catches for 19 yards, albeit one of those was a touchdown on a goal line fade. Uncharacteristically, he had a pair of drops as well. The passing attack had a modest output (Jared Goff finished with 269 passing yards), and when the Lions were airing it out, the Lions were getting contributions from elsewhere on the roster. Isaac TeSlaa led the way with three catches for 66 yards, showing how much the Lions spread out the football.
I have zero concern about St. Brown going forward, but it would be nice to see multiple receivers go off in a single game at some point this season.
Winner: Trevor Nowaske, LB
With Devin White a somewhat surprise inactive, it seemed likely that Malcolm Rodriguez would see an uptick of snaps. Additionally, it was also the debut for Jimmy Rolder, who had missed most of camp with an injury, so perhaps the rookie would have seen action on defense. Instead, it was Trevor Nowaske, and he played surprisingly well.
Largely playing out of the SAM linebacker role, Nowaske was active in every facet of the Lions defense. He finished with six tackles in total, making a mark in run defense on a few occasions. He had a crucial tackle of Breece Hall at the Lions 4-yard line to stop a touchdown (although the Jets would score on the following play). Nowaske was unexpectedly active in coverage as well, only allowing a few small gains to the likes of Braelon Allen and Sterling Shepard.
Coupled with his role on special teams (two tackles), Nowaske had a quietly impressive outing. It will be interesting to monitor how that third linebacker role plays out in the coming weeks.
Winner: Sione Vaki, RB
Vaki is playing second fiddle to Jahmyr Gibbs, but his impact has been felt on offense nonetheless. In particular, Vaki’s pass protection is phenomenal. He picks up blitzers like a lineman. On multiple occasions, it was a Vaki block that helped keep Jared Goff upright and convert a play downfield. For as good as Gibbs is as a runner, his blocking leaves a lot to be desired. That is why Vaki can be an excellent complement on third downs—it gives Gibbs a breather or allows the Lions to experiment with him out wide (he had at least four snaps wide today).
Vaki is getting more involved as a runner (six carries for 26 yards) and receiver (one catch for 11 yards). He is unlikely to match the numbers of David Montgomery, but if he can be a reliable rotational piece on offense, that is a good development.
