Green Bay Packers defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley had the Detroit Lions running backs in a torture chamber on Sunday. Jahmyr Gibbs and David Montgomery, who combined for 3,045 yards from scrimmage in the 2024 regular season, were held to just 87 yards on 37 combined touches (2.6 yards per touch) in Week 1.
But that’s not the worst of it. Gibbs had an all-time bad performance as a pass-catcher.
Through the air, Jared Goff checked it down to Gibbs repeatedly all game long. That earned his back the stat
line of 10 receptions for 31 yards. No player in the history of the NFL has caught that many balls for that little yardage. Hang the banner.
In fact, only 20 players in NFL history (now including Gibbs) have registered 50 or fewer yards on 10 receptions in a single game…and that’s still 56 percent more than Gibbs’ production from yesterday. We’re talking really bottom-of-the-barrel numbers here.
Well, maybe these Gibbs catches were in short yardage and led to a bunch of first downs? WRONG!
Including his nine carries that went for 19 combined yards, Gibbs earned first downs on just 2 of 19 touches in Week 1. Only one of those came in the passing game.
Hafley’s defense has its first pelt of the season: the back-to-back Pro Bowl running back who led the NFL in rushing touchdowns last season. When you can turn a player with accolades into an unfortunate record holder, you’ve succeeded to the highest degree.
If you have Gibbs on your fantasy team and had to witness the run-stuff, checkdown and punt script that the Lions cycled through over and over on Sunday, I at least hope your league gives you a full point per reception for Gibbs’ historical performance.
