Grades: Lions’ Defensive Dominance Overshadows Ol Struggles

In the standings, style points do not count. The Detroit Lions’ 19-9 win over the Miami Dolphins counts the same as if the Lions had blown the Dolphins out 38-3.

But in our weekly report cards, we only talk style points. We examine the good and the bad, because life isn’t really just a binary of wins and losses. So let’s hand out some mediocre grades in the Lions’ Week 9 victory.

Quarterback: D+

Jared Goff wasn’t exceptionally bad in this game, but there was probably more bad than good. He was put into some tough positions early with pressure coming from seemingly every angle. It’s hard to fault him for the interception when his arm was hit while throwing, but Goff also didn’t handle the pressure particularly well in this game.

There are two plays in which I think illustrate Goff’s self-made struggles in this game. The first was Detroit’s run-back of the CFL-like play with Amon-Ra St. Brown 15 yards behind the line of scrimmage. The play successfully distracted the Dolphins defense from aptly covering Jahmyr Gibbs’ wheel route of the backfield, but Goff, under mild pressure, didn’t make that throw and checked it down instead. Then, late in the game, the Lions faced a third-and-7 from the Dolphins 25-yard line. With a defender in his face, Goff tried to hit St. Brown on an out route. When at his best, Goff steps into that throw knowing he’s going to get hit and delivers a perfect ball. On Sunday, feeling the effects of the pressure, Goff faded away and delivered a ball several feet beyond St. Brown’s reach.

Again, not a horrible day from Goff, but below average certainly.

Running backs: C-

I thought the running backs did a decent job in pass protection, but there weren’t any standout plays in which it felt like they created any yardage on their own. The Lions managed just 1.55 yards after contract on Sunday, the second-lowest mark of any team in Week 9.

This unit certainly wasn’t helped by the offensive line for much of this game, but I still left the game wanting more from Jahmyr Gibbs and Sione Vaki.

Tight ends: C-

Last week’s “sidecar” formation—with two tight ends in the backfield—was so successful vs. the Vikings. On Sunday, it didn’t seem to have the same effectiveness. There were several times it felt like the tight ends weren’t getting the push they got last week, and I think that impacted both the run and pass game.

That said, Sam LaPorta was an effective receiver that I wish Detroit had targeted more. He caught four of his five targets for 32 yards—though he also had a false start penalty.

Wide receivers: C

Jameson Williams’ drop would’ve been costly had the Lions not followed it up with a successful fake punt. And he made up for it with a 31-yard grab and a 9-yard run. But it was really Amon-Ra St. Brown’s afternoon. He was the team’s best offensive player on Sunday, constantly finding room in the Dolphins’ zone coverage. He finished with eight catches on 10 targets for 86 yards.

Offensive line: D

Christian Mahogany’s violation of team rules proved to be costly, as Miles Frazier struggled in his first NFL start. But he was far from alone in his troubles along the front five. The Lions gave up a 35.5% pressure rate (11th highest of Week 9), but they did at least improve as the game went on:

Q1 pressure rate: 55.6%
Q2: 37.5%
Q3: 14.3%
Q4: 28.6%

This has been an odd trend all year, as pointed out by our own Al Karsten:

Frazier and rookie right tackle Blake Miller were the worst offenders on Sunday. Miller allowed three pressures, according to PFF, and Frazier finished with the worst overall grade on the offense (44.1).

But they finished strong, and the Lions were again able to run the clock out on offense on the backs of their offensive line.

Defensive line: A

The Lions absolutely stalled the Dolphins’ rushing attack, holding the Dolphins to just 77 yards and 3.7 yards per carry. Dolphins running back Ollie Gordon had his worst game since September by both rushing yards (55) and yards per carry (3.4). And as a team, the Dolphins had just a 23.8% success rate, ranking 27 out of 28 teams this week, and their 28.6% stuffed rate was third-highest.

While pressure was a little inconsistent with the front four (35.5%, 11th best this week), they came up in big moments. All of Detroit’s three sacks happened in the second half, helping secure their lead.

But the biggest impact of all from this unit cannot be seen easily on the box score. The Lions defensive line helped produce five holding penalties that absolutely killed several Dolphins drives. And if we’re being honest, they probably should have been called for at least a handful more.

Aidan Hutchinson was quietly dominant. Derrick Moore looked extremely promising in his first major action. And Alim McNeill continues to be an absolute force in the middle of the defense.

Linebackers: B+

Without Jack Campbell, it was tough to know how this unit would respond. Consider me very pleasantly surprised. I think Malcolm Rodriguez has been quietly having a very solid year, and he built on that performance in this game. He led the team with eight tackles, was a force in the run game, and had an impressive punchout on a third-down pass, preventing a conversion.

Trevor Nowaske may be the most trustworthy coverage linebacker on the team right now. On 15 coverage snaps, he wasn’t even targeted.

Derrick Barnes continues to be more up and down than the rest of the room. There are still some coverage lapses that are concerning, but this was one of his best games as a run defender, and he tallied a QB hit, as well.

Defensive backs: B

The Lions are still clearly trying to figure some things out in the cornerback room, especially without D.J. Reed in this game. I think Rock Ya-Sin is slowly coming back into form, and he put up a strong performance against the Dolphins. But against this young Dolphins receiving corps, I was hoping for more out of the likes of Roger McCreary and Ennis Rakestraw. McCreary probably got the worst of it, credited by PFF as allowing four catches on seven targets for 49 yards—and he also allowed a deep completion that was luckily negated by a holding penalty.

That said, this is the best game the Lions have gotten from their safety duo. Brian Branch was quiet, but steady working near the line of scrimmage. And Chuck Clark was essentially flawless as the deep defender. His interception was an impressively athletic play, and his return put Detroit immediately into field goal range.

Special teams: C

A lot going on in special teams this week. The good: Jake Bates was a perfect 5-for-5 on his kicks, Jack Fox dropped his one punt inside the 15-yard line, Fox converted a fake punt with a great throw to Tay Martin, and the coverage teams were fine.

However, Bates kicked one kickoff short of the landing zone and placed another kickoff in the end zone for a 35-yard touchback. Christian Izien committed a holding penalty that erased some good field position on punt return. And worst of all, the Lions allowed a massive 46-yard pass on a fake punt from Miami.

In the end, I think it all evens out for an average grade.

Coaching: A-

I think the coaching staff deserves a ton of credit for navigating an extremely difficult week. The emotions from Jack Campbell’s traumatic injury could not be easy to process and get the team ready to go, but clearly the Lions found a successful balance. They opened Wednesday’s meeting by putting football completely aside and talking through their emotions about Campbell. They downgrade Wednesday’s practice to a walkthrough. Life was more important than football, and they believed they could turn the page with the remaining shortened week. And they did.

There’s not much about the game in terms of play-calling, game management, or anything else that I had any issues with. I don’t put much of the offensive issues on Drew Petzing, as clearly the offensive line losing their one-on-ones had the biggest impact on the struggles.

I supposed we can complain about Dan Campbell’s decision to punish Christian Mahogany and how it hurt this team’s ability to perform. But without knowing Mahogany’s actions that caused the punishment, I cannot fairly judge whether it was the right decision. That said, I’m okay with the coaching staff erring on the side of upholding the strict culture here.