What We Learned from Lions’ win over Raiders on Monday night

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1. Lions roar back from Week 7 letdown. Though it came against a perceived weaker opponent, Detroit showed on Monday night that the 38-6 loss against the Ravens a week prior was more of an anomaly than a trend or cause for concern. Although it took a while to put the game away due to methodical early drives that fell short of the end zone and a bad case of turnovers, the Lions always seemed to be in the driver’s seat en route to a sixth victory. Aside from one inexplicably bad pass that hovered between a misfire and a throwaway before landing in Raiders cornerback Marcus Peters’ arms, Jared Goff stayed in the system to oversee a steady attack that amassed 486 yards. And aside from one lapse where Detroit’s defense allowed the Raiders to make actual progress, it held Las Vegas to 157 total yards and no more than 24 yards on any of its other 10 possessions. The score didn’t show it, but this one wasn’t evenly matched.
2. Raiders defense does everything it can. Little from this loss can be placed on the shoulders of Las Vegas’ defense. The Raiders utilized a bend-but-don’t-break approach to combat Detroit’s eighth-ranked scoring for as long as they possibly could. They allowed long possessions but just three field goals through the game’s first 27 minutes. That kept the game close enough for their offense’s lone first-half drive of more than four plays to cut the lead to two. Vegas did finally allow a touchdown with 27 seconds remaining in the second quarter, but its defensive stars more than redeemed themselves coming out of the half. First, Marcus Peters cut in front of a waffling Jared Goff throw and took it 75 yards for a touchdown. Then, Maxx Crosby ripped the ball out of Craig Reynolds’ arms and held on to it to ensure a 72-yard drive that had reached the Raiders’ 4-yard line went no farther. It gave up plenty of yards, and eventually too many points, but the defense gave Las Vegas a chance for as long as it could.
3. Jahmyr Gibbs leads Detroit’s massive cache of weapons. The headline from Monday night’s game is Gibbs’ breakout. You could feel it brewing when he logged eight touches for 35 yards on Detroit’s first drive. By night’s end, he’d have 152 rushing yards and a touchdown on 26 carries, plus five catches for 37 yards. He was as shifty as expected, but he also did his best David Montgomery impression on multiple runs that required laying the lumber to gain extra ground after contact. Whenever Montgomery returns from his rib injury, it looks like the Lions are ready to deploy the two-headed beast most expected right from Week 1. Beyond that, Amon-Ra St. Brown shrugged off an illness to log his third straight 100-yard receiving game and fifth of the season, while Sam LaPorta continued to shrug off the supposed rookie learning curve at tight end with eight catches for 57 yards and a score. No matter the coverage, it can’t be enough to account for everyone who can do damage on this offense.
4. Lions make sure Jimmy G’s return is a dud. Las Vegas had hopes that Jimmy Garoppolo ‘ return from a one-week absence would restore some stability to the offense. Instead, it continued looking listless. By halftime he had just three completions, with none going to wide receivers, and a 9.9 passer rating. His lowlight was a badly underthrown pick into double coverage one play after his defense forced a fumble to give him the ball at Detroit’s 26-yard line. He looked shaken in the pocket, held the ball too long and repeatedly exposed his recently recovered back to multiple hits. The operation overall looked lost, but plenty of credit for that should go to Detroit’s defense. Alex Anzalone and Alim McNeill led the way with two sacks apiece on the way to a six-sack night collectively. Ten different defenders logged a pressure, putting Garoppolo in hot water on 71.4% of his dropbacks, the highest pressure rate a QB has faced in a game this season, per Next Gen Stats. He did improve statistically in the second half, but it didn’t lead to any more points — or any drives in the last two quarters that lasted more than six plays. He walked away from the loss with 126 yards and a 46.9 passer rating on 10-of-21 passing, plus plenty of difficult questions nearing the midway point of the season.
5. Where is Davante Adams? A month through the season, Adams and his teammate Jakobi Meyers seemed to be the only pass catchers Raiders quarterbacks were looking for with any regularity. Since then, he’s gone missing, and Monday was the worst case yet. Granted, the Raiders had trouble sustaining drives, but Adams finished the first half without a catch on two targets. The first throw was a Jimmy Garoppolo deep-shot interception that looked better intended for either of the Lions defenders covering Adams. The second was disrupted by a tip at the line with Adams streaking across the middle. There were also some overthrows in the second half, but he wasn’t entirely blameless for his one-catch, 11-yard finish on seven targets. He had an uncharacteristic drop on a pass that could’ve moved the chains with the score still tight. He’s now gone five straight games without a touchdown, and he has just 14 catches for 142 yards in the last four weeks. Compare that to his 13 catches for 172 yards and two TDs back in Week 3 against the Steelers. This was a statistical low on the season for three-time All-Pro. The frustration is clearly mounting, as evidenced by Adams slamming his helmet to the ground on the sidelines after the Raiders’ final possession and by his postgame comments to NFL Network’s Bridget Condon.

Next Gen stat of the game: Lions DT Alim McNeill generated pressure on a career-high 35.3% of his pass rushes while logging two sacks.

NFL Research: Lions RB Jahmyr Gibbs became the fourth rookie in Lions franchise history with 150-plus rushing yards and one or more rushing TDs in a game, joining Hall of Famer Barry Sanders, Billy Sims and Kevin Jones.