BALTIMORE – The Detroit Lions looked out of sync and uninterested after running into the buzz saw in their 38-6 road defeat by Lamar Jackson and his Baltimore Ravens.
Jackson looked like a magician on Sunday (Oct. 22) as he did whatever he wanted whenever he wanted early and often, making the Lions defense look foolish.
Recommended Videos
The Ravens were so confident that they won the coin toss, took the ball, and went on a seven-play, 75-yard opening drive, which was capped off by a fourth down seven-yard rushing score.
The game looked so easy for Jackson as he led the Ravens to four straight scoring drives in the first half to take a 28-0 lead into halftime.
“Those guys played well, and they kicked our expletive,” said Lions head coach Dan Campbell. “Lamar hammered us with his arm as he threw the ball extremely well. He ran when he needed to, and we did not handle it well.”
Jackson finished the game completing 21-27 for 357 yards and three touchdowns. He also carried the ball nine times for 36 yards and one rushing score to embarrass the vaunted Lions defense.
“Our energy was good,” Campbell said. “It’s crazy. You come out of a game like that, and you look at the score. Again, our energy was good, but our detail and discipline has been so good over the last four or five weeks, but today, it was not good enough. We had self-induced (Penalties). It was a lot of different things, but we win as a team, we lose as a team.”
Offense
The Lions offense remained in Detroit as they were stagnant in the. Coming into the matchup, Detroit was on a four-game winning streak in which they were winning games by 14 points or more, and they were scoring 20 points per game in their last 15 consecutively, but they were not in the Ravens weight class on either side of the ball, especially at quarterback.
Jared Goff
Quarterback Jared Goff completed 11-18 passes for 99 yards in the first half, as he couldn’t find his footing until the game was out of reach. Goff finished the day completing 33-53 passes for 284 yards and one interception.
His No. 1 target wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown had himself a day as he caught 13 passes for 103 yards, but all eyes were on the return of rookie running back Jahmyr Gibbs, who was the lead dog in the backfield.
Jahmyr Gibbs
Gibbs’ rookie season has gotten off to a slow start with the emergence of running back David Montgomery who’s been on fire lately.
But Gibbs couldn’t get on the field as he dealt with injuries, plus Montgomery was setting franchise records in his first season with the team. Now, the roles were reversed as Montgomery was out recovering from injured ribs, and it was Gibbs’ turn to show why he was selected in the first round of the 2023 NFL draft.
His first game as a full-time starter came in week three when the Lions hosted the Atlanta Falcons. He toted the rock 17 times for 80 yards while grabbing one reception for two receiving yards.
In week seven against the Ravens, he carried the ball 11 times for 68 yards while also recording nine receptions for 58 yards on 10 targets.
Gibbs showed explosiveness, agility, and vision on his big 21-yard touchdown run, which was the first of his young career.
“I was pleased with Gibbs,” Campbell said. “It was good having him back out there, and I thought he took a step forward, and I think he was one of the guys that did some real positive thing in the game. I thought he had pretty good vision. He set some runs up really well, and again, I’m like, ‘OK, he’s feeling a little better.’ I just feel like the more he plays, the better he’s going to get, so that’s another step in the right direction.”
The Lions (5-2) will look to put on a better performance in week eight as they will host the Las Vegas Raiders on Monday Night Football at Ford Field.
