7 winners, 6 losers from the Detroit Lions’ loss to the Los Angeles Rams

The margin of error is gone.

The Detroit Lions were facing a tough task against the Los Angeles Rams, and the NFC West titan showed why they are presently a Super Bowl favorite. The Rams offense was nigh unstoppable, churning out 41 points in a beatdown of the Lions defense. However, the Lions offense did their best to keep the game within striking distance. Unfortunately, a dreadful third quarter gave the Rams they never relinquished.

With three games left to go, the Lions are in must-win territory. If Detroit wants to make the playoffs, they need to play at an elite level—my list of winners needs to grow and my list of losers needs to shrink.

Losers: Jahmyr Gibbs and the run blocking

The Lions did not lose because of Jahmyr Gibbs, but he was certainly a reason why they did not win. The star running back gained a mere 38 yards on 13 carries, while only corralling four catches for 20 yards through the air (15 of which came on one catch in the dying minutes). Gibbs is a home run hitter, but this was a game in which the Lions would have been fine with a base hit. It’s rare for Gibbs to finish a game with a long of 6 yards, but that illustrates how little impact he was having on this game. At best, his runs were neutral. At worst, they were wasting precious down.

A running back is only as good as his blocking, and the offensive line gave Gibbs very little room to operate. Trystan Colon, fresh off a good start last week, was subpar in every blocking facet. Against the Cowboys, the Lions trotted out Dan Skipper as a sixth lineman on 23 snaps, yet that plummeted to just nine against the Rams. The line was simply struggling to create a trench for Gibbs to operate. Interestingly, it was another week in which the Lions were finding more success rushing to the right side of the offensive line than the left—rush directions are not the be-all, end-all of analysis, but at some point you have to acknowledge the trend.

In arguably the most important game of the season for the Lions, Gibbs was invisible. The Lions need to put him into successful situations, sure, but the Lions needed a spark from him. Dan Campbell said it best:

Winners: Amon-Ra St. Brown and Jameson Williams, WRs

With three touchdowns and nearly 300 yards combined, St. Brown and Williams put up one hell of an effort in a losing battle. St. Brown’s ankle injury is firmly in the rearview mirror, as the All-Pro looked unhindered while making mince meat of the Rams coverage. His receiving total of 164 yards was a season-high (and second-most of his career) as he utilized his patented agility and route running to burn the defense.

As for Williams, he added yet another 100-yard game to his season tally, and he has become a feature of the offense. Over the last six games, Williams has 581 receiving yards—and that includes a 0-yard game against the Giants! He has evolved from a mere deep threat into a multifaceted weapon. His crossing routes are deadline, using his speed to outpace any defensive back in man coverage.

St. Brown and Williams are among the best receiver duos in the league, and games like these showcase how deadly the passing attack can be when they are both clicking with Jared Goff. Speaking of which…

Winner: Jared Goff, QB

Goff deserves a mountain of praise for keeping Detroit competitive despite an absent run game to support him. His connection with St. Brown and Williams was on point and they rarely missed a beat. Goff finished the game with 338 passing yards and three touchdowns, a near-perfect outing. Perhaps the most impressive part of his performance was his pocket presence. There were multiple instance in which Goff was feeling pressure from the Rams pass rush. In the past, we might have seen Goff take a sack or make a panicked decision. However, Goff was collected and never looked rattled. The offense’s biggest play of the game came courtesy of Goff’s mobility:

His only true negative play was a near-interception that was dropped early in the fourth quarter. Otherwise, Goff did everything in his power to lead the team to a win. It was sadly a one-sided effort from the Lions.

Loser: Kelvin Sheppard, DC

Any time a defense allows over 40 points, the defensive coordinator deserves criticism. In a game where the offense was doing their part to keep the game competitive, the Lions defense was doing everything in their power to to give the Rams a victory. Whether they were defending the run or the pass, the Rams were finding easy yards far too often. Worse yet, it never felt like the Rams were dialing up anything special. The Rams called multiple predictable bootlegs, yet Lions defenders were falling for it nearly every time. Players like Puka Nacua and Colby Parkinson were feasting in the intermediate passing game and the Lions had no answer—drop a corner, safety, or linebacker, it did not matter. It was not even a sharp game from Matthew Stafford, who missed a handful of throws over the course of the day.

Sheppard has done an incredible job navigating an onslaught of injuries, but not only was this a game in which the players looked outmatched, but so too the coordinator. What makes coordinating successful is calling the right play at the right moment. The Rams were consistently throwing rock, but the Lions kept throwing scissors when a few papers would have turned the tide of the game. The only positive moments for the Lions defense were Aidan Hutchinson’s interception and a pair of sacks.

The Lions’ offense was not perfect on the day, but they just needed complementary football from the defense. Unfortunately, that never materialized—they were always one stop short.

Winners: Aidan Hutchinson, Al-Quadin Muhammad, Roy Lopez, DL

Are the pass rush woes behind us now? Both Hutchinson and Muhammad have been on a tear of late, and the duo gave Matthew Stafford a tough day in the pocket. Lopez, meanwhile, has quietly climbed his way up the Lions sack leaderboard, having recorded three sacks across the last six games—not bad for a nose tackle. Stafford was only sacked twice, but there were multiple instances where one or multiple pass rushers brought the heat—the fault fell on the coverage team for failing to capitalize. These three players are consistently standing out as pass rushers, in contrast to peers like Marcus Davenport or Alim McNeill.

Oh, and Hutchinson had a 58-yard interception return. No big deal.

Loser: Run defense

Criticism will be levied at Lions’ coverage, but the run defense was downright awful against the Rams. The Rams ran the ball 29 times to the tune of 159 yards (an average of 5.5 yards per attempt) and three touchdowns, completely dominating a team that had been stout against the run. The Lions were rarely stopping the run game at the line of scrimmage—per ESPN, they recorded just one tackle for loss. Whether rushing up the middle or towards the perimeter, Kyren Williams and Blake Corum were rarely challenged to churn out yards after contact. Considering their longest run was just 24 yards, it was a near-perfect example of efficient running. In fact, it was a historically poor showing for a Lions run defense under Dan Campbell:

Two players that stood out for negative reasons were Derrick Barnes and Marcus Davenport. Barnes played a bulk of his snaps along the defensive line, but he was rarely winning his battles with offensive tackles or tight ends. As for Davenport, his strength should be run defense, but he was getting moved backwards by blockers more often than not. If Davenport cannot shine as a run defender, what reason is there to play him over the likes of Al-Quadin Muhammad?

Loser: D.J. Reed, CB

Yet another week in which Reed is a listed as a loser—this is becoming a major concern.

The Lions need Reed to be their top corner, a player capable of locking down opposing star receivers. Instead, he is getting burnt by said star receivers. A week after getting exploited by CeeDee Lamb (who only played a half due to injury), Reed was again on the losing side of a battle versus Puka Nacua. Nacua recorded nine catches for 181 yards, including a 37-yarder in which Reed stumbled in coverage. On the day, he finished with zero passes defended.

Reed had a decent outing in run defense (in contrast to Rock Ya-Sin), but that success only goes so far when your coverage is absent. Reed is almost certainly better than any of the Lions’ reserve options (such as Nick Whiteside or Khalil Dorsey), but his level of play since returning to the lineup has been disappointing.

Loser: Erick Hallett, S

It was a tough ask for Hallett. The practice squad elevation—who played a sizeable number of preseason snaps at cornerback, not safety—had to fill in for not one, not two, but three injured safeties ahead of him on the depth chart. The Lions lost Brian Branch last week with a torn Achilles, while neither Kerby Joseph nor Thomas Harper were healthy enough this week. With Avonte Maddox listed as the other starter, Hallett got the nod over special teamer Daniel Thomas and practice squaders Loren Strickland and Damontae Kazee.

His first career start left much to be desired. On the Rams’ opening two drives, they were heavily targeting Hallett, including a 23-yard catch by Colby Parkinson to set up their first touchdown of the day. Throughout the game, he rarely in position to make a play, either a step behind or a second too late—he had a pass breakup on a deep shot in the third quarter as his lone highlight. He later left the game with cramping, replaced by Thomas.

Very few players in the NFL can replicate Branch, who can be a game-changer in both run defense and coverage. Hallett had a decent outing in run defense (he recorded 10 tackles), but there were too many plays in pass defense where the difference between him and Branch was apparent for the wrong reasons.

Winner: Avonte Maddox, S

Inversely, the other spot starting safety had a great outing. Maddox was essentially a starter last week, as Thomas’ concussion knocked him out of the game early. He stood out in a positive way against the Cowboys and he did so again against the Rams. Maddox looked very comfortable in the deep safety role, recording a pair of pass breakups and six tackles. Whereas Hallett was victimized by the Rams tight ends on a few occasions, Maddox was not credited with allowing a single catch. There was one play in which he flew down the field and disrupted the Rams receiver with perfect timing to dislodge the football and not draw a flag.

If Harper is ready to go next week and Joseph remains out, the Lions will have an interesting decision to make. Both Harper and Maddox have excellent in Joseph’s role, but which one will slide into Branch’s role? Given Maddox’s experience as a nickel corner, he would be my bet to patrol Branch’s territory near the line of scrimmage—and if he can deliver big hits like he did on Sunday, it would be a good fit.