The Detroit Lions’ performance against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday wasn’t very impressive, at least offensively. A lot went wrong for the team that day, but it wasn’t all bad.
Let’s break down which direction a few guys are trending after the loss.
Stock down: QB Jared Goff
Detroit’s second game featured Jared Goff’s second shaky game of the season. Granted, offensive coordinator Ben Johnson asked him to throw a ton of passes (more on that later), but Goff just wasn’t terribly sharp across the board.
Goff put up 307 yards but threw a rough interception and generally didn’t seem to read the defense very well, especially when it mattered. He forced the ball too much and missed throws that should be easy. He just wasn’t the typical calm and collected Goff — the guy that plays smart football, goes through his reads, and finds the open man — that fans are used to seeing.
Dismissing the first game as a fluke was easy enough, but seeing him struggle again is definitely a little worrying. There’s enough tape out there to give fans plenty of reason to believe that Goff will soon regain his rhythm, but the Lions’ leading man has a lot to clean up before that happens.
Stock up: S Brian Branch
Branch rebounded nicely on Sunday after a less-than-stellar outing in Week 1. Against Tampa, he recorded two pass deflections and an interception, putting together one of his strongest games in recent memory.
Branch looked prepared and collected out there, and he was a huge part of why Detroit limited Baker Mayfield to less than 200 passing yards.
This is less of a pleasant surprise and more of a return to the norm of excellence that fans expect from Branch, but it was still nice to see. He’s an exceedingly valuable presence in the defensive backfield.
Through two weeks of play in the NFL, Lions DB Brian Branch leads the league in pass deflections with five of them. Becoming one hell of a player for the Detroit Lions. #OnePride pic.twitter.com/2PEAuT97cD
— Russell Brown (@RussNFLDraft) September 17, 2024
Stock down: OC Ben Johnson
It feels a little weird to put Johnson in this column given his massive success with the Lions’ offense over the past couple of years. It’s undeniable, though — the Buccaneers game was far from his best outing.
Instead of attacking a team missing both of its defensive tackles via the run game, Johnson opted to have Goff attempt 55 passes, including a vast array of swing and screen passes. Somewhat predictably, this didn’t work out too well. Goff struggled, so the offense could never seem to get itself going in any meaningful capacity.
Plus, even after it became clear that it wasn’t Detroit’s day through the air, Johnson still seemingly refused to rely on the running backs. It was a bizarre game from a signal-caller who knows that this team’s identity is built on its bruising ground game and elite offensive line.
The Lions had many of these same issues passing the ball in Week 1, but they returned to their tried-and-true run game in overtime and it won them the contest. It seemed like a similar approach would have been wise to apply at some point this week. It almost felt like the offensive coordinator was attempting to get “cute,” so to speak, against Tampa, instead of just grinding out the rushing yards that the team has proven it can get.
That’s not Detroit’s brand. Fans should still have faith in Johnson, a coach who’s proven to be a large net positive, but he looked out of his element on Sunday.
Honorable mention for stock down: HC Dan Campbell, whose mismanagement led to a pre-halftime field goal gaffe
Stock up: WR Jameson Williams
For the second week in a row, Williams recorded a very strong performance. He caught five balls for 79 yards and tacked on a 15-yard rush. Despite the loss, Williams, who’s now tied for second in the league in receiving yards, was again impressive.
This was more than just a good game for him, though — it was another sign that he’s ready to become the star that the Lions drafted him to be. Sure, his Week 1 performance was outstanding. It was still just one outing, though, and that’s hardly a sufficient sample size from which to draw any real conclusions.
To see Williams continue to make noise after that, though? That’s exciting.
If he can continue to stack performances like this — and there’s no reason he shouldn’t be able to — he’s going to start putting together the resume of a star player. It’s still early enough that making any substantial declarations wouldn’t be terribly wise, but for the second week in a row, Jameson Williams showed that he’s ready to deliver.
Jameson Williams was my WR1 in the 2022 class. Amazing what a *normal* offseason can do for a player this talented.#OnePride
— Jaime Eisner (@JaimeEisner) September 15, 2024
Stock up: DE Aidan Hutchinson
Before this game, it was already pretty clear that Hutchinson was one of the best in the business.
What fans saw against the Bucs, though? That’s a different beast. On Sunday, Hutchinson recorded the most remarkable defensive performance Detroit has seen in a while, notching an incredible 4.5 sacks and a forced fumble. It was nothing short of a dominant performance. The poor offensive tackle assigned to block him never had a chance.
To be frank, Hutchinson looked like the best in the league at his position. He was already up there with the top defensive ends for the past couple of years, but it looks like he’s taken another step and is ready to claim his spot at the top. It’s been two years in the making, but it’s all coming together for Aidan Hutchinson.
This is a DPOY-level player.
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