Since around this time last year, the Detroit Lions have been a positive narrative in the NFL. In the 2022 Thanksgiving Day game, the team that has struggled for decades gave the Buffalo Bills a tough competition, although they eventually lost 28-25. This was one of their only two losses in the last 10 games of that season.
The Lions have lost only twice in the first 10 games of this season and are facing their annual Thanksgiving Day game this Thursday. Their consistent victories are proving them to be more than just a pleasant narrative.
The Detroit Lions, led by Dan Campbell, are solidly in the Super Bowl discussion.
Of course, their intentions were clear from Week 1 when they faced off at Arrowhead Stadium and defeated the Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs on opening night. This weekend, they exhibited remarkable resilience and managed to subdue the Chicago Bears, improving their record to 8-2 for the first time since 1962.
Jared Goff arguably delivered his poorest performance as a Lion, throwing three interceptions that left Detroit on the brink of a disheartening loss. Down by 12 points with only three minutes left, Goff and the offense remained unyielding. In a high-stakes situation that allowed no room for error, Detroit and their quarterback stepped up to the challenge.
Goff passed a 32-yard touchdown to Jameson Williams, and the Lions defense promptly regained possession after Chicago’s subsequent drive. Trailing 26-21, Goff used slightly over two minutes to cover 73 yards in 11 plays, clinching the game with David Montgomery’s one-yard touchdown run, leaving just 29 seconds on the clock. Goff’s two-point pass to Sam LaPorta and a safety after Aidan Hutchinson’s strip sack increased their lead. Despite appearing to be on the verge of losing, the Lions emerged victorious with a 31-26 win.
Goff will be praised for his late-game turnaround. As a quarterback, he always receives more recognition – and more criticism – in relation to victories and defeats. Don’t misunderstand me, Goff is performing exceptionally well and is a significant factor in the Lions’ potential first division title since 1993. However, he’s not the only one contributing.
Amon-Ra St. Brown has subtly emerged as one of the NFL’s most efficient receivers, and his importance to the Lions is undeniable. He has received a minimum of seven targets in each of the 10 Detroit games this season, which is the highest in the NFL. Meanwhile, the running back tandem of David Montgomery and Jahmyr Gibbs alternately wreaks havoc on opposing defenses.
Both recorded over 95 scrimmage yards; Montgomery secured the winning score against his former team, while Gibbs made a rushing touchdown in the fourth consecutive game. The last time a Lions rookie managed to do that was Barry Sanders in 1989 – indeed, that’s impressive company to be in.
In the past, during Sky Sports’ Thanksgiving Day shows, I’ve had to work hard to promote the Lions. Over the years, they’ve had some disastrous performances in front of their home crowd and haven’t secured a Thanksgiving Day victory since 2016.
However, for Campbell and his team, that’s simply insignificant history. When your record is as poor as the Lions’, you’re more than happy to leave it behind. A fresh era has dawned in Detroit where they are anticipated to triumph at home against the Green Bay Packers this Thursday.
Who can predict the limits of this team’s potential after this? Could they go all the way? It’s a definite possibility. There’s a sense of something exceptional simmering in the Motor City. Everyone should simply strap in and relish the journey!
Who’s Hot?
Brock Purdy… Don’t ask me how they get there, but the NFL has a perfect score for its passer rating system and it is the wonderfully-random 158.3. Brock Purdy got to that mark during the San Francisco 49ers’ 27-14 win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday night. The second-season quarterback, who didn’t really enter our public consciousness until early December last year, completed 21 of 25 passes for 333 yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions. The last 49ers quarterbacks to post perfect passer ratings in a game were Hall of Famers Joe Montana and Steve Young, who both achieved the feat in 1989. Purdy is quick with his decisions, accurate and he throws a really nice ball. I understand that he is in the right situation and surrounded with talent, but Purdy continues to make a mockery of the entire draft system. How was he picked 262nd overall in 2022? He is already one of the league’s true stars at the quarterback position.
The Houston Texans… This exciting young team is doing very similar things to the Detroit Lions. With three wins in a row and having won four of their last five, the Houston Texans now have our attention. Sunday’s 21-16 win over the Arizona Cardinals was not perfect, but there were many highlights. C.J. Stroud had another big day at quarterback, throwing for 336 yards and two touchdowns. But he also had to overcome some adversity. Having thrown just two interceptions in his first nine NFL starts, Stroud tossed three on Sunday. He will learn from that and I have no doubt he will remain a star of this league for years to come. There are others contributing and that is important. The Texans are becoming a team. Devin Singletary topped 100 yards rushing for the second game in a row, the explosive Tank Dell caught eight for 149 yards and a touchdown and fellow 2023 rookie Will Anderson had a key sack on defense. Add in an interception by 2022 first-round cornerback Derek Stingley Jr. and the future looks bright in Houston. The 6-4 Texans, who have already beaten Jacksonville once this season, will play for the AFC South lead on Sunday when they welcome the 7-3 Jaguars to Texas.
Tommy DeVito… The NFL is just weird. Detroit and Houston are mounting Super Bowl challenges, the last player picked in the 2022 NFL Draft is one of the best quarterbacks in the league and Bill Belichick is fighting to keep his job in New England. And now Tommy DeVito – who still lives with his mum – turns in one of the best displays of the weekend as the New York Giants completed the season sweep of the Washington Commanders with a 31-19 victory. The undrafted local rookie was sacked nine times behind a dangerously-bad offensive line on Sunday, but he will never forget his second NFL start. DeVito hit on 18 of 26 passes for 246 yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions for a rating of 137.7 (the highest rating for an undrafted rookie in the NFL Draft era). The Illinois product showed great courage, turning a difficult day into something quite special, adding yet another footnote to what is becoming a very strange NFL season.
Who’s Not?
The Los Angeles Chargers… This spot has been reserved for the Chargers’ defense on quite a few occasions this season as that side of the ball has collapsed dramatically at key times in 2023. And it was the case again on Sunday as the Chargers conceded a 24-yard touchdown pass from Jordan Love to Romeo Doubs with 2:33 remaining in what turned out to be a 23-20 loss to the Green Bay Packers. It was LA’s fifth one-scored defeat of the season, dropping Brandon Staley’s underachieving team to 4-6. The coach was salty with the media after the game as his defense came under further scrutiny. I think questions need to be asked of the coach and his defense but, on this occasion, there is enough blame to go around. Keenan Allen dropped a sure-fire touchdown and Austin Ekeler lost a vital fumble. There is a saying across all sports that good teams find a way to win even when not playing well. The Chargers have been doing the exact opposite for some time now – they seem to find a way to lose games at the end and it leaves a talented team with some major question marks heading into the stretch run.
Pittsburgh’s passing game… The Steelers put on a great Watch Party event in Dublin, Ireland, this weekend with more than 500 fans in attendance at Croke Park. But their team couldn’t put on a show, falling 13-10 to a Cleveland Browns team led by rookie quarterback Dorian Thompson-Robinson, who has been thrown into the fray following Deshaun Watson’s season-ending shoulder injury. I know it was against the league’s number one defense and number one pass defense, but these are the games Pittsburgh quarterback Kenny Pickett has to be winning. When they take to the air, these Steelers look lost. Pickett threw for 106 yards and no touchdowns. George Pickens was his leading receiver with four for 38 yards and the Steelers had a net passing yards total of 77. That is the primary reason this team lost to a Cleveland side who scored just three points in the second half. Pickett needs a strong finish like the one he produced in 2022 to make Steelers fans believe he is the long-term answer at quarterback. Otherwise, I’m not sure he has a long-term future in Steeltown.
Zach Wilson… It might be the end of the road for Zach Wilson and somebody else could be under center by the time we air the New York Jets’ Black Friday game against the Miami Dolphins later this week. Wilson was benched during Sunday’s 32-6 loss to the Buffalo Bills. Let’s find one small grain of positivity – the Jets did find the end zone and score a touchdown, but it was after 40 consecutive drives of futility. Wilson completed just seven passes for 81 yards, one score and one interception. His rating of 57.9 marked the second time this year he was held under 60 points. Wilson ranks last in the NFL with a completion percentage of 59.2 and 30th with quarterback rating of 73.8. There is a body of work there now and the Jets know their future doesn’t feature Wilson. They might as well see if they get a bump by inserting Tim Boyle into the lineup and then plan for Aaron Rodgers to lead the way in 2024.
The Fast Five
- The sight of Joe Burrow, the Cincinnati Bengals’ quarterback, going down for the season was deeply distressing. Burrow, also known as Joe Cool, steered the Bengals to the Super Bowl in the 2021 season and almost made it in 2022, despite a wrist injury. His absence will certainly leave a void in the NFL, considering he is among the sport’s true luminaries. The Bengals, currently standing at 5-5, are in a challenging position. Without their influential leader, their path to the playoffs now looks daunting.
- I felt disheartened when Efe Obada, one of our own, was carted off the field during Washington’s defeat to the New York Giants. Obada, a key player in the Commanders’ defensive line, sustained a major leg injury. However, I am confident he will recover and return to contribute to an NFL team in 2024. Efe’s journey hasn’t just been filled with minor setbacks, but rather significant hurdles. Despite these, he has managed to become a star in the NFL. I believe he’s got it in him to overcome this setback too. His extraordinary journey is far from over and there are more remarkable chapters yet to be written.
- Despite the Bengals losing Burrow during the game, the Baltimore Ravens demonstrated a powerful performance in their 34-20 victory on Thursday, improving their season record to 8-3. The only setback was the season-ending knee injury suffered by tight end Mark Andrews. However, the team’s talent is widespread, suggesting they could have easily achieved a 9-1 or even a perfect 10-0 record. With a solid performance from Lamar Jackson, over 150 yards ran by the Ravens, and Odell Beckham Jr. in excellent form exceeding 100 yards receiving, Baltimore is shaping up to be a formidable opponent come January.
- With a 20-13 win over the Las Vegas Raiders in Week 10, the Miami Dolphins improved their record to 7-3. During the game, Tua Tagovailoa threw for over 300 yards and Tyreek Hill caught 10 passes for 146 yards and a touchdown. However, the standout performance of the Dolphins’ defense is becoming a noteworthy story in Miami. They successfully limited the Raiders to only one touchdown after restricting Kansas City to just two offensive touchdowns in Frankfurt. The defense also had two sacks and three interceptions, highlighted by two remarkable diving efforts from Jalen Ramsey. This defensive improvement could make Miami a more balanced and formidable team in the AFC playoffs.
- The Denver Broncos, despite relying heavily on field goals (five of which were made by Will Lutz on Sunday night), are currently on a winning streak, having won four consecutive games in a season for the first time since 2016. Russell Wilson managed to find enough momentum towards the end of the game to send the match-winning throw to Courtland Sutton. Wilson has already surpassed his total output for the 2022 season, with 19 touchdown passes in 2023 compared to 16 in 2022. Alongside head coach Sean Payton, he is figuring out the game plan. With a record of 5-5, Denver is very much in the running for the AFC playoff race.
Finish That Sentence
As customary in this column, I prompted you to initiate your NFL-related sentences for this week, with the promise of completing a chosen few here. Now, let’s dive in!
From Jack Palmer-White (@jackpalmerwhite)… Ron Rivera is… likely playing out the slate as head coach of the Washington Commanders. Sunday’s loss to the struggling New York Giants, was a new low. Washington have now lost twice to the Giants this season and that must be tough for new owner, Josh Harris, to take. Washington have not really kicked on in recent years. They have moments of success but cannot sustain a credible challenge. Sam Howell could be the answer at quarterback but that still needs to play out for a year or two. I think the new ownership group will want a new leader in charge come 2024 and that’s a shame because Ron Rivera is a good coach and an even better man.
From Ger Mullins (@75megager)… After a massively successful inaugural Steelers watch party, the NFL will take notice and award Ireland a regular season game in… 2027! I think the NFL did definitely take note and the event was indeed a huge success. And it was not just that one event. I spent an evening with Irish fans in Dublin on the Saturday night and their passion for the NFL is just as fierce as supporters in the UK and Germany. There is no doubt teams like the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Jacksonville Jaguars would like to play a regular season game in Ireland in the future. There just may need to be a bit of patience until the NFL ratifies an expansion of games played overseas. Spain or Brazil will be next in 2024, whichever of those two doesn’t host next year will get a game in 2025 and then I would look at Paris and also Mexico City will come back online. But Dublin should definitely be in the mix, so I think it happens in the next four years. Sign me up. I’ll be there!
From HTJ (@htj86)… Brandon Staley’s post-match press conference was… disappointing but not surprising. There are occasions where head coaches, particularly those under great stress, turn on the media and blame them for asking difficult questions. That’s kind of the media’s job. And given how the Chargers continually blow close games and have defensive meltdowns at the worst possible time, it’s understandable why these kinds of questions are being asked. What Coach Staley has to remember is that players and coaches don’t go out into the street to talk to fans to explain what’s going on with the team. The way players and coaches speak with the people who pay hard-earned money to watch and support them is through the media. If a coach or a player turns on the media, they are turning on their own fan base. And that rarely ends well. I don’t think enough players and coaches realise that fact.
Final Thought
This week, one of my favourites of the year, is jam-packed with NFL action. Kicking off the week, our Sky Sports NFL studio will carve into the traditional Thanksgiving Day turkey as we cover the triple-header games on Thursday evening. For the first time in NFL history, we’ll also have a game on Black Friday, which will see us heading to Manchester to cover the Dolphins and Jets in New York. Following that, we’ll return to London for our usual Sunday show. I am thrilled to watch all these games alongside Jason Bell, Phoebe Schecter, and Jeff Reinebold.
This week serves as a testament to the abundance of live games we now enjoy in the UK, something we’ve never had before. In Week 12 alone, Sky Sports is set to broadcast eight live games from Thursday through to Monday, covering half of the week’s games. It’s a significant leap from the past when we only had an hour of highlights aired a week after the games. I hope you’ll join us on Thursday, Friday, and Sunday as we navigate this unpredictable journey towards Super Bowl 58 in Las Vegas.
