Detroit Lions Week 11 report card: Confident Lions run over Giants

The Detroit Lions marched into East Rutherford and ran all over the Giants en route to a 31-18 win. Here’s our report card for Detroit’s third consecutive victory.

Just like that, the Detroit Lions have won three games in a row for the first time since 2017. They will leave New York with a convincing win over a seven-win team at that. Even though this game proved the Giants are indeed the paper tiger many thought they were, it’s still a pretty impressive win for the Lions.

The two areas Detroit invested in the most over the past two seasons have been the trenches/the run game and the defensive front. So it was encouraging to see those two facets be the driving force in a win.

In a weird way, this game felt a lot like the win against the Cardinals last season. Detroit took a big lead in the second half, and just when it feels like momentum could be moving the wrong way a big turnover changed the tides in the Lions’ favor. At the end of the day, the Lions end up with a convincing multi-score victory.

Here’s the Lions Week 11 report card.

Detroit Lions Week 11 report card

Offense

Run offense: 4/5 stars 

For the last few weeks, the run game had been trending in the wrong direction for the Lions. On Sunday they put up 160 yards on the ground, averaging 4.9 yards per carry (not counting Jared Goff kneel-downs).

For the second week in a row, the Lions leaned on the ground game to close out a win. For the second week in a row, the ground game delivered in a big way. This is what the Lions want their identity to be, and it paid off against the Giants.

Pass offense: 4/5 stars

It was a weird game for the passing game. The Lions ran the ball often and didn’t ask Goff to do much. When called upon he delivered, with Amon-Ra St. Brown (seven catches for 76 yards; eight targets on 26 attempts) as his go-to target.

There were a few head-scratching decisions, such as Goff electing to throw a deep shot into double coverage late in the game when the Lions were trying to run out the clock. However, on the whole, this was a positive game despite limited work for the passing game.

Best offensive player: RBs Jamaal Williams/Justin Jackson

Jamaal Williams’ career year continued, as he found the end zone not once, not twice, but three more times on Sunday. He’s now up to a league-leading 12 rushing touchdowns on the season.

As for Justin Jackson, this was his best game as a Lion thus far. He looked explosive and was taking advantage of the open running lanes the offensive line created.

Worst offensive player: RB D’Andre Swift 

Yes, Swift had a big 16-yard run to set up a touchdown and found the end zone himself. However, it’s time to talk about an alarming trend in the last few weeks. Swift’s indecisiveness as a runner has returned. Far too often he’s drifting laterally instead of pushing north-south when there’s a clear gap to be hit.

The indecisiveness cost the Lions at least one first down and drove them back two yards at the goal line before Swift redeemed himself and scored. As Swift gets healthy, this coaching staff isn’t going to put too much on his shoulders until he can cut the indecisiveness out. We saw in the first two games this season what happens when Swift makes every cut with a purpose and shows decisiveness, and it’s time he get back to that.

Defense

Run defense: 4.5/5 stars 

Objective number one for the Lions’ defense in this game was stopping Saquon Barkley. To say mission accomplished would be drastically underselling matters. Detroit completely stuffed any and all rush attempts the Giants’ star running back had, holding him to 22 yards on 15 carries. Outstanding work by the defensive front.

The only slight hiccup was defending read options. Daniel Jones racked up 50 yards as Lions’ edge defenders not named Aidan Hutchinson had a difficult time. However, while frustrating, it doesn’t diminish the accomplishments on Sunday.

Pass defense: 4/5 stars

It was a bit rocky in stretches for the Lions’ pass defense, with a few instances of guys getting wide open. However, the defense was very opportunistic. Two interceptions and one fumble forced after a catch. Furthermore, the defensive line did a great job of pressuring  Jones (two sacks, 10 quarterback hits).

While the yardage allowed looks less than ideal, the turnovers and defensive line play were the positive marks here. And this was despite not having Jeff Okudah available for a majority of the game, as he was knocked out of the game due to concussion protocols.

Best defensive player: DT Alim McNeill

This was easily the best game of McNeill’s career so far. It didn’t matter which of the Giants’ interior linemen he was matched up with. Chips, double teams, it didn’t matter, McNeill was absolutely unblockable in all facets of the game.

The success of McNeill opened up other opportunities for those around him to get pressure as well. In the run game, McNeill was doing such a good job forcing things outside that all the linebackers had to do was chase the running backs to the outside and cut them off. Absolutely outstanding game all around for McNeill.

Worst defensive player: CB  Mike Hughes 

The secondary was the weak link of the defense on Sunday, and there were a few guys that gave up a few too many catches. Hughes had at least three or four instances where he was simply giving too big of a cushion to opposing receivers.

Given the current rotation, Hughes stands to see a large share of snaps on Thanksgiving against the Bills with Okudah likely sidelined by concussion protocol on a short week. Considering how much better the Bills’ offense is compared to the Giants, Hughes is going to need to improve his play significantly.

Everything Else

Coaching Staff: 5/5 stars

Sure you can nitpick the play calling if you want, but this coaching staff’s message is getting through to the players. Not that there was any doubt over that, but it’s finally turning into wins. Dan Campbell and company have this team playing as confidently as they could be right now.

Play of the game: Aidan Hutchinson’s interception 

With just over six minutes left in the second quarter, the Lions trailed 6-3. The Giants held the ball at their own 31 and were trying to extend their lead. As Jones faked a give to Barkley, Hutchinson faked a pass rush and dropped into coverage. He drifted about five yards back, right into the throwing window where Jones tried fitting the ball into his receiver. All that was left was to make the catch.

That interception set up a touchdown, which kicked off a 21-point run for the Lions to take a commanding lead they never relinquished.

Final thoughts:

The Lions now sits second in the NFC North, and they are somehow sneaking their way into the playoff picture. Meanwhile, with another Rams loss, the Lions still hold a top-five pick in the draft as of now.

Three weeks in a row now, there really isn’t much to complain about. Winning has a funny way of curing a lot of ailments. Detroit now heads back home for their annual Thanksgiving Day game, armed with as much confidence as they could have right now.