Although in the midst of a slightly down year, the Detroit Lions have blossomed into one of the NFL's best teams. What comes with that territory is lots of primetime football, as fans love to watch Dan Campbell's antics on the sidelines and the Lions' high-octane offense.
That was certainly the story once again on Thursday Night Football in Week 14 against the Dallas Cowboys, as Detroit played its third standalone game in front of a national audience in the last four weeks. The Lions hung 44 points on an improved Cowboys defense en route to a two-score victory.
Even though Detroit's offensive stars showed up in a big way, as Jared Goff, Jahmyr Gibbs, Amon-Ra St. Brown, Jameson Williams and David Montgomery all did what they do best, Lions fans can't ignore the one defensive player who has been a rising star and has a knack for showing up in big games.
Al-Quadin Muhammad is Lions' secret weapon in primetime
Defensive end Al-Quadin Muhammad was re-signed this offseason on a cheap, one-year prove-it deal that was worth up to $1.4 million. There was a sentiment that Detroit could be in the market for an upgrade on the edge to complement Aidan Hutchinson, so they didn't overspend at the position.
But Muhammad has been a revelation for the Lions' defense this year, as he now leads the team with 9.0 sacks, eclipsing Hutchinson's 8.5 mark on Thursday. Of course, Muhammad doesn't get a fraction of the attention that Hutchinson gets, but he is firmly making the most of his opportunities.
Oh, and the guy brings his absolute best stuff in primetime.
In Week 14 in front of the NFL world, Muhammad had 3.0 sacks of Cowboys signal-caller Dak Prescott, and he also tallied three tackles for loss and four quarterback hits. Prescott was sacked five times in the contest, and over half of them came at the hands of Muhammad.
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But this performance wasn't just a flash in the pan. It was actually Muhammad just following a pattern he has created this year, which is that he dominates in primetime or standalone games, and has relatively mundane stat lines otherwise.
Of the Lions' 13 games this season, six of them have been primetime or standalone games. Muhammad has 7.0 sacks in those contests. In Detroit's seven games that have been merely a part of the Sunday slate, Muhammad has just 2.0 sacks.
Fans remember Muhammad's 2.5-sack performance on Monday Night Football in Week 3 against the Baltimore Ravens, and he also recorded 1.0 and 0.5 sacks against the Kansas City Chiefs and Tampa Bay Buccaneers in back-to-back Sunday and Monday Night Football matchups in Weeks 6 and 7.
Combine that with his 3.0-sack performance against the Cowboys on Thursday, and it paints a picture of a rising star who simply has a penchant for primetime matchups. The Lions finally have the Hutchinson complement they've wanted, and he shows even more up in the team's biggest games.