Lions QB Jared Goff on the excitement of playing Monday Night Football
Goff shared his excitement of playing in prime time, as well as explained a quarterback’s responsibility to take hits in the pocket.
The Detroit Lions just had one of the biggest wins of the Dan Campbell era.
In what could be a preview of a Super Bowl 60 matchup, the Lions (2-1) beat the Baltimore Ravens (1-2) 38-30 at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore on Monday night. The Lions defense sacked Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson seven times, which ties the record against the two-time MVP.
Running backs Jahmyr Gibbs (Detroit) and Derrick Henry (Baltimore) scored early touchdowns for their respective teams, but Henry’s lost fumble in the fourth quarter helped seal Baltimore’s fate. Meanwhile, Gibbs added a second touchdown later in the game, while his running mate David Montgomery added two touchdowns of his own.
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The Lions last played the Ravens in 2023, losing 38-6 in one of the most lopsided losses under Lions coach Dan Campbell.
The Lions are now 1-4 at Baltimore all-time (since 1998).
The Lions are now in first-place tie in the NFC North with the Green Bay Packers (2-1) and the Minnesota Vikings (2-1) after the Packers coughed up a 13-10 loss at the Cleveland Browns.
Here’s how it happened on Monday Night Football in Baltimore.
Final: Lions 38, Ravens 30
Lions tight end Sam LaPorta recovered the onside kick attempt from the Ravens, and Goff’s kneeldown sealed the game for the Lions.
They play the Cleveland Browns at Ford Field next Sunday, Sept. 28, and are now tied with the Green Bay Packers and Minnesota Vikings for first place in the NFC North.
4Q, 0:29: Lions 38, Ravens 30
As he often does, Jackson led the Ravens to a six-play, 65-yard drive that led to a touchdown in just over a minute.
The score came on a 27-yard touchdown from Jackson to tight end Mark Andrews. The Ravens could not convert on a two-point conversion, however. There are 29 seconds left in this game.
4Q, 1:42: Lions 38, Ravens 24
A holding penalty on the Ravens would have given the Lions a first down anyway, but it was a huge play for the Lions, nonetheless.
Goff faked a handoff to running back David Montgomery on fourth-and-2 and floated a pass to receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown for a 20-yard catch to keep the drive alive. Montgomery scored on a 31-yard touchdown run on the very next play.
The Ravens have less than two minutes to come up with 14 points. Otherwise, this is looking like a Lions win.
The Lions ran four rushing plays in a row before a short gain on a pass leads to a 4th-and-2 at midfield at the two-minute warning. Coach Dan Campbell has a decision on his hands.
One series after forcing a key fumble, Lions edge rusher Aidan Hutchinson recorded his second sack of the season after mauling Jackson for a six-yard loss.
Two plays later, Al-Quadin Muhammad recorded a key tackle on a scrambling Jackson to force fourth down and a punt. The Lions are in the driver’s seat.
4Q, 6:35: Lions 31, Ravens 24
A 15-yard facemask penalty on offensive guard Christian Mahogany pushed the Lions back to Baltimore’s 28-yard line. Two plays later, the Lions netted one yard, bringing kicker Jake Bates on the field for his first field goal of the game.
The Lions may regret not making it a two-score game with such a golden opportunity after the fumble recovery. But they’re up by seven midway through the fourth.
Lions edge rusher Aidan Hutchinson punched the ball out of Derrick Henry’s hands on the first play of the drive from the Ravens. The fumble was recovered by cornerback D.J. Reed, giving the Lions the ball on Baltimore’s 16-yard line.
4Q, 9:40: Lions 28, Ravens 24
A 20-yard pass from Jackson and a questionable penalty call on Lions’ safety Brian Branch put the Ravens into Lions’ territory looking for the game-tying score. Pressure from the Lions’ defense forced two incompletions from Jackson, but the two-time MVP responded with a 16-yard completion to receiver Rashod Bateman to get the Ravens into the red zone.
Linebacker Trevor Nowaske recorded the Lions’ fourth sack of the game to set up a 3rd and 13, which the Lions turned into a fourth-and-long with their fifth sack of the game, this time from linebacker Derrick Barnes. This is only the third time in Jackson’s career that he has been sacked at least five times.
Kicker Tyler Loop snuck through a 41-yard field goal to bring the Ravens to within four points of the Lions.
4Q, 14:55: Lions 28, Ravens 21
The Lions scored on a trick play.
On a fourth-and-one, Goff handed the ball off to receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown, who lined up as a tailback. St. Brown ran right, then pitched to Gibbs, who scampered into the end zone for a go-ahead touchdown. Lions lead to start the fourth quarter.
End 3Q: Lions 21, Ravens 21
Starting from their own 4-yard line, running back David Montgomery rattled off runs of 11 and 72 yards to bring the Lions into the red zone. The 72-yarder was the third-longest run of Montgomery’s career, and was only saved from scoring by Ravens’ cornerback Marlon Humphrey.
The Lions will start the fourth quarter with a fourth-and-one on the Ravens’ 4-yard line.
With defensive end Marcus Davenport put on injured reserve before the game, the Lions needed some help on the pass rush.
Enter: Al-Quadin Muhammad, who has recorded two sacks on the usually un-sackable Jackson this game. His latest one forced a third-and-long for Baltimore in their own territory, which lead to a three-and-out and a punt.
The Lions will start from their own 4-yard line. The last time they started inside the five, they had their best drive of the season.
3Q, 5:13: Lions 21, Ravens 21
For the third time tonight, Goff found tight end Sam LaPorta for a key third-down conversion up the middle of the field. That kept the Lions first third-quarter drive alive around midfield.
Gibbs recorded runs of seven and nine yards on the drive to pace the offense and get Detroit into Ravens’ territory.
A double pass from Goff-to-Montgomery-to-Goff was snuffed enough to prevent the long pass, but Goff found receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown for a 17-yard gain up the middle of the field. One play later, it was Goff to St. Brown again, this time for an 18-yard pass in the end zone to tie the game.
The touchdown was St. Brown’s 37th of his career, which passes Marvin Jones Jr. for the third-most in franchise history.
3Q, 8:51: Ravens 21, Lions 14
Lions safety Brian Branch dropped an interception opportunity early in the third quarter, which would have been Jackson’s first interception of the season.
The Ravens capitalized on the dropped interception by orchestrating a long drive to begin the second half. Jackson went 6-of-7 on the drive for 65 yards passing, including a 19-yard pass to tight end Mark Andrews to set them up with a first-and-goal on the Detroit 10-yard line.
The Ravens tried a trick play with Henry throwing a ball towards the end zone, but the ball was almost intercepted by Lions cornerback D.J. Reed. Lions defensive end Al-Quadin Muhammad sacked Jackson on the very next play to set up a third-and-long.
But Jackson found Andrews again for a 14-yard touchdown to give the Ravens their first lead of the game.
Here are the halftime stats from some key Lions offensive players.
QB Jared Goff: 14-of-17, 135 yards, no TDs, no INTs.
RB David Montgomery: 7 carries, 31 yards, TD.
RB Jahmyr Gibbs: 11 carries, 19 yards, TD.
WR Jameson Williams: 2 catches, 43 yards.
WR Amon-Ra St. Brown: 4 catches, 22 yards.
End 2Q: Lions 14, Ravens 14
The Lions had a golden opportunity to enter halftime with a 14-7 lead, but made three incomplete passes on their second-to-last drive of the half to give the Ravens the ball back with more than a minute left to score.
Spoiler alert: they did. And after Lions kicker Jake Bates missed a 67-yard field goal at the end of the half, we have a tie game with the Lions kicking off to start the third quarter.
2Q , 0:28: Lions 14, Ravens 14
Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson made two impressive throws to start the drive, and a pass interference on Lions cornerback Terrion Arnold brought the Ravens to another first-and-goal. They capitalized on a three-yard pass from Jackson to receiver Rashod Bateman to tie the game right before halftime.
Getting the ball back on their own 20-yard line with less than two minutes on the clock, the Lions ran three plays that lasted approximately 30 seconds. They punt to the Ravens, and a holding penalthy on Grant Stuard gives the Ravens good field position right before halftime.
The Lions defense did the unthinkable: prevented the Ravens from punching in a touchdown on first-and-goal from the 3-yard line.
In what could be the most important defensive stand of the game, the Lions defense prevented Henry from scoring on three-straight carries. When the Ravens went for it on fourth down, the Lions snuffed out an RPO, forcing a fumble and sacking quarterback Lamar Jackson near the 20-yard line to get the ball back before halftime.
An impressive third-down completion from Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson kept the Ravens drive alive, and Jackson followed that play with a 34-yard pass up the sideline to receiver Devontez Walker to set the Ravens up on Detroit’s 3-yard line. We’re at the two-minute warning.
2Q, 5:55: Lions 14, Ravens 7
The Lions started the drive with the ball on their own two yard line, and fed the ball repeatedly to Gibbs and running back David Montgomery.
Another third-down reception from tight end Sam LaPorta and brought the Lions to their own 44-yard line with their seventh play of the drive. Montgomery then rattled off runs of nine, eight and 10 yards to help bring the Lions into the red zone for the second time tonight, before three consecutive runs from Gibbs and quarterback Jared Goff brought a first-and-goal.
Gibbs then caught a 7-yard pass up the middle to bring the Lions to the goal line, which Montgomery rewarded with a 1-yard touchdown. Lions up 14-7 after a 17-play, 98-yard drive that took over 10 minutes to complete.
The Lions gained a lot of yards, killed a lot of clock and, importantly, gave their defense a rest on the drive.
End 1Q: Lions 7, Ravens 7
Two runs from running back David Montgomery netted three yards, while quarterback Jared Goff found tight end Sam LaPorta for a 10-yard pass on 3rd-and-7 to give the Lions some space to work with.
The Lions will have first down on their own 15-yard line when the second quarter starts.
Maybe this Ravens’ offense is stoppable, after all?
The Lions limited Ravens’ running back Derrick Henry to no gain on his only carry of the drive, while an incomplete pass from quarterback Lamar Jackson on third down forced a three-and-out and a punt.
A bad punt return by Kalif Raymond and a holding penalty sets the Lions up inside their own 5-yard line.
The Lions got an unlucky break when an apparent forward pass from quarterback Jared Goff to running back Jahmyr Gibbs on first down was called as a backwards pass, which led to a nine-yard loss that led to a three-and-out. Lions punt.
1Q, 5:40: Lions 7, Ravens 7
The Ravens recorded five plays of at least seven yards on their first drive of the game, which finished with a 28-yard touchdown run from running back Derrick Henry.
Baltimore’s offense looked unstoppable on the opening drive, recording 80 yards on six plays in about three-and-a-half minutes. This might be a long night for Detroit’s defense.
1Q, 9:16: Lions 7, Ravens 0.
A 24-yard pass from quarterback Jared Goff to receiver Jameson Williams on the second play from scrimmage set the Lions up inside Ravens’ territory on their opening drive. Later on 3rd and 6, Goff found Williams again for a 19-yard pass up the middle that brought the Lions inside the red zone.
The Lions fed the ball to running back Jahmyr Gibbs, who recorded 10 yards on five carries and one catch for five yards on the drive. He was turned around on a 3rd-and-3 pass incompletion, however, setting up a fourth down on the Baltimore 11-yard line.
Goff then found receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown towards the right sideline for a seven-yard pass to set up first-and-goal, which Gibbs turned into a touchdown two plays later. 11 plays and 67 yards later, the Lions take an early lead.
The Baltimore Ravens won the coin toss and chose to defer. The Detroit Lions will start with the ball.
Lions All-Pro offensive tackle Penei Sewell came with a pump-up speech ahead of Monday night’s game … and helpfully the Lions’ social media team edited out the expletives.
ESPN NFL analysts Scott Van Pelt, Ryan Clark, Jason Kelce, Marcus Spears and Stephen A. Smith each made a prediction ahead of Monday night’s game. Here’s who each panelist picked.
Van Pelt: Ravens, 31-27.
Clark: Ravens, 33-27.
Kelce: Ravens, 30-27.
Spears: Ravens, 38-30.
Smith: Ravens, 41-38.
M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore, the home field of the Baltimore Ravens, is approximately 525 miles by car from Ford Field in Detroit. That’s about an eight-hour drive or 90 minute flight, depending on your preference.
However they got there, Detroit Lions fans have shown up to support their team for their Monday night battle.
Lions offensive tackle Taylor Decker and linebacker Jack Campbell were both listed as questionable in the days leading up to Monday night’s game against the Ravens, but they did not appear on the inactive list and are expected to play.
Decker missed two days of practice last week with a nagging shoulder injury, while Campbell is still dealing with a hurt ankle. Also available to play are defensive backs Kerby Joseph and D.J. Reed, who were also listed as questionable at points throughout the week.
Now that defensive end Marcus Davenport has been put on injured reserve, the Lions may be in the market for an impact pass rusher.
But who should the Lions target? We have five trade candidates Detroit could consider.
The Lions have placed five players on their inactives list:
S Thomas Harper.RB Craig Reynolds.C Kingsley Eguakun.DL Chris Smith.DL Mekhi Wingo.
Notabaly, Reynolds has hit the inactives list for the first time in 2025.
Lions quarterback Jared Goff is 0-3 all-time vs the Baltimore Ravens, which includes a 38-6 defeat in Baltimore in 2023, the last time Detroit played Baltimore.
The NFL’s current leader in completion percentage looks to end that winless streak tonight.
In keeping with the spirit of Baltimore’s Monday Night “Darkenss Falls” theme, the Ravens will be wearing all-black uniforms for their game against the Lions.
Meanwhile, the Lions are countering with their all-white sets.
The Lions announced Monday afternoon they placed Davenport, the injury-prone defensive end, on injured reserve with a chest injury, meaning he will miss at least the next four games. He would be eligible to return in Week 7 against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Monday Night Football in Detroit.
Davenport, 29, has played in four out of 21 total games (including playoffs and Monday at Ravens) since joining the Lions.
Last season, Davenport tore his triceps in Week 3 (he was inactive in Week 2) and missed the rest of the season.
Al-Quadin-Muhammad is expected to move into the defensive end spot opposite Aidan Hutchinson.
Tyleik Williams averaged four tackles per game his final two seasons at Ohio State. In his first two games with the Detroit Lions, he has averaged one.
And the way Williams and his coaches see it, the drop in numbers is a sign of growth as a player.
“Leaving that mindset of, ‘I have to make the play to have an impact on the game,’” Lions defensive coordinator Kelvin Sheppard said. “Coming from being a college player and a dominant college player, to understanding his role and how we see him making plays, I think that’s the biggest progress. And I appreciate the player because that’s hard.”
Read the full story about Williams below:
Where to watch Lions Ravens game on Monday Night Football
The Monday Night Football broadcast provides a few different options for fans to watch.
Date: Monday, Sept. 22.Kickoff: 8:15 p.m. ET.TV channel for regular broadcast: ABC, ESPN.ManningCast: ESPN2.Radio: WXYT-FM (97.1; Lions radio affiliates); nationally on Westwood One.Lions Ravens streaming link for Monday Night Football
Watch Lions vs Ravens on Fubo (free trial)
Lions Ravens odds, betting line on Monday Night Football
The Lions are an underdog heading into Baltimore for their Monday Night matchup against the Ravens.
Spread: Ravens by 4½.Over/under: 54 points.Moneyline: Lions (+195), Ravens (-235).
All odds are courtesy of BetMGM as of Monday evening.
Lions Ravens prediction on Monday Night Football
Carlos Monarrez, Detroit Free Press: Here’s a bad stat: The Lions have never beaten the Ravens in Baltimore. Granted, that’s only four games, dating to 1998. You can either look at this stat as a bad omen or a streak that’s due to end. I’ll go with the latter, especially since Dan Campbell has a way of repaying teams that rout him, like Baltimore did in 2023 with a 38-6 win. The two potent offenses will play a cautious game of cat-and-mouse but it’ll all come down to Jake Bates’ big kick. Take that, 2021 Justin Tucker! The pick: Lions 27, Ravens 24 (OT).
Detroit Lions schedule 2025Baltimore Ravens schedule 2025
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You can reach Christian at cromo@freepress.com.