Lions Amon-Ra St. Brown on home games coming up
Amon-Ra St. Brown said the Lions have an opportunity to get their season back on track with their next three games at home.
Penei Sewell fired off the snap and blocked linebacker Bobby Okereke 5 yards off the line of scrimmage, then turned his head as Jahmyr Gibbs whizzed by his back and raised his arms in celebration.
Gibbs broke a 69-yard run on the first play of overtime, the cherry on top of a career day, to lead the Detroit Lions to a 34-27 come-from-behind victory in overtime over the lowly New York Giants (2-10) at Ford Field.
Gibbs had 15 carries for 219 yards and two touchdowns and added 11 catches for 45 yards and one score as the Lions (7-4) narrowly avoided their first two-plus-game losing streak in three years.
It is the first 200-yard rushing game by a Lion in 28 years and third-most yards ever for a Lions. Barry Sanders had 237 rushing yards in 1994 against Tampa Bay.
The Lions began Week 12Â eighth in the NFC playoff standings, the first team out.
The Lions’ defense struggled to stop Jameis Winston and the Giants’ passing offense all day, but stuffed the Giants on four consecutive goal-to-go plays in the final 4 minutes while down three points.
Jake Bates kicked the tying 59-yard field goal with 28 seconds left, and Aidan Hutchinson had a walk-off sack on Winston on fourth-and-5 at the Lions’ 27 with 4:19 to play in overtime to clinch the victory.
Here are three thoughts on Sunday’s game:
Lions playoff predicament
The Lions avoided a disastrous loss Sunday, and maybe that’s the wake-up call they need for the stretch run. But they continue to show serious kinks in their armor that have me doubting how far they can go in the NFC playoffs.
Winston, making his second straight start for the Giants in place of injured rookie Jaxson Dart, had his way with the Lions defense, throwing for 366 yards and two touchdowns, and catching a 33-yard touchdown on an end-around pass from receiver Gunner Olszewski. The Giants, missing their best quarterback (Jaxson Dart), running back (Cam Skattebo) and receiver (Malik Nabers), have now lost six in a row, but had 10 plays of 20-plus yards, their most since at least 1991.
Meanwhile, the Lions’ offense was a whole lot of Gibbs and Amon-Ra St. Brown (nine catches, 149 yards, TD) and not much of anyone else.
The Lions tied for the best record in the NFL last year at 15-2, and made the NFC title game in the 2023 season. They still have one of the most complete rosters in the NFL. But something isn’t quite clicking and they’re running out of time to fix it with six games left.
The Ben Johnson-coached Chicago Bears (8-3) won again Sunday, 31-28 over Pittsburgh, and remain in first place in the NFC North. The Green Bay Packers (7-3-1) also won Sunday, 23-6 over Minnesota, and sit in second place.
The Lions host the Packers this Thursday in a must-win game if they want to win their third straight NFC North title, and they can’t play many more games like Sunday’s if they want to position themselves for a long playoff run.
Jake Bates comes up big
Gibbs was Sunday’s star and Hutchinson made the defensive play of the game, but Bates came up clutch in the big moment he needed in what has been a so-so second season.
Bates missed four field goals in the Lions’ first 10 games, had one kick blocked when it came low off his foot and missed extra points in two straight games entering Sunday (including a 48-yarder last week after a Jameson Williams penalty).
No one has ever doubted Bates’ big leg, but the Lions handled him with kid gloves early last year, limiting his long kicks, and he was inconsistent the first half of this season.
He’s a weapon, though, one the Lions can use more. And his kick at the end of regulation Sunday was his biggest of the season and probably his career.
Lions unsung heroes
The Lions are loaded with stars on offense, but got two of their biggest plays in the first half from role players – and those two plays were critical to setting up scores.
Brock Wright, filling in as the Lions’ No. 1 tight end with Sam LaPorta out long-term with injury, made a subtle adjustment in formation just before Gibbs’ 49-yard run late in the first half. Dan Skipper motioned to his right, and Wright tapped the swing tackle on his hip to tell him to inch forward on the line of scrimmage. St. Brown motioned off the line when Skipper set, and without that adjustment Gibbs’ long-run would have been all for not because of an illegal formation penalty.
Gibbs scored on a 3-yard catch on the next play.
The Giants answered with a field goal, then Kalif Raymond returned the ensuing kickoff to the kickoff to the 43-yard line, giving the Lions great field position with 31 seconds left in the half.
After a short pass to Gibbs forced the Lions to use their second timeout, Raymond laid out for a 30-yard catch that put the Lions in field goal range. Bates made a 37-yard three snaps later to enter the locker room trailing, 20-17.
This offense isn’t as scary as it once was, with LaPorta out, the line struggling and the passing game in a funk, but it still is dangerous when it gets contributions from down-the-roster players.
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Dave Birkett covers the Lions for the Detroit Free Press. Contact him at dbirkett@freepress.com. Follow him on Bluesky, X and Instagram at @davebirkett.