The Detroit Lions showed incremental improvement in their Sunday afternoon win over the New York Jets. Do they look like some obvious Super Bowl contender through three games? No, there\u2019s far too much work to do on defense. But if they can continue trending in the right direction over the next couple of months, who knows?<\/p>\n
Here are my positional grades for the Lions in their 31-24 win over the Jets:<\/p>\n
Early in the game, Jared Goff looked a little rattled from the pressure, particularly up the A-gap. It hurried some of his early throws and essentially ran him into a sack.<\/p>\n
But second-half Goff was nearly perfect. I mean that quite literally. In the final two quarters, Goff was 19-of-22 for 214 yards, two touchdowns, and a 137.5 passer rating. For the second straight week, his accuracy was on display, posting a +7.6% completion percentage over expected, the fifth-best mark of Week 3 thus far (MNF not included).<\/p>\n
Aside from an early missed pass protection by Jahmyr Gibbs, the Lions\u2019 running backs had an outstanding day. Gibbs continues to be one of the most unstoppable weapons in football, be it on the ground (99 yards, 5.2 YPC, 2 TDs) or through the air (seven catches, 58 yards, TD).<\/p>\n
But this was also a revelation game for Sione Vaki. His pass protection was a weapon for Detroit\u2019s offense, because the Jets defense was relentless in their A-gap pressure. But Vaki was versatile enough not to give away the play call when he was in there. He toted the rock six times in the run game\u2014producing a successful run on four of them. And he did a nice job maximizing his yardage on an 11-yard catch.<\/p>\n
I can\u2019t help but think about how much of a bonus Vaki\u2019s pass protection will be against a team like the Vikings, who were able to essentially take Gibbs out of the game by exploiting his weakness as a pass protector.<\/p>\n
Sam LaPorta and Brock Wright combined for five catches and 51 yards, but upon initial viewing, their blocking wasn\u2019t necessarily the best. LaPorta was one of a few players who blew their block on Detroit\u2019s critical fourth-down failed run, and it wasn\u2019t the only time LaPorta\u2019s man made a big play in the run game.<\/p>\n
I reserve the right to change my opinion upon replay of the game, but I was underwhelmed by the perimeter blocking by the tight ends\u2014unless you\u2019re talking about secret tight end Skyler Gill-Howard.<\/p>\n
I am also intrigued by the new usage of Jackson Meeks. He played just 10 snaps, but it seems like there\u2019s potential for another versatile piece in the offense.<\/p>\n
Amon-Ra St. Brown didn\u2019t have his best game, catching just four passes for 19 yards and having at least one drop. But the beauty of this offense is its depth of weapons. It\u2019s not surprising Aaron Glenn tried to take away St. Brown, but that just meant feeding Jameson Williams (4 for 49) and Isaac TeSlaa (3 for 66). That duo caught all seven of their targets, and TeSlaa, in particular, came up huge. He converted a first half fourth down that led to a touchdown, and his 49-yard grab late in the fourth quarter led to Detroit\u2019s game-winning score.<\/p>\n
The only reason this isn\u2019t an A is because of a Penei Sewell holding call and a Blake Miller false start. Otherwise, I thought the offensive line was fantastic in all aspects of the game. In pass protection, I would argue neither of the sacks were on the offensive line, and Goff was otherwise hit just three times on 35 dropbacks. That pass protection gave Goff enough time to find receivers on long-developing plays, as well as go through all of his progressions.<\/p>\n
In the running game, they were constantly moving the Jets backward. The Lions produced 2.82 yards before contact in the running game, the fifth-highest mark of Week 3, and a 56.7% success rate (fourth).<\/p>\n
The stat line looks better than the eye test. Detroit\u2019s defensive line produced four of the team\u2019s five sacks, but the pressure came late to Geno Smith. The Lions opted to scale back the aggressiveness, blitzing on just 22.7% of dropbacks (season average is 33.6%). That left the front four to generate pressure on their own, and it was mixed results most of the game.<\/p>\n
Still, the defensive front deserves a ton of credit in the run game. The Jets were stuffed on 26.3% of their rushes, the third-highest mark of the week.<\/p>\n
Upon initial viewing, I thought it was a sloppy day from the Lions\u2019 linebackers. Coverage appeared to be an issue, yet again. While this isn\u2019t 100% on the linebacking unit, the Jets tight ends produced 13 catches for 164 yards and two touchdowns. Tackling wasn\u2019t at its best against the elusive Breece Hall, either.<\/p>\n
Still, Barnes continues to look improved from his 2025 play (8 tackles, 1 TFL in this game), and this group deserves at least some of the accolades for a strong run defense game.<\/p>\n