Rarely do we see blowouts in the NFL — less than one in eight NFL games have been decided by a margin of 24 or more since Detroit Lions head coach Dan Campbell took over in 2021.
Even rarer, is a team being on the right side of one of these blowouts despite not playing close to their best.
And yet, the Lions beat the Cleveland Browns 34-10 on Sunday, Sept. 28 to advance to 3-1 and claim sole possession of first place in the NFL North — despite underperforming by Detroit’s standards.
The Lions defense failed to get a stop on the Browns’ first drive and allowed an opening-drive touchdown for the fourth time in as many games this season. They are the first NFL team since 2009 to do so.
The Lions were weak in pass coverage. Second-year cornerback Terrion Arnold was beaten early and often, and he was called for several key penalties. If it weren’t for a few drops and miscues by Browns receivers, veteran quarterback Joe Flacco might have had a concerningly big day against the Lions.
The offense struggled to move the ball, which is somewhat excusable against a dominant Browns defense. They only gained 277 yards, significantly less than the 394 yards per game they averaged coming into the game.
The Lions averaged 3.8 yards per rush attempt, leaving plenty to be desired of one of the league’s top rushing offenses.
Jared Goff played sub-par to his own standards, unsuccessfully forcing the ball to Jameson Williams, who only caught two of his eight targets — which included a lousy Goff interception.
As the score clearly indicates, it wasn’t all bad.
Despite the disappointing continuation of the opening-drive touchdown streak, the Lions’ defense held the Browns to just a field goal after that.
The defense capitalized on offensive mistakes and generated three takeaways — Kerby Joseph made one of the easiest interceptions you’ll ever see after an offensive miscommunication, and DJ Reed made one of the most difficult, diving over a falling Jerry Jeudy to trap the ball between one hand and his chest plate. Aidan Hutchinson tacked on a forced fumble during one of his two sacks.
The offensive line continued to establish themselves as an excellent unit in pass protection, keeping Jared Goff on his feet for their third consecutive week without a sack allowed — the longest such streak in the NFL this season.
Despite the relative lack of offense, the Lions were able to put up 34 points.
Detroit made the most of their three redzone trips, scoring all three times with a rushing touchdown by Jahmyr Gibbs and two receiving touchdowns by Amon-Ra St. Brown, which gives him the league lead with six through four games.
The special teams unit more than pulled their weight in the scoring column, delivering field goals of 48 and 58 yards off the right foot of Jake Bates and a 65-yard punt return touchdown by Khalif Raymond.
On Sunday Oct. 5, the Lions head to the Ohio-Kentucky border to square off with the Cincinnati Bengals.
The Bengals are without their superstar quarterback Joe Burrow, and they might hold the worst defense in the league outside of pass rusher Trey Hendrickson.
The only concerning matchup takes place on the perimeter, where Bengals Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins, who might combine to be the best receiving duo in the NFL, might be matched up against depth pieces in the Lions secondary after starting corners Arnold and Reed left the Browns game with injuries.
Arnold’s injury is hoped to not be serious, but his status against the Bengals is uncertain. Reed on the other hand, looked to have a mildly serious hamstring injury that will sideline him against the Bengals, but not for too much longer.
If the backups can hold up well enough to prevent the Bengals’ backup Jake Browning from filling Joe Burrow’s shoes completely, the Lions should be able to limit their offense to a few scores at best.
Barring an unforeseen meltdown, the Lions offense should run through the Bengals’ defense with minimal, and I mean minimal, resistance.
A win against the Bengals would start the Lions 3-0 against the AFC North and keep them atop the NFC North’s divisional hierarchy, making it must-see TV for fans of the Lions and fans of imbalance alike.
