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    • Lions offense needs refining, but pass rush is firing on all cylinders
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    Lions offense needs refining, but pass rush is firing on all cylinders

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    Detroit — The Lions were so efficient on their game-winning drive in overtime that you wondered why they didn’t just pound that rock all night. But it wasn’t always so easy.

    Entering overtime, David Montgomery had just 46 yards on 12 carries (3.8 average) and Jahmyr Gibbs had 10 rushes for 37 yards (3.7). Outside of a big splash play on the Jameson Williams touchdown, the passing game wasn’t great either. Quarterback Jared Goff finished 18-for-28 passing for 217 yards, a touchdown and an interception as the Lions escaped with a 26-20 victory over the Los Angeles Rams on Sunday.

    Wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown and tight end Sam LaPorta, who combined for 2,404 receiving yards last season, struggled, managing just seven catches for 58 yards.

    It’s not something to worry too much about. The Lions starters didn’t get any time together in preseason, so Sunday night was their first time with live bullets. But against a young Rams defense, it was fair to expect a more consistent performance in regulation, especially after leading 17-3 early in the second half.

    Head coach Dan Campbell said the rust he saw during Sunday’s game was no different than the first two games he watched last weekend.

    “I just watched the first two games, the Thursday night game, Baltimore-KC, and then Green Bay-Philly … and some of these mistakes show up,” Campbell said. “It’s inevitable, it’s every year, and it really is. It’s the first game and the ones that can just play the best fundamental football — the blocking, the tackling, the targeting, the communication, the caretaking, the smarts, the checkdown — they win.”

    Goff’s interception by John Johnson in the fourth quarter was a great play that ended with a miraculous interception, but he was not to intercept the ball on Detroit’s next drive when Rams cornerback Cobie Durant threw an easy interception in Detroit territory with just over four minutes remaining.

    Goff said it reminded him of the Lions’ season-opening win over the Kansas City Chiefs last year, when they “didn’t play our best game and still won.”

    “There’s a lot of cleaning up to do, and a lot of things we need to get better at,” Goff said.

    The Monday Drive discusses a few more key points from Detroit’s Week 1 win over the Rams:

    Hutchinson leads the way

    Matthew Stafford did everything he could to exact revenge on his former team, and as for the biggest lesson from his performance, Campbell put it best: “It’s almost like you don’t want to hit him because I think he plays better when you hit him.”

    That theory is correct. According to Pro Football Focus, the Lions’ pass rush generated 27 pressures and nine quarterback hits, while Stafford completed 34 of 49 passes for 317 yards, a touchdown and an interception. But ultimately, the Rams’ battered offensive line was outmatched.

    Aidan Hutchinson had 11 pressures (tied with the Cowboys’ Micah Parsons for the most pressures in the league in Week 1) and a sack, Marcus Davenport had six pressures and a half sack, and Levi Onwuzurike had five pressures and a half sack.

    When it came to the outside duo of Hutchinson and Davenport — who the Lions signed to a one-year contract on the open market — Campbell said, “that’s been the vision all along.”

    “That’s what we knew we were going to get when we got Davenport and we felt really good about the production that Hutch brings,” Campbell said. “And then just the thought of someone who can crush the can there … and kind of steer it his way, or the other way around, that’s what Davenport can do.

    “He’s tall, he’s physical, he’s strong, he’s a big man. That was evident today.”

    Crowd at Ford Field cheers

    The Ford Field crowd of 66,530 did not disappoint in a highly anticipated primetime showdown. As far as I know, no decibel records were broken, but the Lions faithful played a big part in the performance.

    Lions rookie cornerback Terrion Arnold thought he’d seen the craziest crowds in the SEC at a college game, but no. He said Ford Field was “a lot louder” Sunday night than Alabama’s Bryant-Denny Stadium and Texas A&M’s Kyle Field, both of which hold more than 100,000 people.

    “When I actually felt my ears vibrate, I thought, ‘Oh, wow. This is amazing,'” Arnold said. “It felt a little bit like an out-of-body experience.”

    Smooth grass surface

    On Sunday, players slipped and slid all over Ford Field, nearly costing the Lions dearly.

    Montgomery blamed himself, saying he just wasn’t running well, but Williams – who remained upright – suspected it might have something to do with the fact that most of the starters were playing on grass for the first time after practicing on it all training camp.

    “I don’t know. I didn’t slip,” Williams said.

    Around the NFC North

    Three of the NFC North’s four teams won their season openers last weekend, with the lone loss coming to Green Bay. The Packers’ frustration was compounded when quarterback Jordan Love, who received a massive contract extension in the offseason, suffered a knee injury that will likely keep him out for at least three or four weeks.

    It’s unclear how the Packers will fill the temporary void under center. They have Malik Willis and Sean Clifford, neither of whom inspire much confidence. Fortunately for the Packers, the upcoming schedule — home against Indianapolis, at Tennessee and home against Minnesota — may be their easiest stretch of the season, but it will take a total team effort to ensure they don’t fall into a major hole in the division race.

    Minnesota, meanwhile, defeated the New York Giants 28-6, thanks to a stellar performance from quarterback Sam Darnold , who completed 19 of 24 passes for 208 yards, two touchdowns and an interception. Granted, it’s just the Giants — who look like they’re headed for the dumps — but it was undoubtedly a successful debut in the post-Kirk Cousins ​​era. I’m intrigued by Darnold’s potential under Vikings head coach Kevin O’Connell, and there’s no reason to believe they can’t have a similar season to what the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and quarterback Baker Mayfield had a year ago.

    In Chicago, the Bears pulled out a win despite a disappointing NFL debut from No. 1 quarterback Caleb Williams, who was 14-of-29 passing for 93 yards and a 55.7 passer rating. The Bears came away with all 24 points on defense and special teams, but that doesn’t seem like a sustainable approach at this point.

    It’s still early, but all indications are that the NFC North will once again lose its division to the Lions.

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    @nolanbianchi

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