CINCINNATI — At no point during the 37-24 win at Paycor Stadium were the Detroit Lions ever in danger of actually losing to the Cincinnati Bengals.
But despite producing a three-takeaway game in a double-digit victory, the Lions’ defense was dissatisfied with how things ended on Sunday.
The Lions’ defense allowed 21 fourth-quarter points after holding the Bengals to three points in as many quarters, resulting in some frustrated voices in the locker room after the game.
“Me personally, I feel like s—,” said cornerback Amik Robertson, who had a second-quarter interception but gave up a 64-yard touchdown to Bengals receiver Ja’Marr Chase in the fourth quarter.
“I just have high expectations for myself. Outside, you might say that, ‘Well, he caught a pick and he started off fast, he’s all over the field,’ but I do that s— in my sleep. This s— is all about finishing. … We took a step back toward the end of the game, and that s— started with me.”
Robertson was by no means the only player who walked away from Sunday’s game with conflicted feelings. Several players on Detroit’s defense bemoaned the way things ended. The Bengals collected 142 yards of offense and went 2-for-2 on third down as quarterback Jake Browning, who was intercepted three times during the first three quarters, went 8-for-10 passing for 133 yards and three touchdowns in the final frame.
Cincinnati’s first touchdown came after a phantom fourth-down pass interference call on linebacker Alex Anzalone kept a drive alive, and their second came when Browning finally hit a deep shot to Chase, who burned Robertson with a double move on the outside for a 64-yard score.
In the context of the game itself, is it that big of a deal? Not really.
But if it’s a preview of what’s to come, then it absolutely is a bit concerning. The Lions were already without starting cornerback D.J. Reed and lost cornerback Terrion Arnold to a shoulder injury in the third quarter. As Rock Ya-Sin dealt with a lingering issue, Detroit was forced to play Tre Flowers, who just signed with the team this week.
I didn’t think it was indicative of something that would cost them the chance to compete for a Super Bowl or anything like that, but the latest on Arnold’s injury is undoubtedly concerning. The team wouldn’t commit to his injury being season-ending, but Lions coach Dan Campbell saying he’s going to be out for “a long time” certainly raises some alarms.
And the Lions’ next two games are no cupcakes: Detroit travels to play Kansas City (led by quarterback Patrick Mahomes) in prime time next week before returning home for another prime-time game against Tampa Bay (Baker Mayfield) on “Monday Night Football.”
After two straight games of the defense creating most of the big opportunities, the offense needs to find a way to pick up the slack until Reed returns.
Goff good again
It feels like I write about Jared Goff in the Final Drive every single week, because I kind of gloss over him in the game story before realizing that he was way better than I initially recognized. With Giovanni Manu making his first start at left tackle — circumstances that would make any quarterback a little skittish — Goff completed 82.6% of his passes (19-for-23) for 258 yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions with a passer rating of 153.0.
Goff now leads the NFL in completion percentage (75.2%) and touchdown passes (12). He’s tied for fifth all-time in games with a passer rating above 150 (five). On Sunday, he tied an NFL record by recording a completion percentage of at least 70% in his sixth consecutive road game.
Goff and Peyton Manning (2013) are the only two quarterbacks in NFL history to accumulate 12 touchdown passes with a completion percentage of 70% and a passer rating of at least 120 through the first five games of a season.
Since the start of 2024, Goff has the most QB wins (19), highest completion percentage (73%) and most passing yards (5,816) in the NFL.
Not to mention, he’s doing all of this with a new offensive coordinator, who had just one year of experience in coordinating an NFL offense before this season.
And despite many predicting the Lions to faceplant in a post-Ben Johnson era, I haven’t seen one national media member say Goff belongs in the MVP conversation. So, I’m doing it now.
Nobody’s kidding themselves that Goff is as dynamic as Mahomes, Lamar Jackson, or Josh Allen. But Goff is as irreplaceable on his team as those three are on theirs. Isn’t that what the “most valuable” player is? Goff isn’t even seriously allowed in the conversation — as of Monday morning, he’s fifth (+1400) in FanDuel’s MVP odds, behind Mayfield (+1100), Packers quarterback Jordan Love (+850), Mahomes (+600) and Allen (+125).
Not only that, but Goff catches flak for not being able to extend plays when they break down. Yet, it doesn’t seem to hurt him. He just came off a three-game sackless streak, where he deserves much of the credit for staying clean. He doesn’t have as many broken plays as those other three because he’s much, much better at reading the defense pre-snap and figuring out how to gain positive yards before the ball even hits his hand.
Another argument against Goff is that he’s a product of the players around him, but he’s been doing this since 2022, when Kalif Raymond was his WR2, his only reliable tight end (T.J. Hockenson) was traded before Week 9, and Johnson was an unknown entity. His running back tandem that season was Jamaal Williams and D’Andre Swift, who have a combined 15 touchdowns in five collective seasons since they left in the 2023 offseason.
Enough is enough.
At this stage of the NFL season, Goff is the league’s most valuable player. Period.
Takeaways piling up
The Lions are fourth league-wide in takeaways after adding three via interception in Sunday’s win. They almost had two more: linebacker Jack Campbell punched the ball away from Bengals running back Chase Brown and defensive end Aidan Hutchinson strip-sacked Browning.
Both fumbles were recovered by the Bengals, but the point remains the Lions have done a commendable job emphasizing takeaways this season. Takeaways tend to be somewhat volatile, since a lot of it has to do with the offense — Browning certainly didn’t do himself any favors with his three picks — but the Lions have found a way to make it less so.
Linebacker Derrick Barnes said the defense watches every turnover around the NFL each week. Campbell elaborated on the activity, saying it serves as a valuable source of inspiration.
“You may figure out different tricks of the trade. I think sometimes that’s a lot of it. I mean, you watch different styles, how they’re coming out and how guys are getting them,” Campbell said. “The way they punch them out, where they’re coming from … behind or D-line rallying, they’re coming out of the stack, violent tackle on the ball, or a violent hit, the interceptions.
“I think it’s just sometimes, ‘I can put that in my own arsenal, that’s something I could try.’ You see it as just another way to emphasize it.”
Originally Published: October 7, 2025 at 7:14 AM EDT