WASHINGTON -- The Detroit Lions are putting on an offensive masterclass heading into halftime with a commanding lead over the Washington Commanders.
Detroit leads 25-10 over the Commanders heading into the break.
And after a week spent talking about the offensive line’s struggles and the ho-hum offense in recent weeks, it couldn’t have come at a better time.
The Lions scored on their first three drives, going four-for-four on third down with 225 net yards of offense and 15 first downs through 28 plays.
They had 97 rushing yards on 13 attempts to that point, highlighted by Jahmyr Gibbs juking Washington’s defense out of its shoes on a 13-yard run on second-and-5 with 9:50 left in the second quarter. Jared Goff was 11-of-15 passing for 128 yards with two touchdowns. He hit Gibbs and Amon-Ra St. Brown for touchdowns in that red-hot span to start the game.
Heck, the Lions even added a two-point conversion after their third touchdown. Commanders defensive lineman Daron Payne was ejected after the touchdown for punching St. Brown after the play. The Lions took advantage of the short two-point attempt, with David Montgomery punching it in to put them up 22-3 early in the second quarter.
Detroit’s defense was bringing the heat for most of the first half, as well. They forced two three-and-outs across their first two times out on the field.
Lions safety Brian Branch notched a sack after Aidan Hutchinson narrowly missed Marcus Mariota to force the punt on the final play of the first quarter. Cornerback Terrion Arnold made a nice pass breakup in the end zone in the first quarter, playing tight and sticky in coverage while adding two tackles on the quest to improve his run defense.
But the Commanders converted on a fourth-and-1 inside the red zone with less than 5 minutes in the half. That conversion set up running back Chris Rodriguez’s touchdown run to make it 22-10 with 3:39 left in the half.
Mariota, starting for Jayden Daniels at quarterback, has completed seven passes on 11 attempts for 98 yards and a 41-yard shot to receiver Jaylin Lane that set up Washington’s lone touchdown drive.
And guess what happened on Detroit’s fourth drive of the game? The Lions converted on fourth-and-1 after the two-minute warning, with Goff hitting tight end Sam LaPorta for a 14-yard gain off the play-action pass to put them into field-goal range.
On fourth-and-1 from Washington’s 18-yard line with about 1 minute left in the half, Kalif Raymond took the pass from Goff for 10 yards with the clock running out. But they failed to punch it in, with kicker Jake Bates hitting the 22-yard field goal to extend their lead to 25-10.
The Lions finished the half four-of-seven on third down, but managed to score on all four drives, thanks to hitting on both fourth-down tries. Kalif Raymond, LaPorta and St. Brown each have four catches with more than 40 receiving yards through the first 30 minutes in Washington.
Veteran Lions offensive lineman Kayode Awosika for the first start at left guard after Christian Mahogany went on injured reserve, as expected. Offensive tackle Dan Skipper has seen a handful of reps as the extra blocker -- and even ran a route -- to open.
Penei Sewell went into the blue medical tent after appearing to get rolled up on in the first quarter. But the star right tackle was back on the field with the offense to start the next possession. Graham Glasgow, the team’s center, went down with an injury with 3:05 left in the second quarter. He was replaced by Trystan Colon after walking off on his own power.
Also, of note, Arnold went to the locker room at the two-minute warning without his helmet. It’s not clear what happened, but it’s something worth tracking in the second half.
The Lions will open the second half on offense after winning the coin toss and deferring.
Also, there has been some speculation from the NFL Network and others about coach Dan Campbell calling plays. Campbell is regularly spotted with a playsheet on the sidelines during games, but the addition of reading glasses has caught some steam on social media. We’ll speak with Campbell after the game to find out more for sure.
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