PHILADELPHIA — Richard Silva grades the Detroit Lions in their 16-9 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday.
#### Quarterback
This was Jared Goff’s least efficient outing from a statistical standpoint, and the eye test matched the numbers. Goff, who completed a career-worst 37.8% of his passes for 255 yards, was erratic. The quarterback and his No. 1 option, Amon-Ra St. Brown, could never find their rhythm. Goff targeted St. Brown seven times on third or fourth downs, and they never connected once in those pivotal moments. Goff did, however, nicely layer a 34-yard pass to St. Brown, and his touchdown toss to Jameson Williams was a laser over the middle. He also protected the ball, as his one turnover was the result of a tipped pass. Grade: D
#### Running backs
In a game that featured some ugly offense, Jahmyr Gibbs was unbelievable. He accounted for more than 46% of the Lions’ total yardage, and much of that was courtesy of his own efforts. A large chunk of his 146 yards from scrimmage came on a play in the third quarter, when he caught a screen pass and made a handful of defenders miss on the way to picking up 42 yards. All but one of Gibbs’ catches went for 11 or more yards, and two went for more than 30. Grade: A
#### Wide receivers/tight ends
Williams gave the Lions their only touchdown with a 40-yard score, but his celebration prompted a penalty that cost his team a point, as the PAT was pushed back 15 yards and missed by Jake Bates. St. Brown caught two of his 12 targets for the worst catch rate (16.7%) of his career. The Lions clearly missed Sam LaPorta, who had 273 yards after the catch (YAC) this season before landing on injured reserve. On Sunday, Detroit’s receivers and tight ends combined for 64 YAC. Grade: D
#### Offensive line
One week after Gibbs and David Montgomery combined for 7.1 yards a carry, the Eagles limited the pairing to an average of 3.7 yards. Goff was kept relatively clean (he was sacked twice), but Penei Sewell’s lost rep to Jaelan Phillips on a fourth down in the red zone proved costly. The pressure from Phillips caused Goff to miss tight end Brock Wright, who was breaking open. And while the Eagles’ defensive line didn’t pile up sacks, its members batted down five passes. Grade: D
#### Defensive line
The Lions did well in containing Saquon Barkley, holding the star to 3.2 yards per carry, comfortably under his season average of 3.9. That was in spite of a poor day of run defending from Aidan Hutchinson, who appeared to surrender the edge twice, including on a 17-yard rush by Tank Bigsby on second-and-13. Hutchinson also lost a rep to tight end Cameron Latu, allowing Barkley to get down to Detroit’s goal line and set up a Tush-Push touchdown before halftime. Hutchinson did start to wake up as a pass rusher in the second half, and he split a sack with Roy Lopez in the third quarter. Plus, credit to the interior of the defensive line for stopping the Tush Push twice in a row. Grade: B
Philadelphia Eagles running back Saquon Barkley (26) is stopped as he runs with the ball during the first half of an NFL football game against the Detroit Lions on Sunday, Nov. 16, 2025, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)
#### Linebackers
Jack Campbell and Alex Anzalone had their finger prints all over this one. The former had a team-best 15 tackles, including a takedown of Barkley that caused the Eagles to lose 3 yards. Anzalone, meanwhile, was all over the place, tackling Barkley for an 8-yard loss and playing superb coverage down the field on a deep shot to tight end Kylen Granson. Anzalone’s takedown of Barkley was particularly impressive, as he didn’t fall for Philadelphia’s deception before triggering on the screen to Barkley. Grade: A
#### Secondary
Without three of their five starters in the secondary, the Lions still leaned on man coverage, especially on early downs. The reserves delivered. Amik Robertson and Rock Ya-Sin did well against star receivers A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith on the outside (the duo combined for 57 yards on eight catches), and Thomas Harper, replacing Kerby Joseph at safety, didn’t have any obvious coverage flubs. Robertson also blew up a receiver screen, taking Brown down for a loss of 1 yard. We’re not going to knock Ya-Sin for a bang-bang pass interference that didn’t go his way late. Grade: A
#### Special teams
Detroit’s production in the punt and kick return game was poor. The Lions had an average starting field position between their own 28- and 29-yard lines, and that includes a start at Philadelphia’s 29 after a turnover on downs. Kalif Raymond’s average as a kick returner was 18 yards. He averaged 1 yard on three punt returns. There was also a botched fake punt, but more on that in the next section. Bates made his only field-goal attempt, knocking through a 54-yarder to bring the Lions within one score. Grade: D
#### Coaching
Dan Campbell will never apologize for going for it on fourth down, and he shouldn’t. But when it doesn’t work as much as it didn’t work against the Eagles — the Lions were 0-for-5 — it’s devastating. On the failed fake punt: The Eagles appeared to sniff it out, keeping their starting defense on the field. The Lions got the look they wanted, but perhaps an audible out of the play, given Philadelphia’s personnel, would’ve been wise. How Campbell approached the end of the first half was curious, as well, as he allowed time to run off the clock before the Eagles punched in a touchdown. He also opted to punt with 5:12 remaining despite trailing by 10 points. Grade: F