Handing out the game ball and unsung hero from the Lions’ heart-breaking loss against the Commanders.
The Detroit Lions’ magical season came to a shockingly abrupt end with a 45-31 loss at the hands of the Washington Commanders . The Lions couldn’t keep rookie Jayden Daniels in-check, as they allowed more than 34 points for only the second time in their last 29 games. Offensively, they snowballed, turning the ball over five times (only the second time this season with more than two turnovers in a games).
This loss felt even more painful than the NFC Championship Game in San Francisco last year, given this season’s accomplishments and the lofty postseason expectations,. Despite all that, there were still some worthy candidates for my final game ball and unsung hero of the season.
Game Ball: Jahmyr Gibbs
Although Jahmyr Gibbs got his backfield partner in crime David Montgomery back for this game, he still produced at an incredibly efficient level and was deserving of the last game ball. A strong case could be made that Gibbs has been the Lions’ best player, in general, over the last four games.
Since Week 16, Gibbs has had four straight 100+ rushing yard games, four straight games with 150+ yards from scrimmage, and totaled 412 touches, 662 total yards (6.8 total yards/touch), and eight touchdowns.
Against the Commanders, Gibbs was nearly unstoppable, particularly in the first half. In his fourth career playoff game, and only his 36th career game, Gibbs recorded 105 rushing yards and two touchdowns on just 14 carries, while he had 70 receiving yards on six receptions. Gibbs was the Lions most reliably dynamic game-breaking player. He averaged 8.75 yards/touch in the game, broke six tackles (per PFF), and gained 11 of the Lions’ 30 first downs (36.67%).
Up until the Lions’ first turnover of the game, a Jared Goff dropback fumble, it appeared Detroit was going to take a 14-3 lead, and that Gibbs was going to jettison them to another 40-burger victory at Ford Field. By halftime, with the Lions trailing by 10 points, Gibbs had 133 total yards as the team’s most productive player.
The Lions’ five turnovers and ensuing trailing game script mitigated the full impact that Gibbs was able to make on the game. The Lions were only able to get one drive in the third quarter, and the Commanders run defense stepped up after halftime, leading to Gibbs only generating 9 yards on five carries in the second half. He was, however, valuable in the passing game, with three catches for 33 receiving yards.
Gibbs’ 175 yards from scrimmage were the fourth most by a running back in a playoff game in the last five seasons. Performances like these will be a reminder for Lions fans, during this long offseason, to be insanely excited for Jahmyr Gibbs in Year 3 next season.
Unsung Hero: Penei Sewell
The Lions’ mammoth franchise pillar, who provides the team with pregame pump-up speeches, was painting a picture of his efforts in pass protection. He caps off a second consecutive First Team All-Pro season with one of his best performances of the season to earn my Unsung H/ero.
Sewell was an absolute rock in pass protection, allowing only one quarterback hurry on 44 pass block reps, including 26 true pass pro sets. Sewell helped to ensure that Goff, who faced continuous pressure up the middle on the day, didn’t have to worry about heat coming from his throwing-arm side. Overall, the passing offense, despite the litany of turnovers, produced 19 passing first downs and 9.4 air yards/attempt. Sewell’s stability on edge was a big factor in that.
The standout right tackle was also a road grader in the run game. Gibbs had seven runs to the right side for 63 rushing yards, including four of his five 10+ yard runs, while Montgomery had two carries for 12 rushing yards to that side.
Another of Sewell’s biggest contributions in the playoff loss was his ability to help Christian Mahogany in his second career start. With Mahogany starting at right guard for the first time in his NFL career, Sewell helped him seamlessly slide in and play like a multiple-year veteran. Frank Ragnow also deserves a ton of credit for helping with Mahogany on multiple combo blocks. It’ll be interesting to see if Mahogany is entrenched as the starting right guard next season, or if the dependable Kevin Zeitler is brought back, and Mahogany is entrenched as the starting left guard.