LIONS STOCK REPORT! 5 risers and 2 fallers after Detroit’s comeback win over the Texans.
This team, man. This. Team.
After an incredible come-from-behind victory for the Detroit Lions over the Houston Texans on “Sunday Night Football,” the boys in Honolulu Blue are sitting at 8-1 and are in a great position as they head into the middle of November.
Let’s jump into this week’s edition of the stock report and see how things shook out during a wild win in Texas.
Stock up: Jake Bates, K
This young man just keeps impressing. Two for two on the night—one much-needed 58-yard bomb, followed by a 52-yard game winner. Kudos to the Lions for leaning into Bates early on in and camp and showing their confidence in him. It is paying huge dividends now in the heart of the regular season.
Stock up: Aaron Glenn, DC
Coaching in front of a ton of family and friends in his native state of Texas, Lions defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn turned in a game for the ages. Time and time again, the offense put the defense in tough situations, and each time the defense did what they had to do to keep the game within striking distance by holding Houston to field goals.
The Lions knew they were going to have to force some turnovers in order to complete the comeback, and they made that happen, too. Operating without star defensive end Aidan Hutchinson has surely been a challenge for the entire defensive coaching staff, but credit to Glenn for making it work.
Enjoy the here and now, Lions fans. Because I think Glenn is going to have no shortage of options to become a head coach next year.
Stock up: Brian Branch, S
Simply put, Branch is quickly becoming one of the best defenders in the entire NFL. On Sunday he had 10 tackles, one tackle for loss, two pass breakups, and one quarterback hit. Branch was all over the field against the Texans, and routinely came up with big plays in big moments for the Lions.
Whether it was knifing into the backfield to stop Texans running back Joe Mixon in his tracks, or coming up with a clutch stop on third down—Branch showed out in a big way on Sunday night.
Stock up: Alim McNeill, DT
We don’t have the numbers on how many pressures or hurries McNeill tallied against the Texans, but I have to imagine there were at least several he will end up being credited for. As far as counting statistics go, McNeill had himself an evening—six total tackles, two for loss, one sack, and one quarterback hit.
He constantly generated pressure up the middle against Houston’s interior offensive line, and on one particular series, he forced a holding and notched a sack on consecutive snaps. Another big-time performance from one of Detroit’s most important defenders.
Stock up: Carlton Davis III, CB
Davis made two of the biggest plays of the entire game when the Lions needed them the most. Both of his interceptions on Sunday evening were timely, but the one coming out of halftime really seemed to set the tone for the Lions throughout the second half.
He is going to get beat here and there. That is just the world we live in with how the rules are slanted towards the offense in the NFL, and especially with as much man-coverage the Lions play. With that said, Davis has been playing some really good football for the majority of the season, and I hope people are beginning to realize that.
Stock neutral: Jameson Williams, WR
It wasn’t a huge night from Williams, but coming off of his two-week suspension, it was good to see him reintegrate himself into the offense. He finished with three receptions for 53 yards, including a couple of clutch catches that ended up moving the chains for the offense.
And while we likely won’t ever know the real cause of the play, it looked like he and quarterback Jared Goff were not on the same page when he tried Williams deep and ended up throwing another interception. Dan Campbell said in the post-game press conference that Williams’ route should have been more vertical.
Stock neutral: Penei Sewell, RT
From my first watch, the one negative that can easily be identified is the sack Sewell gave up that led to one of the five turnovers for the Lions. However, other than that rep, it looked like another dominant showing from the fourth-year pro.
You don’t often hear about right tackles taking over games, but that is exactly what happened in the second half of the Lions’ Week 10 win over Houston. The offense had troubles getting into a rhythm for the majority of the night, and when they needed to get going, they got behind their All-Pro right tackle.
Sewell was an integral part of several of the Lions big plays, including the screen to wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown that cut the Houston lead to three.
Stock down: Ben Johnson, OC
Look, not everyone can be perfect. And as good as Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson has been throughout the last few years, everyone has their off days. And for a while against Houston, it appeared that both Johnson and Goff were flustered by what Houston was doing defensively.
Whether it was an unblocked defender off the edge jumping into throwing lanes, or an inability to get the run game going for the majority of the game—this was not Johnson’s best play-calling day. But when you are an elite team like the Lions, you can overcome just about anything.
Stock down: Jared Goff, QB
Not every one of the interceptions were on Goff, but as the quarterback—the blame is usually going to be on your shoulders. And while he made plays when the team needed them most, it certainly was not Goff’s best day of the season.
With that said, I give him all the credit in the world for not getting discouraged and sticking with it for a full 60 minutes. I know this word gets thrown around this town and this team like crazy, but what a gritty, historic win.