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Eric Woodyard, ESPNOct 27, 2024, 06:43 PM ET
- Eric Woodyard covers the Detroit Lions for ESPN. He joined ESPN in September 2019 as an NBA reporter dedicated to the Midwest region before switching to his current role in April 2021. The Flint, Mich. native is a graduate of Western Michigan University and has authored/co-authored three books: “Wasted, Ethan’s Talent Search” and “All In: The Kelvin Torbert Story”. He is a proud parent of one son, Ethan. You can follow him on Twitter: @E_Woodyard
DETROIT — There’s no doubt in Amon-Ra St. Brown‘s mind that this year’s Detroit Lions — off to their best start since 1956 — are the best squad he has ever been a part of.
With a dominant 52-14 victory over the Tennessee Titans on Sunday, the Lions scored 50-plus points for just the fifth time in franchise history. They’re also the first NFL team to be outgained by at least 150 yards and win by at least 30 points since 1933, when yardage was first fully tracked.
“Definitely the best team I’ve been on since being in this league,” said St. Brown, who has now recorded a receiving touchdown in five straight games. “I thought last year’s team was great — I think we might be even a little better this year — but to start 6-1 is awesome, it’s great. But for us, we have that one week at a time mentality.”
Six different Lions players scored a touchdown, but Tennessee posted 416 total net yards to Detroit’s 225. However, the Lions still managed to dominate the game in all three phases, particularly on special teams, where they logged 231 punt return yards — including wide receiver Kalif Raymond‘s 90-yard punt return for a touchdown in the third quarter.
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Raymond became the first player in franchise history to score a receiving touchdown and a punt return touchdown in the same game, and he credited the team’s success to its lunch pail mentality.
“I think you have a room and a team full of high-character guys who have faced some adversity at some point of their career, and when you have guys that work that hard, care that much and have that much character, you don’t go into any week thinking you’re entitled to anything,” said Raymond, who previously spent two seasons in Tennessee from 2019 to 2020.
The Lions have now scored 172 points (43.0 points per game) over their past four games, the most points in a four-game span within a season in franchise history, according to ESPN Research. And they’re the third team since the 1970 merger to have 13 passing touchdowns and 13 rushing touchdowns to go along with a 100-point win margin through seven games of a season.
The other two teams to do this were the 2009 New Orleans Saints and 1998 Denver Broncos, who both went on to win the Super Bowl.
The Lions are still not satisfied.
“I know that sounds kind of hollow after scoring 52, but there are some things that we can do better on offense when we weren’t down in that red area,” said Lions quarterback Jared Goff, who finished with 85 passing yards.
With the Lions up big, Goff exited the game early in the fourth quarter as backup Hendon Hooker was able to get some reps.
Goff has completed 84.3% of his passes over the past five games — the highest completion rate over a five-game span in NFL history (min. 50 passes), per ESPN Research.
Even as impressive as those numbers have been, coach Dan Campbell is encouraging his team to stay level-headed amid its early success.
“It’s really just about the one that’s in front of us. I don’t feel like it’s something we’re going for the next record — we’re just playing ball,” Campbell said. “We try to play as clean as we can. We’re trying to be as productive as we can.
“The players, they’re urgent about it, they’re accountable to it, and they want more. They know when it’s good and when it’s not, so that’s a credit to them. We still have room to improve, which is great.”
The Lions snapped a six-game losing streak to the Titans. They were playing without second-leading receiver Jameson Williams, who was suspended two games without pay for violating the NFL’s performance-enhancing substances policy.
Detroit scored 52 points despite running on 47 offensive plays, and finished with 61 passing yards to become the third team in league history to score 50-plus points in a game with fewer than 100 passing yards since 1933. The Lions joined the 1950 Giants (51 passing yards) and the 1955 Bears (98 passing yards).
Immediately after the win, Detroit shifted its focus to next week’s NFC North divisional showdown at Green Bay.
“I like where we’re at, we’re in a good place. It’s win No. 6, it’s a perfect setup,” Campbell said. “We get to go to Lambeau this week, I’m already excited. I know the guys are, and so it was good. That’s a good win.”
