Detroit Lions game balls and goats: Lions could be losing both coordinators next year
Free Press sports writer Dave Birkett highlights the best and worst performances from the Detroit Lions' 42-24 win over the Carolina Panthers on Sunday at Ford Field:
Game balls
OC Ben Johnson
Aaron Glenn got a game ball last week for the Lions’ dominant defensive effort against the Packers. This week, it’s offensive coordinator Ben Johnson’s turn.
Down two of his best weapons in Amon-Ra St. Brown and Jahmyr Gibbs, Johnson cobbled together a creative offensive game plan that helped the Lions score a season-high in points. He dialed up a reverse flea-flicker for a touchdown after one Panthers turnover and hit Carolina with a between-the-legs direct snap to David Montgomery for another key first down.
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Johnson turned down a chance to coach the Panthers after last season because he felt he wasn’t quite ready to succeed as a head coach. He’ll be in high demand again this offseason, and there’s a good chance the Lions will lose both him and Glenn this time around.
RB David Montgomery
Montgomery might have been the best free agent signing of the entire NFL offseason. Had had 19 carries for 109 yards and a touchdown Sunday and has 51 carries and four scores the past two weeks.
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With Gibbs out with a hamstring injury, the Lions rode Montgomery hard again Sunday and the physical back delivered. He scored on a 42-yard run on the Lions’ third offensive play and was so effective he got most of the fourth quarter off.
Montgomery said he’s built for the workload he’s shouldered so far: 88 carries (and another five catches) in four games, with one game missed due to injury. And the Lions look ready to ride him into the winter.
LT Taylor Decker
Decker made his 100th career start Sunday and talked emotionally about his time with the Lions afterwards. He’s been a part of some bad teams in Detroit — the Lions have not made the playoffs since his rookie year in 2016 — but the franchise’s longest-tenured player is now an anchor on one of the league’s best offensive lines.
“Nobody wants to be a loser,” Decker said. “You are going to be what your record says you are and I’ve always felt personally like I’m a winner, but I wasn’t. Because that’s not what the record said. But again, it’s one of those instances where you don’t have any choice but to keep showing up. You’re not going to quit, you just have to keep showing up.”
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Goats
Panthers QB Bryce Young
The Lions played too good an all-around game to have any goats, but they got plenty of help from Young. The No. 1 pick of last year’s draft, Young threw two interceptions in his own territory in the first half to put the Panthers in a big hole.
Young did some good things evading pressure and finished a respectable 25 of 31 passing for 247 yards on the day. He has a promising future that will only get brighter once Carolina gets him some help. But on Sunday, at least, his careless play cost his team a chance at victory.
Contact Dave Birkett at dbirkett@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @davebirkett.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit Lions game balls: Ben Johnson's stock can't get any hotter
