Detroit Lions grades: Jared Goff, RBs get As on big offensive day vs. Chargers

INGLEWOOD, Calif. — Free Press sports writer Dave Birkett grades the Detroit Lions in their 41-38 win over the Los Angeles Chargers on Sunday at SoFi Stadium:

Quarterback

Jared Goff talked after the game about how often the Lions change plays at the line of scrimmage. He said it’s his job “to get to premier plays,” and he did that Sunday. Goff completed 23 of 33 passes for 333 yards with two touchdowns and a handful of drops. He checked into his 25-yard touchdown pass to Brock Wright on third-and-1 in the fourth quarter, and he made big throws on the Lions’ game-winning drive to Amon-Ra St. Brown and Sam LaPorta. Goff excelled in the play-action game, as always, and played a turnover-free game on a day the Lions needed every one of their seven scoring drives. Grade: A

Running backs

Dan Campbell’s vision for a running game came to life Sunday as Jahmyr Gibbs and David Montgomery combined for 193 yards rushing and three touchdowns. Gibbs excelled on toss plays that showcased his quickness and vision. He cut back across field on his 35-yard run that set up his first touchdown and had a 14-yard catch on a tipped pass in the fourth quarter. Montgomery got low to break two tackles on a fourth-and-5 run to keep alive the Lions’ second touchdown drive and showed good vision cutting back on safety Alohi Gilman on his 75-yard TD run. Montgomery (12 carries, 116 yards) also carried out a great fake on Goff’s touchdown pass to Wright, and linebacker-turned-fullback Malcolm Rodriguez made a nice cut block on Joey Bosa on Gibbs’ first TD run. Grade: A

SHAWN WINDSOR: Dan Campbell's faith in his offense pays off for Lions in win over L.A. Chargers

Receivers/tight ends

Campbell called Amon-Ra St. Brown “a stud,” and it’s hard to argue after his fourth straight 100-yard game. St. Brown caught eight of nine targets for 156 yards and scored on a quick screen that was thrown a tick low and he hauled in with his fingertips. No one else in the Lions’ pass game put up huge receiving numbers, but the tight ends and receivers were key to the Lions’ rushing success. Wright had a nice block on an 8-yard Montgomery run in the first quarter, LaPorta had the key block on Jameson Williams’ touchdown that was wiped out by penalty, Williams and St. Brown had big downfield blocks on Montgomery’s 75-yard touchdown run, and Josh Reynolds and Taylor Decker had the blocks to spring St. Brown on his TD. Kalif Raymond did have a pass glance off his hands in the third quarter and Wright had a drop in the second half, but the group’s all-around contributions were significant. Grade: A-minus

Offensive line

The Lions got dominant play from their offensive line for most of Sunday. They ran for 202 yards on 28 carries, not including three kneel-downs by Goff, didn’t allow a sack and gave up only two quarterback hits. Decker did have a questionable but costly chop block penalty that wiped out Williams’ touchdown, but he and Jonah Jackson cleared out the backside with blocks on Montgomery’s long run. Jackson starred early in his return form a high ankle sprain. He and Frank Ragnow had a nice double-team block on Gibbs; 35-yard carry and made the key pulling block on Gibbs’ touchdown run and Montgomery’s fourth-and-5 conversion. On the Lions’ failed goal line series in the first half, Bosa beat a pulling Jackson to edge for a tackle-for-loss that was more on play design than anything, Nick Williams overpowered Frank Ragnow for a stop on third-and-goal. Grade: A

CARLOS MONARREZ: Lions' performance against Chargers makes you wonder if defense is just a mirage

Defensive line

The Lions almost had a great goal line defensive stand in the second half, when they stopped four runs from the 1-yard line in a five-play span before Justin Herbert threw a 1-yard touchdown pass on fourth-and-goal from the 1. Aidan Hutchinson fought off a block from Foster Sarell to make a tackle at the line of scrimmage on the first of those plays, and the middle of line stuffed Herbert on two sneaks. Hutchinson did make a snice spin move on Trey Pipkins after a chip block to pressure Herbert into a low throw on third-and-1 in the first half, but let Herbert slip out of his grasp for a sack in the third quarter on the same series that Julian Okwara was called for a roughing penalty. The Lions didn’t get much pressure outside of their blitz package and didn’t record a sack for the third time this year. Grade: C-minus

Linebackers

Alex Anzalone had a stat-stuffing nine tackles, two quarterback hits and one pass defensed. He had the pass rush that forced Herbert’s interception and he broke up a play with good coverage downfield on a pass to Stone Smartt, though he did miss an open-field tackle on Austin Ekeler on a third-and-4 play. Derrick Barnes and John Cominsky also let Herbert slip out of would-be sacks on a 13-yard scramble on a third-and-5 play. Rodriguez made three tackles in limited defensive snaps, all on the Lions’ near-goal line stand, and the unit did a solid job stopping the run. Grade: C

Defensive backs

Keenan Allen (11 catches, 175 yards, 2 TDs) had a huge day despite missing a large chunk of the second half with a shoulder injury. Cam Sutton spent most of the day shadowing Allen, though the Chargers moved Allen around enough to isolate him in mismatch situations. Allen caught his first touchdown on a well-run post route despite solid coverage from Jerry Jacobs, and his second score came on a misdirection play-action that froze the secondary. Jacobs and Sutton both drew pass interference flags; Jacobs would have allowed a touchdown if not for the penalty. Tracy Walker appeared to be out of position on Herbert’s TD pass to Jalen Guyton, when he came up to play a would-be screen to Derius Davis and left a hole in the deep middle of the field. Kerby Joseph made a spectacular play to get both feet in-bounds on his diving interception and Jacobs finished with two PBUs. Grade: C-minus

Special teams

Riley Patterson didn’t have a big enough leg for the Lions to try a 55-yard field goal early in the game, but he made both his kicks Sunday and drilled the game-winning 41-yarder as time expired. It was a quiet day overall on special teams as the Chargers only returned one of Jack Fox’s seven kickoffs and Fox landed his lone punt early in the third quarter at the 8-yard line. Kalif Raymond only had one punt return, for 12 yards. Grade: A

Coaching

Campbell made the absolute correct decision to keep his offense on the field on fourth-and-2 with 1:47 left, though I’d venture to guess half or more of NFL coaches would have settled for the go-ahead 44-yard field goal in that situation and hoped and prayed their defense could hold up. Campbell had a pulse on what was working Sunday — his team’s offense — and knew he had to keep the game in his offense’s hands. The Lions are lucky to have Ben Johnson as offensive play caller. The play design on Wright’s TD was a thing of beauty, and the Lions went 4 for 5 on fourth down plays and picked up a fourth-and-1 with a creative handoff to St. Brown. Defensively, Aaron Glenn mixed up his pressure packages to keep Herbert off balance early, but the Lions had not answer for the Chargers’ no-huddle game in the second half. This is twice in three weeks the Lions have given up 38 points, but they got the win Sunday because of Campbell’s fourth down call at the end. Grade: A

Contact Dave Birkett at dbirkett@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @davebirkett.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit Lions grades: Jared Goff, RBs get As on big day vs. Chargers