Detroit Lions grades vs. Falcons: Defensive line gets A-plus in dominant win

Free Press sports writer Dave Birkett grades the Detroit Lions in their 20-6 win over the Atlanta Falcons at Ford Field:

Quarterback

Jared Goff threw his second interception in as many weeks Sunday on a pass that he said was as “about as bad as I’ve thrown a ball in my career.” Turnover aside, Goff had another solid day. He completed 22 of 33 passes for 243 yards despite taking nine quarterback hits behind a leaky offensive line. He missed a wide open Kalif Raymond early in the game on what would have been a 75-yard touchdown and was late on a pass to Sam LaPorta one play before his pick, but he dropped a perfect 45-yard TD pass to LaPorta in the first half and scored on a designed keeper late. On a day the Lions got a dominant performance from their defense, Goff played within himself and took good enough care of the ball to win. Grade: B-plus

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Running backs

Jahmyr Gibbs rebounded from a slow start to finish with 80 yards on 17 carries. He had 37 big yards on the Lions’ fourth quarter touchdown drive and his presence opened the lane for Goff’s TD run, but he was quiet otherwise and the Falcons did a good job minimizing his impact in the passing game by disrupting his routes as soon as he left the backfield. Craig Reynolds handled third down duties because of his blocking ability. Bam Knight added 13 yards on three carries in a bit role. And Jason Cabinda got stuffed on a fullback dive on his only carry of the game. Grade: B-minus

Receivers/tight ends

It was feast or famine for the receiving corps Sunday as LaPorta (eight catches, 84 yards, 1 TD) and Amon-Ra St. Brown (9-102) had monster days while just two other Lions — Gibbs and Kalif Raymond — were even targeted on a pass. LaPorta caught eight of his 11 targets and had two other balls glance of his hands. His presence was enough to free Raymond up for a big third down conversion, and he had a key block on Gibbs’ 8-yard draw on second-and-goal from the 14 late in the first half. LaPorta did miss a block on a 1-yard loss by Gibbs, though that looked like more a function of the play design than anything. St. Brown’s best catch was a diving grab just before halftime. He did have one drop when he tried to one-hand a ball and his 19-yard catch was lucky to stand when officials waved off an offensive pass interference penalty by Josh Reynolds. Marvin Jones hasn’t been targeted since his poor showing in Week 1, though he did have a nice block on Gibbs’ long run Sunday. At some point, the Lions are going to need contributions others in the receiving corps. Grade: B-plus

Offensive line

The Lions played without two starters on their offensive line and lost two players — right tackle Matt Nelson and his backup, Dan Skipper — to injuries Sunday. Colby Sorsdal finished the game at right tackle after repping at guard most of the summer. With all the moving parts, it’s no surprise the Lions struggled up front. Penei Sewell was flagged twice for holding, Frank Ragnow drew a third holding flag and Nelson was called for a chop block. Ragnow was late getting to a second-level block on the Lions’ first rushing play, when Troy Andersen stuff Gibbs for no gain, and allowed a quarterback hit to Grady Jarrett. Nelson missed a block on Kaden Elliss on a tight end screen to LaPorta that was stopped for a loss. And Sewell whiffed on a block on Calais Campbell on another run for no gain, but did have the key block on Gibbs’ 9-yard run. Grade: C-plus

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Defensive line

The Lions’ defensive line had a huge first quarter and it set the tone for the entire game. Aidan Hutchinson tipped a pass at the line of scrimmage on Atlanta’s opening drive, then gift-wrapped a sack for Derrick Barnes with pressure from the right defensive tackle spot on the Falcons’ next series. Hutchinson had four tackles, two pass deflections, two sacks and a forced fumble that he recovered on Atlanta’s final series. Benito Jones beat Drew Dalman with a nice push and pull move for his first sack of the season, Alim McNeill beat Kaleb McGary with an inside move for his sack and had another tackle for loss, and Charles Harris had a coverage sack in the second half. The Lions bottled up Bijan Robinson (10 carries, 33 yards) and made life difficult on Desmond Ridder, and it started with a collective effort up front. Grade: A-plus

Linebackers

The linebacking unit deserves plenty of credit for Atlanta’s struggles rushing the ball, too. The Falcons entered Sunday with one of the best ground games in the NFL and finished with 44 yards on 20 carries. Jack Campbell led the unit with five tackles and got in on the sack part when the Lions brought a five-man pressure on Atlanta’s end-of-half Hail Mary play. Kyle Pitts (five catches, 41 yards) had minimal impact after Seattle’s tight ends chewed up the Lions defense last week. The linebacking unit did miss a handful of tackles Sunday, though, as Malcolm Rodriguez bounced off Robinson on an 11-yard run in the first quarter and Tyler Allgeier trucked Anzalone and Brian Branch on his 17-yard run. Grade: A-minus

Defensive backs

The Lions ganged up on the run, trusted their cornerbacks to win one-on-one battles and bet Ridder couldn’t beat them with his arm. Atlanta’s receivers won some of those matchups early. Ridder hit a pass to Drake London against Cam Sutton for 28 yards and missed another to Pitts on Jerry Jacobs that would have gone for a substantial gain, but the game plan by and large worked. Branch had a huge game with 11 tackles, three for loss and two pass breakups. He has phenomenal football instincts and already is playing like one of the best slot cornerbacks in the league. Branch was flagged for two personal fouls and Jacobs drew two pass interference penalties, which could have been costly had the Lions been playing a better offense. At safety, Tracy Walker and Ifeatu Melifonwu had on big hits on back-to-back plays in the third quarter, with Melifonwu’s forcing a dropped pass by Mack Hollins that would have picked up a first down, while Walker couldn’t hang onto two interceptions. Grade: B

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Special teams

Penalties were an issue on special teams, too, as Will Harris was flagged for holding on a punt just before halftime that saddled the Lions with poor field position and was called for a facemask on another punt later in the game. Riley Patterson made field goals of 24 and 37 yards, Jack Fox netted 43.8 yards on his six punts, thought he put a little too much backspin on a 26-yard punt in the third quarter, and the Lions got good coverage on a pair of short-of-the-goal line kicks, including one big tackle by Rodriguez in the fourth quarter. Grade: B-plus

Coaching

Dan Campbell said he put extra pressure on his coaches and players following last week’s disappointing loss to the Seahawks, and both his coordinators delivered winning game plans despite being hamstrung by injuries. Ben Johnson schemed open deep shots for LaPorta and Raymond and had a creative misdirection play in the red zone that Atlanta sniffed out, and Aaron Glenn turned up the heat with his pass rush against a good offensive line after stifling the Falcons’ run game. Campbell lost his only challenge of the game, but I thought it was a worthwhile gamble given it could have led to a turnover in Atlanta territory. The Lions are going to need more consistent play from their offense going forward, but coming off a tough loss they needed a bounce-back performance and got it. Grade: A-minus

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

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit Lions grades vs. Falcons: D-line gets A-plus in dominant win