In his first NFL start, Detroit Lions' Jahmyr Gibbs delivers big on game-clinching TD drive
Jahmyr Gibbs had a quiet beginning to his first NFL start, but the Detroit Lions leaned heavily on their rookie running back when it came time to close out Sunday's 20-6 win over the Atlanta Falcons.
Gibbs ran four straight times for 37 yards on the Lions' fourth quarter touchdown drive and served as the decoy on Jared Goff's game-clinching 3-yard TD run.
"I thought (Lions offensive coordinator) Ben (Johnson) called it great there, kind of getting him settled in towards the end and getting some holes for him there at the end certainly behind that left side," Goff said. "They were doing a great job (blocking) with Jonah (Jackson) and Penei (Sewell) and he did the rest. He’s a good player.”
Gibbs, starting in place of the injured David Montgomery, had 17 carries for 80 yards in his most extensive playing time of the season.
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He carried nine times for 25 yards in the first half — two more carries than he had in either of the Lions' first two games — but had just one catch in the game as the Falcons designed a game plan to keep the ball out of his hands.
Atlanta often used a defender to chip Gibbs as he left the backfield on a pass route. Calais Campbell hit Gibbs so hard he knocked him to the ground on the Lions' first offensive snap, forcing Goff to ground the ball.
"It was an interesting plan and I’m sure more teams will do that," Goff said. "It’s a good way to kind of get him off his rhythm when he’s releasing from the backfield. But yeah, I thought it was great, man. This game, he kind of settled into who we know he is and what he can do around the edge, in the middle. He’s a great runner. He’s great catching the ball. He can do kind of a little bit of everything and will be somebody we rely on all year."
Gibbs played a key role on the Lions' first possession of the fourth quarter, with the Lions' clinging to a 13-3 lead.
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After Goff hit Amon-Ra St. Brown for a 17-yard gain on the first play of the drive, Gibbs carried three straight times around left tackle for gains of 4, 12 and 21 yards. He was stopped for no gain on a run to the right on his fourth carry, on first-and-goal from the 8, then came out of the game for one play before re-entering on third-and-goal from the 3.
Sam LaPorta motioned across the line of scrimmage, and Goff faked a handoff to Gibbs on a designed keeper, following LaPorta into the end zone for a touchdown.
Lions coach Campbell joked that was "a great call" because Goff "still thinks he's a running quarterback."
"He doesn’t want anybody to forget that," Campbell said.
As for Gibbs, Campbell said he "did some good things" in his third NFL game against a good Falcons defensive line.
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"We also knew it was going to take a while, we had to just hang in there and have patience about it and keep going," Campbell said. "And look, I thought as that game went on, particularly there late, Gibbs started going. He started to find a little bit of his rhythm, and I think that’s a good thing.
"When the light really comes on, it’s going to come on. And I could feel there towards the end there was a couple of those runs, those back-to-back runs where you feel like, 'All right there he goes, he’s starting to feel this a little bit.' He’ll only get better with time, and with reps he just will.”
Briefly
Matt Nelson, who made his second straight start at right tackle, was carted off the field in Sunday's first half with an ankle injury, and Dan Skipper, his replacement, left with a hamstring injury. Rookie fifth-round pick Colby Sorsdal, a college right tackle who spent most of the summer playing guard, finished the game at right tackle.
"They were making sure we were taking care of Sorsdal, and he battled out there," Campbell said. "He really did. Backs ran hard and we did what we needed to do to control that game, and when you lose a couple of tackles in a game that’s not easy. When you’re without a few pieces that’s not easy for Ben to always call a game like that when you’re missing a few things here and there."
Contact Dave Birkett at dbirkett@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @davebirkett.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit Lions' Jahmyr Gibbs delivers on game-clinching TD drive
