Jahmyr Gibbs breakout game ignites Detroit Lions past Las Vegas Raiders, 26-14
Jahmyr Gibbs marveled at David Montgomery’s stamina after Montgomery carried 32 times in a win over the Green Bay Packers last month.
“That was crazy,” Gibbs said.
On Monday Night Football, Gibbs nearly did his Detroit Lions teammate one better.
Gibbs, the No. 12 pick of April’s draft, had a breakout performance in the Lions’ first home primetime game in five years, rushing 26 times for a career-high 152 yards as the Lions beat the Las Vegas Raiders, 26-14, at Ford Field.
Gibbs, starting in place of the injured Montgomery, touched the ball eight times on the game’s opening drive and ignited a Lions offense that had struggled to run the ball for two straight weeks.
He added five catches for 37 yards to finish with 189 yards from scrimmage and scored on a 27-yard run in the third quarter. His 26 carries were the most he’s had since at least high school.
The Lions finished with 486 yards of offense and held the Raiders to 157 net yards. They nearly doubled up the Raiders (3-5) in time of possession and dominated play much as they were dominated by the Baltimore Ravens last week.
With the win, the Lions (6-2) are comfortably alone in first place in the NFC North entering their bye and off to their best start since 2014. They lead the Minnesota Vikings (4-4) by two games in the division and are tied for the second-best record in the NFL.
The Vikings lost starting quarterback Kirk Cousins to a torn Achilles tendon in their win Sunday over the Green Bay Packers.
On Monday, playing in front of a raucous crowd and on alumni night when offensive tackle Lomas Brown’s No. 75 was inducted into Pride of the Lions, the Lions jumped to a 9-0 lead on three Riley Patterson field goals and never trailed despite three turnovers and struggles in the red zone.
Jared Goff gave the Lions a 16-7 lead just before halftime on an 18-yard touchdown pass to Sam LaPorta, and Gibbs scored his second touchdown in as many weeks on the Lions’ first possession of the second half then celebrated by jumping over the wall in the end zone and into the crowd.
Goff finished 26 of 37 passing for 272 yards. Amon-Ra St. Brown, playing through flu-like symptoms, had 108 yards receiving on six catches and Craig Reynolds added 74 yards rushing on 14 carries for the Lions, who ran for 222 yards as a team.
Josh Jacobs scored Las Vegas’ lone offensive touchdown on a 3-yard run, and the Raiders got a 75-yard interception return for touchdown by Marcus Peters, Goff’s former teammate with the Los Angeles Rams.
The Lions scored just one touchdown on five trips to the red zone against a Raiders defense that entered the game 30th in the NFL in that category. Patterson made field goals of 31, 33, 44 and 52 yards, missed a 26-yard kick in the fourth quarter, and Reynolds lost a fumble inside the 5-yard line.
Jimmy Garoppolo was 10 of 21 passing for 126 yards for the Raiders.
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Contact Dave Birkett at dbirkett@freepress.com. Follow him @davebirkett.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit Lions defeat Raiders ignited by Jahmyr Gibbs breakout game
