The Detroit Lions were without Matthew Stafford in Week 10, turning to Jeff Driskel in Chicago. One of the main reasons Driskel had time to put together a solid outing was because of the performance of left tackle Taylor Decker.
Decker had a terrific outing in pass protection and gave the young quarterback plenty of opportunities to sit comfortably in the pocket and examine the field.
Decker’s performance didn’t go unnoticed and Pro Football Focus (PFF) named him as the week’s top left tackle in the NFL, placing him on their Week 10 Team of the Week. This is the second week in a row that Decker has been recognized by PFF on their TOTW.
“Decker earned a 74.3 overall grade and an 82.9 pass-blocking grade against Chicago on Sunday,” PFF’s Austin Gayle said, “allowing zero total pressures across 59 pass-blocking snaps in the process.”
Zero total pressures are a surefire way to help settle a young quarterback and Decker did all he could.
The #Lions highest graded players from their Week 10 loss to the Bears (min 25 snaps):
Offensively- LT Taylor Decker, 74.3 OVR
Defensively- LB Jarrad Davis, 81.5 OVR (5th highest game grade of his career) #OnePride
— PFF DET Lions (@PFF_Lions) November 12, 2019
While Decker was the Lions’ highest-graded player on offense by PFF, Jarrad Davis was the team’s highest-graded defender.
Davis accomplished this by producing one of the best games of his career, on his lowest snap counts of the season. It appeared the Lions took some responsibilities off Davis’ plate — rookie Jahlani Tavai was relaying the defensive calls at times — and let him focus on just playing football and it paid dividends.