Tag: Washington Commanders vs. Detroit Lions

Amon-Ra St. Brown throws deserved shade at the Commanders and WR Dyami Brown

Lions WR Amon-Ra St. Brown throws some deserved shade at the Commanders and WR Dyami Brown after Week 2

Lions wide receiver Amon-Ra St Brown can famously rattle off the names of all 16 wideouts selected before him in the 2021 NFL draft. St. Brown got to go head-to-head with one of those 16 on Sunday, and he took note of the competition.

Washington drafted Dyami Brown at No. 82 overall, 30 picks before the Lions landed St. Brown. While St. Brown was out there setting records in the Lions win, Brown played exactly one offensive snap for the Commanders.

You’d better believe St. Brown took note.

“I didn’t see him in the game much,” St. Brown told reporters after Wednesday’s practice. It was a clear shot at both Brown and the Commanders, proving the motivation and enmity from being overlooked in the draft still burns bright in the “Sun God”.

For the record, Brown has 12 receptions for 165 yards in his NFL career so far. That’s about six quarters of work for St. Brown in Detroit.

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Lions vs. Commanders: Game notes from the Week 2 film review

Lions film room notes on Jared Goff’s big day, disciplined aggression in the run game, great special teams and more

Tuesday mornings are devoted to rewatching Sunday’s Lions performances. Some of those Tuesdays are easier than others, and this week was one of them.

The game film from the Lions’ 36-27 home win over the Washington Commanders in Week 2 revealed a lot of positives from Dan Campbell’s Detroit team. Quite a few initial judgments were confirmed, but there were also some fresh observations that needed the second (and third–I watch both the game and the All-22) viewing to appreciate.

Here’s some of what really stood out from watching the film of the Lions’ triumphant date with the Commanders.

Lions vs Commanders: Best and worst PFF grades from Week 2

Here are this week’s best and worst PFF Week 2 performers for the Detroit Lions against the Washington Commanders.

The Detroit Lions secured their first victory of the season against the Washington Commanders with the help of impressive performances in every facet of the field. The grit and fight that the players showed were nothing short of inspirational.

Amon-Ra St. Brown put on a clinic on offense setting NFL records left and right, turning in the Lions top playmaker. Hutchinson secured his first three sacks of his short NFL career so far, while Rodriguez continues to impress for a sixth-round rookie. The coaches are designing and scheming to allow their players to succeed, especially when injuries wreaked havoc on certain areas. Still, they overcame as a team and walked away as the victors.

Here are this week’s best and worst PFF performers for the Lions in Week 2.

Commanders credit the Lions ‘great offensive play-calling’ in Detroit’s Week 2 win

Commanders coach Ron Rivera and safety Darrick Forest had some nice things to say about the Lions offense after Detroit’s Week 2 win

The Detroit Lions rolled up 36 points on Sunday, vanquishing the visiting Washington Commanders with an overwhelming amount of points. The Lions posted 425 yards of offense on just 61 snaps, gashing the Commanders defense for several large gains.

In his postgame press conference, Commanders head coach Ron Rivera tipped his cap to the Lions for being difficult to defend.

“Big plays. The other team gets paid too, let’s be honest about that,” said Rivera. “We gave them some big plays because we didn’t do our job first and foremost. Secondly, we’ve got to give them some credit too.”

Coach Rivera later added,

“They still ran against us. You’ve got to give them credit, that’s a very gritty football team that came out, they had a lot of energy early on. They fed off the energy around the crowd, and they made a couple things happen and we didn’t respond.”

The Lions ran for 191 yards on 24 carries, including two runs of at least 50 yards. Detroit also throttled the Washington run offense nicely a week after being gashed by the Eagles and QB Jalen Hurts. Rivera credited Lions head coach Dan Campbell for aggressively adjusting and the Detroit players for executing a lot better against his team.

“Again, like I said, that’s a very gritty football team over there,” Rivera said. “I think what  Coach Campbell is doing over there is really solid”

Safety Darrick Forest, who led the Commanders with 10 tackles, was a little more direct in crediting the Lions offense.

“It was scheme,” Forest told reporters after the game. “I felt like they knew exactly what we were in. It was great offensive play-calling.”

That reflects upon rookie offensive coordinator Ben Johnson. His ability to dial up big plays has the Lions offense tied with Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs in leading the NFL with 71 points scored through Sunday’s games of Week 2.

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By the numbers: Breaking down the Lions’ Week 2 win over the Commanders

By the numbers: Breaking down the Detroit Lions’ Week 2 win over the Washington Commanders

The numbers that matter most are 36 and 27, the final score of the Week 2 matchup between the Detroit Lions and Washington Commanders. But a lot of other key numbers and figures factored into how the Lions arrived at that winning margin.

Here’s a look at a few of the important numbers from Sunday’s win in Ford Field:

0 – Commanders points in the first half

0 – Lions turnovers in the game

0 – Catches by Commanders WR Terry McLaurin in the first half, being almost exclusively covered by Lions CB Jeff Okudah

1 – penalty assessed against the Lions, a false start on RT Penei Sewell on the opening drive. One other infraction was declined by Washington.

1 – turnover created by the Lions defense, a Will Harris interception off a deflected pass

2 – points from the Lions defense on the safety caused by DE Charles Harris

3 – sacks by Lions rookie DE Aidan Hutchinson

3 – regular starters on the Lions offensive line who were out with injuries

4 – 3-and-out possessions by the Lions offense, including three in a row spanning halftime

5 – straight possessions to start the game where the Lions defense did not allow a single first down

7 – passing targets for Lions WRs not named Amon-Ra St. Brown. Josh Reynolds caught all three of his targets for 38 yards and a touchdown. DJ Chark didn’t catch any of his four targeted throws.

8 – tackles apiece by Will Harris, Mike Hughes and Malcolm Rodriguez

37 – total rushing yards by the Commanders running backs, on 17 carries

61 – offensive snaps for the Lions

73 – offensive snaps for Washington, 46 of which came in the second half

116 – receiving yards by Lions WR Amon-Ra St. Brown

121.7 – QB rating for Jared Goff, who completed 20-of-34 passes for 254 yards and four touchdowns

191 – total rushing yards by the Lions offense

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Dan Campbell on the Lions’ Week 2 win: ‘We needed that’

Lions head coach Dan Campbell admitted “we needed that” after big Week 2 home win over the Washington Commanders

There was a definite sense of cathartic relief in Lions coach Dan Campbell after Sunday’s win over the Washington Commanders. The 36-27 triumph capped a trying week for Campbell as he shuffled personnel due to injuries and tried to manage expectations with his team favored for the first time in his NFL coaching career.

“Listen, that was a good win for us. We needed that, that was number one,” Campbell said at the beginning of his postgame press conference.

Campbell quickly turned to how well his team came out and treated the Ford Field fans to some good football.

“I thought the defense set the tone for that game, which we felt was going to be critical this week. We needed special teams to make a play. I thought we did with (return man Kalif Raymond) Lif and I thought our coverages were good.

Man, our offense, I thought was steady and reliable, and when we needed it, man, we answered back when those guys made some plays. We did exactly what we needed to do. We were much more detailed and disciplined.”

Campbell’s defense did not allow Washington to pick up a first down until the Commander’s sixth offensive possession. When the Commanders did get their offense rolling late, the Lions own offense was able to step up and keep the lead at a safe distance. The special teams were very good all afternoon, too.

It made the head coach a happy man. The reinforcing invigoration of the win was something Campbell talked about, a topic his coaching mentor, Sean Payton, also brought up on FOX Sports after the game.

“Listen, it feels good to win. That’s what it does, it feels good to win. Because there’s a lot of hard work that’s put in it across the board. I think the best thing about it is our guys, they trust in the system, they believe in what we’re doing as coaches and the schemes, and they believe in how we’re setting them up for success and they believe in the plan and they execute the plan. That’s a credit to those guys. They never gave up. They never lost hope and they won’t ever. That’s how we assembled this team, so they know what we’re capable of. It’s a step in the right direction, but that’s one. That’s
one.”

Campbell’s 1-1 Lions take to the road in Week 3 to face the NFC North rival Minnesota Vikings.

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Look: Top photos from the Lions Week 2 win over the Commanders

Look: Top photos from the Lions Week 2 win over the Commanders

The Detroit Lions notched their first win of the 2022 season, impressively beating back the visiting Washington Commanders 36-27 in Week 2. The Lions raced out to a 22-0 halftime lead and withstood a big rally, pulling out the home win to even their record at 1-1.

This game had a little of everything for the Lions. They ran the ball for almost 200 yards, while QB Jared Goff threw four touchdown passes. Rookie DE Aidan Hutchinson bagged three sacks in the first half. Detroit’s defense even recorded the first safety in a home game since 2016.

Here are some of the best photos taken from inside Ford Field from the Lions’ big win:

Lions rookie report: Aidan Hutchinson helps Detroit to its first win of the season

Lions rookie report: Aidan Hutchinson helps Detroit to its first win of the season

The Detroit Lions shocked the league when they managed to pull out a win against Washington Commanders, and much of the credit for their win can go to members of their rookie class.

Aidan Hutchinson was the star of the show with his three-sack performance on Sunday afternoon.

While he didn’t shine in Week 1, Hutchinson reminded everyone why he was worthy of being drafted second-overall. The Detroit-area native managed to accumulate all three of his sacks on Carson Wentz in the first half of the game.

The rookie came away with six total tackles against Washington. While he had a stellar first half, he did suffer a very minor injury that had him sidelined for a few plays. Though he did get back into the game, he had a noticeable limp and his high level of play started to simmer down.

Helping Hutchinson put pressure on the Commanders’ offense was sixth-round pick Malcolm Rodriguez. The rookie linebacker made waves early on as he was able to take some of the heat off of Hutchinson and let him make plays.

He had a decent day in coverage as well. He struggled to defend against one pass from Wentz late in the game but overall was not the reason why any of Washington’s big plays occurred.

Rodriguez finished the day tied for first in tackles with eight. He also had one quarterback hit early.

It’s rare that a team can find such a talented player in the sixth round, let alone a starting linebacker. The only way is up for Rodriguez this season.

Rookie defensive backs Chase Lucas and Kerby Joseph were active for this game but did not take the field on defense or record a single stat on special teams.

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Lions vs. Commanders: Quick takeaways from Detroit’s Week 2 win

Lions vs. Commanders: Quick takeaways from Detroit’s Week 2 win in Ford Field

The Detroit Lions made the home fans happy with the 36-27 victory over the Washington Commanders in Week 2. An absolutely dominant first half turned into an uneasy battle in the second half, but the Lions made enough plays on both sides of the ball to secure the victory.

Given all the injuries and the defensive lapses that plagued the team in the Week 1 loss to the Eagles, the win is a sweet one for head coach Dan Campbell. Evening the record at 1-1 avoids a catastrophic start to the season that would potentially lose confidence from the players, something Campbell’s mentor, former Saints head coach Sean Payton, noted after the game.

Here are some quick takeaways from watching the Lions victory in real-time.

Dynamic Lions dominate for a half, hold on in win over Commanders

The Detroit Lions dominated the Washington Commanders for a half, then survived a comeback to notch their 1st win of the 2022 season

Congrats to the Detroit Lions on the first win of the 2022 season. The Lions surged out to a huge early lead and then withstood both a nice Washington Commanders comeback and a case of the jitters to secure a 36-27 win.

With the victory, the Lions climb to 1-1. Washington is also 1-1 after losing in Ford Field.

It was something of a tale of two halves.

The first half, my goodness. It might have been the most fun, dominant 30 minutes of Lions football we’ve witnessed in a long time. Just look at the box score from halftime:

The defense smothered the Commanders with pressure and sound execution. Three sacks in the half from rookie Aidan Hutchinson keyed a dominating defense, which outscored the Commanders itself with a safety by Charles Harris. The offense missed some opportunities but posted four scoring drives and scored a touchdown in each quarter, extending the string to 13 straight quarters with a touchdown–the longest streak in the league.

Detroit did extend that streak to 15, but it was a lot less comfortable in the second half. Washington made some nice offensive adjustments, getting nifty Curtis Samuel isolated in space more and dedicating more protection help for QB Carson Wentz.

The Lions responded uneasily. A great touchdown throw from Jared Goff to Amon-Ra St. Brown gave some breathing room. Washington oddly went for two after a TD closed the score to eight, and then they missed an extra point on the next touchdown to provide the odd final margin.

Jared Goff threw four TDs, two to St. Brown. It wasn’t a great day for Goff despite the four scoring throws. He missed a couple of opportunities in going 20-of-34, but Goff avoided giving the ball away and responded with a couple of clutch drives late.

It’s a sweet victory for the Lions and head coach Dan Campbell built around an aggressive defensive style and a dynamic offense. Detroit has now scored 35 points or more in three straight games.