By Tim Twentyman, Lions Senior Writer
DETROIT – Detroit Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson said last week’s first-half performance by his offense in Houston was the poorest he’s seen in two and a half years. Both he and his players on that side of the ball vowed they’d be better this week, and boy were they.
The Lions scored touchdowns on all four of their first-half possessions Sunday, the defense continued their stellar play, and that combination led to a big early lead as Detroit coasted to a 52-6 win.
Detroit’s first-team offense racked up 575 total yards and scored on all seven of their possessions before giving way to backups early in the fourth quarter. Detroit’s 644 total yards of offense Sunday were a new franchise record as the victory makes it eight straight wins for the Lions. They improve to 9-1 on the year.
Quarterback Jared Goff finished with a perfect 158.3 passer rating with 412 yards and four touchdowns. Amon-Ra St. Brown (161) and Jameson Williams (124) each finished with over 100 yards receiving with St. Brown finding the end zone twice and Williams once. Detroit rushed for 195 yards.
The Lions’ defense held Jacksonville to just 170 total yards and just two field goals as they continue to show why they’re one of the best units in the league.
Jacksonville kicked off the scoring on a Cam Little 59-yard field goal on their first possession of the game.
Detroit responded on their first possession with a nine-play, 70-yard drive capped off by a David Montgomery 2-yard touchdown run, his fifth straight rushing touchdown at Ford Field.
Jahmyr Gibbs made it 14-3 Detroit early in the second quarter with a 1-yard touchdown run to finish a second impressive drive in a row (13 plays, 93 yards) for Detroit. It’s the ninth time Montgomery and Gibbs have each scored a touchdown in the same game, the most such games by any running back duo in franchise history.
Montgomery found the end zone for a second time midway through second quarter on a 6-yard run to make it 21-3 Lions.
After another punt forced by Detroit’s defense, the offense continued to roll scoring a touchdown on four straight possessions, this one a 27-yard pass from Goff to St. Brown, the eighth straight game St. Brown has caught a touchdown.
Jacksonville added a 35-yard field goal at the end of the half to make it 28-6 Lions at the break.
Detroit received the second-half kickoff and the offense kept on rolling, scoring a touchdown on their fifth straight possession. This one was a 64-yard strike from Goff to Williams. It was the seventh career touchdown grab for Williams and all have been on catches of 30-plus yards.
The Lions made it 42-6 late in the third quarter on Goff’s third touchdown pass of the game, this one to tight end Brock Wright from five yards out.
St. Brown’s second touchdown of the contest was a 9-yarder from Goff early in the fourth quarter and ended the afternoon for both players. Jake Bates added a 54-yard field goal late to make it 52-6.
Goff was impressive all afternoon both throwing and running the football. He completed 24 of his 29 pass attempts for 412 yards with four touchdowns, no interceptions and a passer rating of 158.3.
Goff now has 29 career games with 300-plus passing yards and two-plus passing touchdowns, the sixth most any player has recorded through the first nine seasons of a career. He also scrambled four times for 21 yards.
Backup quarterback Hendon Hooker was 3-for-4 passing for 37 yards.
Jacksonville’s Mac Jones was 17-of-29 passing for 138 yards with no touchdowns, one interception (Kerby Joseph) and a rating of 56.4.
Big moment: Could the Lions keep things rolling in the second half offensively after scoring touchdowns on their first four possessions of the game?
If Jacksonville was going to have a chance at a comeback, they needed a stop after kicking the second-half kickoff to Detroit. Instead, Goff found Williams for a 64-yard touchdown to make it 35-6 and end any hope of a Jaguars comeback.
Key stats: The Lions recorded 19 first downs in the first half, the most for the team in a first half since at least 1991 when the stat was first tracked.
The Lions out-gained Jacksonville 645-to-170 in the contest.