By Roy J. Akers –www.skyviewsports.net
The last time these two teams met during the 2024 NFC Divisional playoffs, Washington gave a whoopin’ to the top-seeded Lions. Detroit has already dropped more contests this year, with three losses and Jayden Daniels will NOT play for Washington. Detroit looks flat this year, and the Commanders look lost.
That is why they play the game. 3 Up/3 Down
Game Stats
One Up- Amon-Ra St. Brown
St. Brown catches three passes on six first-quarter targets and a TD to help Detroit to a 14-3 first-quarter lead. St. Brown finished with five catches for 58 yards and a TD. His blocking was outstanding. James Williams will be mentioned in the one-down commentary, discussing John Morton.
Two Up – Sam LaPorta
LaPorta is once again a favorite target of QB Jared Goff. LaPorta started earning looks from Goff and ended the first half with four receptions for 45 yards, including a key fourth-down grab late in the first half. LaPorta finishes the game with five grabs for 53 yards and catches the passes when the Lions need first-down grabs to extend drives.
Three Up – Jahmyr Gibbs
Gibbs was spectacular. 175 total yards and three TD’s. OC John Morton has tilted the offense in Gibbs direction in the shared running back tandem with David Montgomery. Gibbs rushed 15 times for 142 yards, two TD’s and a long run of 43 yards. His second rushing TD was a thing of beauty being dragged in the endzone by several players.
One Down – John Morton
Replacing Ben Johnson was not going to be easy for John Morton. Morton has the resume. With more than two decades of NFL coaching experience, John Morton enters the 2025 season as offensive coordinator for Detroit. He spent two seasons guiding The Broncos Bo Nix and Nix completed over 66-percent of his passes for 29 TD’s and 12 picks. The Lions have been another story. David Montgomery rarely touches the football unless its a blowout like against the Commanders. Jameson Williams, he has been missing in action all season. Morton is a vanilla OC when the Lions have a high octane offense. Johnson called the best combination of trick plays not seen for decades. Morton has called a few and they look pedestrian at best and few are called. When your boss Dan Campbell takes the playcalling chores from you, you might want to leave the car running. Morton is worse than bad, he cannot manage this much talent and it shows.
Two Down – Aiden Hutchinson
One pass defensed, and it comes early in the game. Hutchinson is playing with a high motor, but you can tell he is not all the way back from his gruesome leg fractures suffered last season. Hutchinson needs a DL running buddy. He clearly does not have one. It is comical that Lions coaches held out hope Hutch would make it back for the Super Bowl last season. What is the answer? Leave your comments.
Three Down
The Lions team defense looked good in the first half. They held the Commanders to ten points, but in the second half, the Lions looked content to trade scores with the home team. Detroit had two sacks in the game, three TFLs, four PDs, and six QB hits. Marcus Mariota looked way better than he should have for a team that has quiet Super Bowl aspirations this season.
Roy J. Akers covers the NFL and the Detroit Lions for www.skyviewsports.net
