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Lions Equipped to Punish Weak NFL Teams

Lions have become adept at maintaining high level of play.

Vito Chirco

Detroit Lions wide receiver Tim Patrick (17).
Detroit Lions wide receiver Tim Patrick (17). / Junfu Han / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
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Do yourself a favor and steer clear of the Detroit Lions right now. Because they are a fast-moving freight train, with no sign of slowing down any time soon.

They reaffirmed that's the case with their 52-6 beatdown of the Jacksonville Jaguars Sunday. They dominated the Jaguars in all three phases of the game (offense, defense and special teams), and delivered Jacksonville its worst loss in franchise history. The annihilation also likely spells the end of the Doug Pederson era in Jacksonville.

Dan Campbell's squad set a variety of franchise records in the Week 11 contest. Most notably, Detroit established the franchise record for biggest margin of victory (46), total yards in a single game (644) and most first downs in a single game (38). 

In holding the Jaguars to just 170 total yards, the Lions also notched the largest yardage differential in a game since 1979 and the third-largest yard disparity in NFL history, per Hayden Winks at Underdog Fantasy.

Along with all that, the 52-6 win marked the fourth time Detroit has scored 42-or-more points in a game in 2024, plus the Lions’ third victory this season by 38-or-more points. Campbell & Co. now have the distinction of being the third team in the Super Bowl era to compile three wins by such a margin (and the first franchise to achieve the feat since the 1973 Atlanta Falcons).

For some NFL teams, Sunday's matchup with the lowly Jaguars – a 2-8 team going into the Week 11 tilt – could’ve been the definition of a “trap game.” Not for the Campbell-led Lions, though, a team which consistently brings an “A”-level effort regardless of opponent.

“The reality was they’re a team that has less wins than us, and we could’ve played down to our competition in some ways,” Detroit signal-caller Jared Goff said after the game. “And not to disrespect them, they’re a hell of a squad, but we wanted to play to our standard, (a) nameless, faceless opponent. And that’s not just them, that’s every week. I think we wanted to come out, and yeah, stay on the gas the whole game, no matter what happened."

Goff, who was in dire need of a bounce-back performance after his five-interception outing against the Texans last week, refused to take his foot off the gas pedal Sunday. He proceeded to throw for 412 yards and four touchdowns, recording a perfect passer rating (158.3) for the second time in his career.

He also completed a staggering 82.8 percent of his passes, marking his fifth game this campaign with a completion percentage of at least 80 percent (an NFL record).   

Despite Goff’s subpar performance in Houston, Campbell was not surprised that he and the offense as a whole got back on track against Jacksonville. 

“(The) offense, collectively, I just felt like we were going to be in a good place, and credit to the coaches, but those guys, they took ownership in it,” the fourth-year head man said in the postgame. “And, they wanted to finish better, collectively, and finish down the field, and make plays, and be productive, be efficient, and we did that. But, Goff, I thought Goff was outstanding, once again.”

Unquestionably, Goff and his Lions teammates hold themselves to a high standard, which has helped propel Detroit to its best start to a season (9-1) since 1934.  

“We talked about it all week, holding our standard, what is our standard and exceeding it and trying to push ourselves,” Goff added. “So, regardless of our opponent, we did want to do that this week.”

Detroit accomplished that and then some on Sunday against Pederson’s team. 

And for the season, the Lions’ point differential now stands at +159, the best point differential in the league by far. In fact, no other team possesses a point differential of +100. 

Additionally, the Lions’ average margin of victory has been 18.2 points. 

Simply, Campbell’s squad – equipped with a myriad of playmakers on both sides of the ball – has become a behemoth and a punisher of the NFL’s weakest teams. 

As safety Kerby Joseph – the NFL’s interception leader this season (seven INTs) – put it after the game, if you don’t come ready to play against the Lions, “then you gonna get your ass whooped, for real.” And, Joseph & Co. aren’t going to feel bad about it, either. 

Detroit doesn’t play down to its competition. It maintains the same level of physical and intense play no matter the opponent. 

And, it’s what has made the Lions the NFL’s very best team through the season’s first 11 weeks.

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Vito Chirco
VITO CHIRCO

Vito has covered the NFL and the Detroit Lions for the past five years.  Has extensive reporting history of college athletics, the Detroit Tigers and Detroit Mercy Athletics.  Chirco's work include NFL columns, analyzing potential Detroit Lions prospects coming out of college, NFL draft coverage and analysis of events occurring in the NFL.  Extensive broadcasting experience including hosting a Detroit Tigers podcast and co-hosting a Detroit Lions NFL podcast since 2019. 

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