Lions' Week 10 Offensive Grades: D'Andre Swift Sets Career-Highs

Read more on the Lions' offensive grades after their Week 10 victory over the Washington Football Team

On Sunday, the Lions barely avoided their third straight loss, getting bailed out by a 59-yard field goal from Matt Prater as time expired. 

While the defense allowed three consecutive second-half scores and put together another regrettable performance, the offense played a mostly solid game.

Without further ado, here are the grades for all of Detroit's offense after its 30-27 win over the Washington Football Team in Week 10.

Quarterback 

Matthew Stafford badly needed to play a clean game of football, after two straight weeks of multiple turnovers. And he did just that. 

He delivered a 276-yard, three-touchdown performance that included a season-high passer rating of 127.8. 

He started off the game on the right note, with a 55-yard bomb to Marvin Hall with 7:12 remaining in the first quarter to open up the scoring. 

Additionally, he helped the Lions get into position for Prater's game-winning field goal. 

It was a much-needed, bounce-back game from the veteran passer, and it's the reason for his vastly-improved grade from a week ago. 

Grade: A-

Running backs

D'Andre Swift got the first start of his NFL career Sunday, and he made the most of it.

He finished with career-high totals in rushing attempts (16), receptions (five) and receiving yards (68).

He also recorded a touchdown as a pass-catcher, 81 yards on the ground and an average of 5.1 yards per carry. 

It was a strong day from the rookie runner.

D'Andre Swift was electric Sunday for the Lions.  / Kirthmon F. Dozier, Imagn Content Services, LLC

Meanwhile, Adrian Peterson logged a season-low four carries against his former squad, and Kerryon Johnson accounted for a single rush attempt.

They combined for 24 rushing yards on the afternoon (21 for Peterson and three for Johnson).

Swift is clearly the star of the backfield, and needs to remain Detroit's starter at running back the remainder of the season.

Grade: A 

Wide receivers/tight ends 

Marvin Jones Jr. is in the midst of his best stretch of games in 2020.

He finished with a season-high eight receptions for a season-best 96 yards and a score.

It was his third straight game of producing at least one TD reception.

The other notable highlight from the pass-catchers was Hall's 55-yard TD catch toward the beginning of the first quarter.

Among the lowlights was rookie Quintez Cephus failing to track down a deep look from Stafford, which came on the same play as the Chase Young roughing-the-passer penalty that helped set up Prater's game-winning field goal.

Cephus clearly needs some more time, before he's going to be capable of being a part of an NFL team's gameplan on a weekly basis.

Overall, Sunday was an uneven day from the Lions' pass-catchers, leading to the position group's grade below.

Grade: B- 

Offensive line 

The Lions rushed for a total of 105 yards on 21 carries, good for an average of five yards per rushing attempt. 

Stafford was also sacked just once, which came on a safety blitz. And he was hit just one other time beside for that.

Taylor Decker kept the supremely gifted Young and fellow Washington EDGE rusher Montez Sweat at bay all game long, and continued his sack-less streak to open up the 2020 campaign. 

Among one of the only negatives in the contest was a holding penalty committed by Decker, which marked the first time he was called for holding this season.

All in all, it was a highly productive performance from the O-line, which has consistently been the best performing position group on the offensive side of the ball for Detroit this year. 

Grade: A-

More from SI All Lions:

Detroit Lions' Week 10 Snap Counts: Tavai's Playing Time Declines

Marvin Jones on D'Andre Swift: "The Dude is a Crazy Playmaker"

Twitter Reacts: Being Top Mediocre Football Team Not Acceptable

Matthew Stafford Is 'Never Going to Apologize' for Winning

Lions Blow Another Lead, Hang on to Defeat Washington, 30-27

Matt Prater's Late-Game Heroics Salvages Season, for Now

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Published
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.