Lions vs. Dolphins: What Just Happened

The Lions are .500!!!! Everyone dance to some sort of Miami themed song!

Who doesn’t love Pitbull, am I right?

The Lions appear to be on track now. They’ve won three of their last four games and come out of Miami with their first road win of the year and a .500 record. That win also came over a team that beat the Lions’ division rival Chicago Bears last week. So this was a big win- even if it doesn’t totally feel like one.

As always, I have thoughts on this game. These are those thoughts.

The Kerryon Show

I’m almost mad at Kerryon Johnson. Not because he ran for 158 yards on 19 carries, but because he took so long to get to the Lions. Why wasn’t this kid born five years earlier?

Johnson continues to just go out there and be way better than any of us could have hoped for. If Johnson wasn’t in the Rookie Of The Year conversation before, he definitely is after Sunday. Runs like this make you wonder if Kerryon could someday be one of the very best in the NFL.

The Lions have a legit run game now

Kerryon wasn’t the only one that got down on the Dolphins on Sunday. LeGarrette Blount added 50 yards and a touchdown too. Even Matthew Stafford ran for nine yards. All told, the Lions ran for 248 yards on the ground. That’s a big deal. The Lions had not run for over 200 yards since Thanksgiving 2013.

You can see what this run game is doing for this team. Matthew Stafford only threw the ball 22 times on Sunday because he didn’t really need to. Stafford also got sacked just one time too. A lot of this comes back to the Lions having an actual balanced offense.

Speaking of Stafford

Has this guy been money or what? Since that horrible week one game, Stafford has thrown 11 touchdowns and one interception. He’s completing 70.8 percent of his passes and has a passer rating of 115. On Sunday, Stafford was accurate as all get out again. He completed 81.8 percent of his passes and threw for two touchdowns. If Stafford keeps playing this way and the Lions keep winning, it’s not crazy to put him in the dark-horse MVP discussion.

Michael Roberts is the greatest tight end to ever play the game

Well not exactly, I suppose. However, Roberts did have himself a day in Miami on Sunday. He grabbed three receptions for 48 yards and two touchdowns. He led the Lions in both receptions and receiving yards in this game. No, seriously. That’s not a joke. Stop laughing.

This brings Michael Roberts’ career stat line to eight receptions for 109 yards and three touchdowns. Someone start bronzing that bust.

The Lions got sacks

The division changed a lot on Sunday

Not so much for the Lions, though. They did move up from fourth place into third place. The team that really had a the most change is the team you hate the most: the Bears. They went from first place in the NFC North to dead last.

Sadly this means the Packers move to first place despite losing to the Lions. If only the 49ers would have held on in Week 6.

Next week is the big week though. The Lions have a tough one with the Seahawks coming to town. But it’s the rest of the division that has it worse. The Bears play a scrappy Jets team, the Packers play the undefeated Rams and the Vikings play the 4-1 Saints with their high powered offense. The division could be in for another big shift in week eight. What a season. What a division. What a feeling?