Detroit Lions Week 8 Player of the Game: Who gets the game ball vs. Seahawks?

Monday mornings after a loss like the one the Seattle Seahawks handed the Detroit Lions in Week 8, it’s sometimes hard to see any silver lining. Detroit was outclassed in every way against Seattle and lost out on a prime opportunity to gain a game on the rest of the division while picking up a key conference win.

There were so few positives to pull from this game that we aren’t even able to come up with five Player of the Game candidates this week. But before we get into that, here are our Game Ball standings thus far.

(First place in voting gets three points, second place gets two, and third place gets one.)

Game Ball standings through Week 8:

Kenny Golladay - 9.5
Kerryon Johnson - 6
Devon Kennard - 3
Golden Tate - 3
Da’Shawn Hand - 3
Matthew Stafford - 3
Frank Ragnow - 2
Quandre Diggs - 2
Michael Roberts - 2
Darius Slay - 1.5
Romeo Okwara - 1

Here are this week’s candidates for Game Ball:

Marvin Jones Jr.

Stats: 7 catches, 117 yards, 2 TDs

Matthew Stafford’s favorite big-play target from 2017 finally had his breakout performance of this season. Not only was Jones responsible for the Lions’ two scores on the day, but the 56-yard penalty that he drew late in the game gave the Lions one more chance to build a comeback. Of course, the Lions quickly squandered that chance, but without Jones’ efforts on Sunday, this likely would’ve been an even bigger blowout.

Damon Harrison Sr.

Stats: 7 tackles (all solo), 1.0 sacks, 2 TFLs

It’s tough enough to play on a short week after a Monday night contest, but try doing it when you switch teams halfway through the week and only get two practices in before Sunday’s game.

“Snacks” did that with relative ease this week, and looked sharp doing so. The All-Pro defensive tackle completely transformed the defense when he was in there and even had a good game by his lofty standards:

If the Lions can get Harrison in a little earlier in the game, there’s a chance they can prevent an awful run defense performance like Sunday’s, but there is clearly more work to be done by the rest of the defense, too.

Kerryon Johnson

Stats: 8 rushes, 22 yards (2.8 YPC); 6 catches, 69 yards

It wasn’t much of a day on the ground for Johnson, but it’s hard to fault him much for that. However, with Theo Riddick out for another week, the Lions relied heavily upon Johnson in the passing game, especially when working their no-huddle offense. While Johnson wasn’t quite as elusive as Riddick is in that role, he certainly proved capable of taking over that role.

Plus, Johnson gave us this highlight, for which I’m forever grateful.

Romeo Okwara

Stats: 4 tackles, 1.0 sacks, 2 QB hits

The Lions don’t want Romeo Okwara to be a starter, but Ezekiel Ansah’s ongoing struggle through injury has forced their hand. Okwara hasn’t been explosive or game-changing, but he’s done as reasonably good of a job as could be expected. On Sunday, he was responsible for a handful of pressure and got to Russell Wilson a couple of times.

The Lions’ pass rush is not even close to where it needs to be, but Okwara is doing a pretty good job while also maintaining the edge nicely.