The Detroit Lions dropped their fifth game in six tries, but for the third week in a row, the team was on the verge of winning in the fourth quarter. Another rough finish doomed the Lions against the Los Angeles Rams, but there were plenty of individual performances worthy of some praise, so we’re going to give out a Game Ball for Week 13.
But before we do so, here’s a look at the Game Ball standings through 12 games. Reminder: First place in voting receives three points, second place earns two points, and third place in votes gets one point.
Game Ball standings through Week 11:
Kenny Golladay - 13.5
Kerryon Johnson - 11
Damon Harrison Sr. - 10
Darius Slay - 3.5
Devon Kennard - 3
Golden Tate - 3
Da’Shawn Hand - 3
Matthew Stafford - 3
Marvin Jones Jr. - 3
LeGarrette Blount - 3
Frank Ragnow - 2
Quandre Diggs - 2
Michael Roberts - 2
Romeo Okwara - 1
Matt Prater - 1
Sam Martin - 1
Mike Ford - 1
Onto this week’s candidates:
Levine Toilolo
Stats: 4 catches, 90 yards
Though the Lions offense wasn’t great on Sunday, they did finally utilize a weapon they had rarely used all year. Detroit’s tight ends have been MIA all year, but on Sunday Toilolo was owning the middle of the field. Entering Sunday, Toilolo had just six catches for 60 yards on the season. He more than doubled that output on Sunday and gave Detroit’s offense a new dynamic.
Quandre Diggs
Stats: 6 tackles, 2 passes defended, 1 INT
Quandre Diggs murdering people out here pic.twitter.com/QMAz6HqpHI
— Detroit Videos (@DetroitVideos) December 2, 2018
Early in the game, Diggs was absolutely on fire. He got an early pick off of Jared Goff and he was laying some huge hits like the one above.
In a season in which the Lions haven’t gotten many plays out of their secondary, Diggs stands alone on the Lions. He’s not only a valuable piece as a run defender, but he proved on Sunday he’s still very capable of making plays in the passing game, too.
Taylor Decker
Stats: 1 catch, 11 yards, 1 TD
The Lions offensive line had a rough day against a ridiculously good Rams defensive front. But Decker caught a freakin touchdown pass, and he absolutely deserves to be in contention this week because of it.
JUST WATCH IT AGAIN AND TELL ME I’M WRONG:
TOUCHDOWN @__taylordecker!
— Detroit Lions (@Lions) December 2, 2018
*No, you did not read that wrong. #OnePride pic.twitter.com/rKaA2RPKs9
Damon Harrison Sr.
Stats: 7 tackles, 1.0 sack, 1 forced fumble, 1 fumble recovery
“Snacks” was brought to Detroit to help turn around the Lions’ awful run defense. Now that he’s already done that, he’s turning his attention to pass rush. Harrison caught Jared Goff trying to escape edge pressure and brought him down and took the ball with him.
Harrison came to the Lions with just 5.5 sacks in his career spanning over six seasons. In just six games with the Lions, he already has added 3.5. It’s still absolutely unbelievable that the Lions got this guy for a fifth-round pick.
A’Shawn Robinson
Stats: 5 tackles
Next to Harrison, A’Shawn Robinson is doing a hell of a job to complement the veteran defensive tackle. The final statline doesn’t show it, but Robinson was an absolute mauler defending the run, rendering Todd Gurley moot for large portions of the game.
Together with Harrison and Da’Shawn hand, the Lions actually look like they may have some key pieces to their defensive front for 2019. Going into the season, just about everyone thought that would be the weakest part of the roster. Now it appears to be their strength.
VOTE:
Poll
Who gets the Week 13 Game Ball?
This poll is closed
-
15%
Levine Toilolo
-
23%
Quandre Diggs
-
12%
Taylor Decker
-
45%
Damon Harrison
-
2%
A’Shawn Robinson