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The Detroit Lions got off their two-game skid with an uneven win over the Washington Football Team. It was anything but a perfect game from Detroit, but there were certainly individuals that shined throughout Sunday afternoon.
Early on, the offense was clicking and the defense was making some opportunistic plays in critical times. Late in the game, the Lions obviously let Washington nearly steal the game from them, but some late-game heroics allowed Detroit to grasp victory back just in time.
So let’s hand out some post-game hardware with our weekly Game Ball. Like every week, I will provide five candidates, and your vote will decide the winner. First place in voting gets three Game Ball points, second place gets two, and third place gets one.
Here’s a look at the Game Ball standings through eight games:
Jack Fox: 9
D’Andre Swift: 4
Jamie Collins Sr.: 4
Romeo Okwara: 4
T.J. Hockenson: 4
Matthew Stafford: 3
Frank Ragnow: 3
Adrian Peterson: 3
Marvin Hall: 3
Taylor Decker: 3
Austin Bryant: 2
Kenny Golladay: 2
Matt Nelson: 2
Desmond Trufant: 1
Now here are the Week 10 candidates.
D’Andre Swift
Stats: 16 carries, 81 yards (5.1 YPC); 5 catches, 68 yards, 1 TD
PFF Grade: 78.8
Big day for the rookie @DAndreSwift!#HaveADay | @Lions | #OnePride pic.twitter.com/CI9VGcigsd
— NFL (@NFL) November 15, 2020
The Lions gave D’Andre Swift the first start of his career, and the rookie running back made the most of it. The game plan was clearly surrounding Swift, and it’s hard to imagine him having a more productive day with the touches he got.
He had phenomenal vision, great patience, and was rarely taken down by the first defender who touched him.
And now, a ridiculous about Swift from the Lions PR department:
In yesterday's win, @Lions RB @DAndreSwift joined RB Billy Sims (1980) as the only Lions rookies to produce a game with 80 rushing yards & 60 receiving yards.
— Detroit Lions PR (@LionsPR) November 16, 2020
He and Sims are the only Lions to produce 4 rushing TDs & 2 receiving TDs thru their first 9 career games.#OnePride pic.twitter.com/VVHqXAVxp0
Matt Prater
Stats: 3/3 on FGs (37, 53, 59); 3/3 on XPs)
PFF grade: 91.9
I still can’t comprehend how unbelievable this second statistic is:
A couple of Matt Prater stats from @ESPNStatsInfo & Elias:
— Michael Rothstein (@mikerothstein) November 15, 2020
Prater's 59-yd FG was 4th-longest made FG in NFL history as time expired.
Prater is 22-22 on game-tying or go-ahead FGs in the 4th quarter inside of or at 2-min warning in his career (16-16 in regulation, 6-6 in OT)
Prater should go down as one of the most clutch kickers in NFL history, if not the most clutch kicker. His 59 yarder was a pleasant reminder that despite his recent struggles, the man is still capable of kicking the crap out of the ball in big moments.
Matthew Stafford
Stats: 24-of-33, 276 yards, 3 TDs, 0 INTs, 127.8 passer
PFF grade: 73.6
Stafford was coming off an extremely stressful week. He just had his worst string of two games in his recent career. And without hit top target in Kenny Golladay, Stafford had to face the best pass defense in all of football (by DVOA).
He only responded by posting the league’s best passer rating of Week 10, his highest completion percentage of the year, and his second-highest QBR of the season.
Stafford wasn’t perfect, but he was in command, took what the defense gave him, looked comfortable in the pocket, and even connected on a few deep shots. That’s all you want out of him on a day like this.
Marvin Jones Jr.
Stats: 8 catches, 96 yards, 1 TD
PFF grade: 77.2
For those of you waiting for Marvin Jones Jr. to step up in Golladay’s absence, here it is. Jones was Stafford’s favorite target on Sunday, leading the team with 10 targets and catching eight of them.
None were more impressive than Jones’ toe-tapping touchdown grab in the first half that put Detroit up big:
.@MarvinJonesJr said throw it up❗️#WASvsDET | FOX | #OnePride pic.twitter.com/x6piVO8L35
— Detroit Lions (@Lions) November 15, 2020
Everson Griffen
Stats: 3 tackles, 1.0 sacks, 5 QB hits
PFF grade: 66.5
It looks like it took Griffen just a week to settle into Detroit. While he wasn’t exactly a pass-rushing machine, five QB hits in a game is pretty impressive, even if the opposing quarterback dropped back to pass 57 times in a game.
Griffen picked up his first sack as a Lion, and he often had Alex Smith on the run on Sunday. If he could’ve gotten a little more push from that interior defensive line, he very well could’ve had a couple more sacks on the day.
Poll
Who gets the Week 10 Game Ball?
This poll is closed
-
58%
D’Andre Swift
-
24%
Matt Prater
-
13%
Matthew Stafford
-
1%
Marvin Jones Jr.
-
1%
Everson Griffen