Bold prediction of the week: Lions run over Philly defense

Last week, I stepped way out of the box to claim that the Lions would be in a one-score game in the fourth-quarter against a Rams team that has them severely outmanned. Not only did the Detroit Lions do that, but they entered the fourth quarter with the lead, to everyone’s surprise. Admittedly, the team had to pull out all the stops in order to do so, but nonetheless nice to see our first truly successful bold prediction this season.

Bold prediction of the week: Lions rush for 133+ yards against the Eagles

This seems like an arbitrary number, but it’s not. The Eagles defense is giving up, on average, 133.0 yards per game on the ground to opponents. While the Lions started the year red hot on the ground, their run game has stagnated significantly since then, averaging just 98.2 yards per game as a team. If you count just Jamaal Williams and D’Andre Swift, that number drops to 82 yards per game.

In order for the Lions to meet that 133-yard mark against Philadelphia, that means they’ll need to just be average. I’m not asking them to have a 100-yard rusher or be the best rushing team Philly has faced all season, just be average.

D’Andre Swift, in particula, has struggled on the ground, including two consecutive failed conversions with a yard to go last Sunday against the Rams. However, Swift runs less of a ground-and-pound runner and more so as a home run hitter, and that could bode well for him. If he can take a handful of carries to the Eagles defense’s second level, there’s a chance he could break one for a long highlight run.

Regardless, the Eagles are the third-worst team against the run in yardage this season, so it should be a nice bounce-back game for Swift as a ball carrier. Jamaal Williams can continue to feast in his limited capacity and maybe, just maybe, if the Lions find a way to be up late they can run the ball a little extra to milk the clock out for the Lions’ first win of the season.