5 Detroit Lions game ball candidates vs. Packers

Last week, you all voted Penei Sewell as the game ball winner in somewhat of a landslide, with T.J. Hockenson being the only other candidate to put up a fight. This week the Detroit Lions ended up getting shellacked, but it didn’t seem that way for almost an entire three quarters on Monday night. Let’s take a look at some of the positives:

Frank Ragnow

PFF Grade: 74.4

Ragnow made his presence known on Monday night, paving the way for Jamaal Williams and D’Andre Swift against a weak Packers front to the tune of a 90.9(!!) PFF run blocking grade. Likewise, he was all over the field in pass situations as well, holding up a solid pocket for Jared Goff and making plays like these down the field:

Quintez Cephus

Stats: 4 catches, 63 yards, 1 TD
PFF grade: 65.9

Cephus had a nationally-televised coming out party as the world learned his name and probably assumed him to be the Lions’ number one receiver after Monday night’s performance. He went to work early with some big catches and continued to bully Kevin King throughout the night, including almost coming down with this ball that had Odell Beckham Jr. shaking in his boots:

Cephus stepped up when the Lions needed him most, an admirable performance for the former fifth-round pick who continues to improve.

Charles Harris

Stats: 3 tackles, 1 sack
PFF Grade: 79.5

Harris finally got some recognition, notching his first regular season sack as a Detroit Lion. He and the rest of the edge rushers gave Aaron Rodgers a headache all night in what was one of the more successful efforts of shutting down Rodgers in the pocket in recent Lions memory. The run defense wasn’t stellar, but that was more so on the interior line than the edge rushers.

AJ Parker

Stats: 4 tackles
PFF Grade: 71.8

The fact that you didn’t hear Parker’s name called often when Aaron Rodgers is letting loose on a defense down its two best corners is probably a good thing. The UDFA out of Kansas State is continuing to exceed expectations. Nobody was perfect in that secondary last night, but Parker held his own when asked to handle more than expected and continues to show up in run defense as well.

T.J. Hockenson

Stats: 8 catches, 66 yards, 1 TD
PFF Grade: 81.5

At this rate, I’m starting to feel like it’s going to be hard to exclude T.J. Hockenson from game ball on a regular basis. Hockenson continues to be the one consistent skill player on this team. Jared Goff has taken a liking to him and it shows.