JACKSONVILLE – Jaguars.com senior writer John Oehser each week during the 2024 regular season will speak with a writer or media member covering the Jaguars' opponent.
Up this week:
Tim Twentyman, Detroitlions.com senior writer, on the Lions' matchup with the Jaguars at Ford Field in Detroit, Mich., Sunday.
Q: The Lions are 8-1 with seven consecutive victories and they rallied from a 23-7 halftime deficit for a 26-23 road victory over the Houston Texans Sunday. This looks like one of the NFL's best teams. What's the state of the Lions entering Sunday?
A: They feel really good, and it's a really confident football team. They've won games this season with all three phases, and I think that's where that confidence level stems from. It's not just one side of the football winning and if that side doesn't pick up their slack, you're not going to win. They're getting it from offense, from defense, with special teams. That makes them really confident right now. Head Coach Dan Campbell had a great quote where he said, "We're gaining momentum going uphill right now heading into November." The whole team feels that way. It's a confident bunch. They're riding high off a seven-game win streak with five straight wins on the road. They just had the meat of their schedule. Four of their last five were on the road against teams like Minnesota, Green Bay and Houston. They now have four of their next five at home, so they're feeling really good about themselves.
Q: Quarterback Jared Goff threw five interceptions Sunday and has 16 touchdowns with nine interceptions this season. Assess his season.
A: If you put pieces around Jared and you give him a system that is very quarterback friendly like [offensive coordinator] Ben Johnson's is, I think it's a perfect setup for him. He was the No. 1 overall selection in the [2016 NFL Draft by the Los Angeles Rams] for a reason. He has arm talent. He can throw the football. Now he has been in Ben Johnson's scheme for three seasons. I think they can finish each other's sentences when they sit down. They see football alike, and he has weapons all around him. You talk about the two running backs, Jahmyr Gibbs and David Montgomery, [wide receiver] Jameson Williams, [wide receiver] Amon-Ra St. Brown – who is elite – and a Pro Bowl tight end [Sam LaPorta]. You have a guy who is very comfortable in the system, who can get them in and out of the right play, and then you have weapons around him. It's a perfect recipe for success.
Q: The Lions are second in the NFL in scoring and seventh in the NFL in total yards. What's their identity when it's going right?
A: Versatile. They've won games throwing the football and then obviously they have won games with Gibbs and Montgomery on the ground. They have 100 yards rushing and a touchdown in every single game this season. It really starts up front running the football, but they're a team that thinks if a team is going to focus on taking one thing away, "OK, that's fine. We'll beat you with the other one." That's where a lot of the confidence stems from on offense because they think they are really versatile and can beat teams in a lot of different ways.
Q: The Lions are obviously good everywhere. They're eighth in the NFL in points allowed and 20th in yards allowed. How strong are they defensively?
A: They're deep. Where they've made the biggest improvements is in the secondary. They traded for [cornerback] Carlton Davis, who had two second-half interceptions Sunday that were really key. They drafted [cornerback] Terrion Arnold in the first round of the 2024 NFL Draft and he's settling in really nicely. Safety Kirby Joseph is tied for the NFL lead with six interceptions and [defensive back] Brian Branch is quickly becoming an All-Pro safety in only his second season. That's really where the biggest transformation has come, then you have a veteran guy like Amik Robertson in in the nickel. They are vastly improved from a year ago. They certainly miss [defensive end Aidan Hutchinson], who is out for the season. They've struggled a little bit in some instances rushing the passer. They've had to dial up some blitzes, but they have been able to maintain because that secondary is so much better that when they send that blitz, they can cover behind it. It's really a much-improved secondary.
Q: They also seem to be one of the most resilient the NFL.
A: I think that's something that you learn. When you're a young football team, you have to learn how to win big games, how to take advantage of big moments. The best thing that possibly happened to this team was what happened in the NFC Championship Game last year when they went to halftime with a big lead [before losing to the San Francisco 49ers, 34-31]. You saw all three phases kind of slip away, which was very uncharacteristic of this team. They learned a great deal from that loss and how disappointing it was. I think it's going to help them. It has been huge, and they've certainly taken those lessons into this season.
Q: Many see the Lions as Super Bowl favorites. Is that something they're embracing?
A: One hundred percent. When you go to the NFC Championship Game and you're 30 minutes away from the Super Bowl and you kind of let it slip through your hands, that's certainly the expectation. With all the improvements that they made, all the contributions they got from those rookies last year going into their second season – and you kept both coordinators (Johnson and defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn), which was huge – that has been the goal and something that this team has talked about dating all the way back to the offseason, and it certainly hasn't changed after an 8-1 start.
