“They all count the same, but there are some that feel a little bit different. And this is one of those.”
− Troy Aikman, on ESPN, after the Lions‘ 38-30 win over Baltimore
You live long enough, you get to write a sentence like this:
Monday Night was why so much of America loves the Detroit Lions.
And they do. Love the Lions. And why shouldn’t they? This team, under Dan Campbell, runs out under the bright lights and puts on a show. They beat Super Bowl champions. They beat their former quarterback. They beat teams they are not supposed to beat in games they are not supposed to win.
They did it again Monday night, in an underdog road game against the Ravens that became an imperfect masterpiece. A messy Picasso. No, the Lions didn’t score every time they had the ball. But they scored every time they needed to. No, they didn’t stop every Lamar Jackson scramble. But they stopped him every time they needed to.
No, they didn’t achieve perfection. But they sure got retribution. Remember two years ago, when a 5-1 Lions team came to Baltimore feeling their oats? Those oats were quickly turned to oatmeal, a 38-6 drubbing.
On Monday, it was the Lions scoring 38 points, mostly by running the ball down the throats of the traditionally stingy Baltimore defense. That wasn’t a rushing attack. That was the running of the bulls.
“Two years ago … .we didn’t have a chance,” Amon-Ra St. Brown told ESPN after Monday’s big win that pushes the Lions to 2-1 and tied back atop the NFC North. “We wanted to come in here and show how we can play football.”
Lions grind down Ravens
This is how they played football: By ping-ponging David Montgomery and Jahmyr Gibbs, who combined for 218 yards and four touchdowns on the ground.
This is how they played football. Sacking Jackson seven times — seven times? — and holding the Baltimore rushing attack, Jackson included, to 85 yards, while forcing the mighty Derrick Henry into his third fumble in three straight games, this one in the fourth quarter that sealed the night for Detroit.
This is how they played football: by going for it on three fourth downs and converting all three, including a nail-in-the-coffin fourth-and-2 from midfield. This was late in the game, with the Lions holding a seven-point lead. At midfield? That’s jumping without checking your parachute. That’s skiing off a tower. That’s diving into a shark tank without checking the water.
And of course, it worked. It worked because this is who the Lions have become, a team that, more and more, when everyone is watching, pulls the rabbit from the hat, saws the lady in half, and draws massive cheers from the crowd.
So this time, Jared Goff held the ball just long enough for St. Brown to break loose and catch a perfect surprise pass for 20 yards and put a stake into the heart of the Ravens.
“We kind of had that one in our back pocket all day and I was kind of begging for it throughout the game,” Goff told ESPN. “Dan was holding it. And that was the perfect moment for it.”
Then again, perfect moments are what showmen know best.
Bright lights, Big Lions.
Lions win? Let me count the ways
Trying to pick a best moment from this game would be like trying to pick the best sentence from “Hamlet,” the best stanza from “Les Miserables.” You could choose the relentless running of Montgomery, who burst through the Ravens’ line like a cannonball through a bedsheet, motoring 72 yards before finally being tackled, and finishing the night with 151 yards.
You could point to Sam LaPorta’s timely third-down catches and thankless blocking to open holes. You select the Goff-to-St. Brown-to-Gibbs pitch for a surprise touchdown.
But I think, for sentimental reasons, I’d go with 30-year-old Al-Quadin Muhammad. The Lions are his fifth team in eight seasons. He’s been around, and only played in nine games last year. But they needed him to step up Monday with the injury to Marcus Davenport, and man, did he step up, refusing to let Jackson elude him, sacking the former MVP three times.
And remember, sacking Lamar Jackson three times is like bear-hugging a hurricane three times.
In the Detroit locker room afterward, shown on ESPN, Muhammad was given the game ball by a beaming Campbell.
“I want to thank every player, every coach, everybody that’s in the organization, “ Muhammad gushed. “Because about a year ago, I was home. I was on the couch. So you get an opportunity, you make sure you take advantage of it.”
Wasn’t that the Lions’ mantra Monday night? Get an opportunity, take advantage? So even when they started on their own 2-yard line or their own 4-yard line, they spun gold, chewing the clock on long drives that culminated in touchdowns. Never mind that Baltimore hadn’t given up a 95-yard drive in more than 30 years. Never mind that, under John Harbaugh, this was just the Ravens’ fourth defeat in 26 prime-time home performances.
They should have known. There’s no more “Not Ready” in Detroit’s Prime Time Players. They love the nightlife. They got to boogie. And you should never (remember this ESPN analysts) bet against them when the stage is lit.
Ratings are now sky-high when Detroit plays in prime time. They travel with their own massive cheering section, and they’re followed by a giddy national TV audience that embraces rags to riches stories.
Bright Lights, Big Lions. America loves a good show. And America, more and more, loves this team. Go watch the tape of this game again. You’ll see why.
Contact Mitch Albom: malbom@freepress.com. Check out the latest updates with his charities, books and events at MitchAlbom.com. Follow him @mitchalbom on x.com.
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