By Colton Pouncy, Joe Rexrode and Jelani Scott
The red-hot Detroit Lions extended their winning streak to five games with a 52-14 beatdown of the Tennessee Titans (1-6) at home Sunday by dominating in all three phases.
Detroit’s win featured another strong offensive showing from the NFL’s No. 2 scoring unit, but the counting stats were diminished by big contributions from the special teams unit, led by Kalif Raymond’s 190 total return yards. Nearly half of that total came on a 90-yard punt return touchdown in the third quarter.
Minutes later, Raymond tallied his second score, catching the third of Jared Goff’s three touchdown passes. In all, Detroit finished with 262 return yards, setting up the offense to be led by Jahmyr Gibbs’ rushing attack.
The @Lions are 6-1 this year, their best start to a season since 1956.
⁰#OnePride pic.twitter.com/Eqv4KPjAm7— Detroit Lions PR (@LionsPR) October 27, 2024
Detroit dominated the field position battle
The Lions finished four points short of setting a franchise record for points in a single game (55). They did it recording just 225 yards of offense. It’s the type of yards-points combination you only get from good field position and contributions from the other phases, which is what the Lions got all game long.
The defense gave up 417 yards of offense, but forced four turnovers in the game and didn’t allow a point since the 14:18 mark in the second quarter. Along with Raymond’s punt returning success, Khalil Dorsey returned one kick for 72 yards to set up a score by the offense. An all-around strong day for Detroit. — Colton Pouncy, Lions beat writer
Lions face daunting road ahead
This win was expected, but it was still good to see a Lions team capable of a convincing win, win convincingly. The next two games should tell us a lot about this team. It’ll go on the road to for an NFC North contest against the Green Bay Packers, then head to Houston to take on C.J. Stroud and the Texans. Two games against good football teams. However, the Lions in their current state look capable of winning any game on their schedule.
Should be a fascinating couple of weeks. — Pouncy
Titans kicking game is a full-blown clown show
The Titans had a 285-133 edge on the Lions in total offense at the half — that’s 26 more yards than the Titans came in averaging per game — and trailed 35-14. Why? Mostly for the same reason that score quickly reached 42-14 in the third quarter.
Colt Anderson’s special teams unit basically can’t cover a kick. The 72-yard Lions kick return set up a short field for a touchdown, and Raymond’s touchdown punt return made it a 28-point game early in the second half. The Titans gave up another long return, and another, but the fourth was called back for a Lions penalty.
Yes, four turnovers also figured large in this humiliation. But special teams has been consistently bad all season for Tennessee, and this was the masterpiece. — Joe Rexrode, Titans writer
Mason Rudolph connected with Calvin Ridley, but didn’t do enough
Rudolph ended up with a productive day, totaling 266 yards and a touchdown on 22-for-38 passing, and this was the most encouraging day by far for Calvin Ridley as a Titan — 10 catches for 143 yards on 10 targets.
The Ridley outcome is encouraging and much-needed. But Rudolph also had a pair of brutal interceptions that led to Lions touchdowns. Nothing has changed on this front. As soon as Will Levis and his sore right shoulder can play, he should return to the starting lineup. — Rexrode
Required reading
- NFL playoff projections 2024: The Athletic’s model predicts the field
- NFL Week 8 scores and live updates: News, inactives, predictions, odds, schedule, channels
- How Jared Goff is making his case for MVP during Lions’ dominant season
- DeAndre Hopkins trade grades: Chiefs get Patrick Mahomes the help he desperately needed
(Photo: Junfu Han / USA Today)
