Lions @ Jets
Final Score: Lions 20, Jets 17
Writer: Mario Adamo Jr. (@marioadamojr on Twitter, /u/dotcaim on Reddit)
What a rollercoaster this game was. The Lions started with the ball and drove the field all the way to the Jets’ 1-yard line. The Lions went for it on 4th and goal but came up short when a Jamaal Williams run would get stuffed behind the line of scrimmage. They ran it four times in a row starting from the Jets’ 7-yard line, they just couldn’t punch it in. The Jets took over on downs and after a quick three-and-out from Zach Wilson and co. the Jets were forced to punt from the back of their endzone. This led to a bad punt, which led to Kalif Raymond taking it to the house to put the Lions on top 7-0. The Jets didn’t do much on their second drive besides a 13-yard pass for Denzel Mims so they were forced to punt again. Lions matched that energy, with an 11-yard pass to Raymond, followed by a quick three-and-out. Zach Wilson reminded us why he was drafted second overall with two deep passes of 33 yards to Garrett Wilson followed by a 40-yarder to C.J. Uzomah for the touchdown to tie this game at 7 apiece. The Lions responded by marching down the field for a Jamaal Williams touchdown! Expect there was a holding penalty. Then D’Andre Swift makes it up with a 9-yard rush! Expect there was another holding penalty. The Lions eventually settled for a field goal to go up again, 10-7.
The next Jets’ drive started with a 21-yard pass to Elijah Moore but an intentional grounding followed by a sack made the offense stall and the Jets were forced to punt. Detriot would do nothing besides a couple of incomplete passes to Swift and punt it back. The Jets marched down the field in 25 seconds thanks to a 50-yard bomb to Jeff Smith, setting up a field goal to tie up the game going into halftime. The Jets got the ball to start the second half, but not for long as Wilson got picked off on the fourth play of the half. The Lions went -1 yards in three plays and were forced to take the field goal despite the great starting field position, taking the lead again 13-10.
The next five drives all ended in punts. The Lions went on to attempt a 54-yarder thanks to two big catches by Amon-Ra St. Brown, but the kick was short and the lead remained three. A 33-yard pass to G. Wilson helped set up a goal-to-go field position. Zach Wilson was stuffed on a QB sneak attempt, but the Jets eventually get in thanks to another Uzomah touchdown. The Jets took the lead, 17-13. The Lions marched down to their own 49-yard line before being faced with a 4th and inches. While the Jets sold out to stop the run, Brock Wright made his first and only grab of the day for a 51-yard touchdown, 20-17. The Jets had 1:49 and all three timeouts to tie it up or win the game. While Wilson made an incredible 20 pass to Moore on 4th and 18, Greg the Leg could not hit the 58-yarder as the clock expires.
Detriot Lions
Quarterback
Jared Goff: 23/38, 252 Yards, TD
While Jared Goff was never going to live up to his ‘Home Goff’ self, he performed above average for his road half. His average fantasy points on the road are an abysmal 8.52, but he nearly doubled that this week. A big thanks to his day being saved from another single-digit performance by a 51-yard pass to Brock Wright on 4th-and-inches to essentially win the game. He looked better than expected facing a tough Jets defense on the road. Goff did not attempt a single pass toward Sauce Gardner.
Running Back
D’Andre Swift: 8 Carries, 52 Yards | 9 Targets, 5 Receptions, 23 Yards
Jamaal Williams: 13 Carries, 33 Yards
Justin Jackson: 6 Carries, 16 Yards | 2 Targets, 1 Reception, 15 Yards
Jason Cabinda: 1 Target
Let’s start with the good D’Andre Swift managers. His nine targets only trailed the Sun God himself for most on the team. His five receptions were tied for second-most, again only behind the Sun God. Finally, his 52 rushing yards lead the team. Now the bad. Every Swift manager can expect Jamaal Williams to get his share of carries, but this is the second week in a row that Justin Jackson has had six carries. On the game’s opening drive the Lions ran it four straight times from 1st-and-goal at the Jets’ 7. Jamaal Williams saw the 1st, 2nd, and 4th down carry while Justin Jackson saw the 3rd. Neither running back made it to the end zone. To see Swift never take the field was frustrating, to say the least. There is a bright side for Swift managers, there were two separate instances when the Lions went to Swift on three straight plays, once on their third drive(pass, run, pass) and again on their fourth(run, pass, pass). Swift has a palatable floor in PPR, but as the goal line carries continue to spread out the heartache grows with it.
Back to Jamaal Williams. Williams is still the goal-to-go guy in Detriot. He had three carries on a goal-to-go situation. He also had an 11-yard touchdown nullified due to a holding penalty. Another unlucky week for Williams who had his fair share of chances. Justin Jackson saw six carries for the second straight week. He had a 12-catch on their third drive. Jason Cabinda saw one target this week, which is nothing more than another headache caused by this backfield.
Wide Receiver/Tight End
Amon-Ra St. Brown: 10 Targets, 7 Receptions, 76 Yards| 1 Carry, 6 Yards
DJ Chark: 2 Targets, 1 Reception, 18 Yards
Kalif Raymond: 6 Targets, 5 Receptions, 53 Yards
Jameson Williams: 1 Target
Brock Wright: 2 Targets, 1 Reception, 51 Yards, TD
James Mitchell: 2 Targets, 2 Receptions, 12 Yards
Shane Zylstra: 1 Target, 1 Reception, 4 Yards
The Sun God continues to shine. Amon-Ra St. Brown led the team in targets, receptions, and receiving yards. On the first drive, he had a stretch of three a catch, a rush attempt, and a catch. While he didn’t find the end zone he was clearly the go-to guy in key situations. Some of those included catches of 12 yards on 3rd-and-3 (1st drive), 12 yards on 4th-and-3 (3rd), and 10 yards on 3rd-and-2 (9th). DJ Chark had a “back to reality” game. He was only targeted twice, once on the first drive and again on the third drive where he caught it for 18 yards. Kalif Raymond was the second star on this offense today. Besides the punt return touchdown, he had catches of 18 yards (1st drive), 11 yards (2nd), and 10 yards (7th). Brock Wright was the “Wright” answer this week. His 51-yard touchdown iced the game on 4th and inches. James Mitchell had two catches on two targets, one in the 1st drive and again in the 3rd drive. Shane Zylstra caught his one target for four yards on the fourth drive.
Made the Wright play on 4th down!#DETvsNYJ | 📺 CBS pic.twitter.com/RkLdogmS3S
— Detroit Lions (@Lions) December 18, 2022
New York Jets
Quarterback
Zach Wilson: 18/35, 317 Yards, 2 TD, INT | 3 Carries, 7 Yards
I know people are going to blame Zach Wilson for this loss, but I don’t think he was so bad. He did have a couple of throws that were too high, maybe a pass that should have been picked off wasn’t, but on the last drive of the game when the Jets needed a miracle he got them in field goal range. He had a sneak attempt called a touchdown initially, only for it to be reversed. He was sacked four times, including twice on the last drive of the game. It’ll be interesting to see how he performs next week against Jacksonville.
Running Back
Zonovan Knight: 13 Carries, 23 Yards
Michael Carter: 4 Carries, 15 Yards | 1 Target, 1 Reception, 16 Yards
Bam, then it hits you. Zonovan Knight had a tough night, only getting 23 yards on 13 carries. To make matters worse, he appeared to hurt his leg at one point in the game. Although he returned to the game he split second-half carries with Michael Carter. Carter had four carries for 15 yards and brought in his only target for 16 yards. The Lions’ defensive plan was to stop the run and let Zach Wilson beat them. The ground game never got going, their longest rush was for six yards by Carter.
Wide Receiver/Tight End
Garrett Wilson: 9 Targets, 4 Receptions, 98 Yards
Elijah Moore: 7 Targets, 4 Receptions, 51 Yards | 1 Carry, 3 Yards
Jeff Smith: 5 Targets, 4 Receptions, 77 Yards
Braxton Berrios: 6 Targets, 1 Reception, 14 Yards, 1 Fumble (Recovered)
Denzel Mims: 2 Targets, 1 Reception, 13 Yards
C.J. Uzomah: 2 Targets, 2 Receptions, 41 Yards, 2 TD
Tyler Conklin: 2 Targets, 1 Reception, 7 Yards | 1 Carry, 2 Yards
Even with Zach Wilson dealing the ball Garrett Wilson still got his. He led the team with nine targets, four receptions, and 98 yards. His longest catch was for 33 yards which set up a touchdown for C.J. Uzomah. Uzomah scored not once, but twice today. These were his first touchdowns of the season. Elijah Moore had a couple of big plays including a 21-yard catch on the 4th drive and a 20-yard catch on the final drive. Jeff Smith caught the 50-yard bomb from Wilson to help get the Jets in field goal range right before the half. Braxton Berrios was targetted three times on the final drive alone. He was clearly the deep-threat speedster of this offense. Denzel Mims had two catches on as many targets for 13 yards. Tyler Conklin caught one of his two targets for 7 yards. He also had a 2-yard rush, a direct snap on 3rd, and 1 on the 8th drive.