DETROIT — With three games left, the Detroit Lions know what they have to do to make the playoffs.
Win, win and win (and get some help, thanks to the Chicago Bears beating the Green Bay Packers on Saturday).
It all starts with Sunday afternoon’s game against the Pittsburgh Steelers in Detroit’s home finale. We’re examining the center options if Graham Glasgow can’t play and David Montgomery’s role in this week’s projected depth chart ahead of Week 16’s game:
Quarterbacks
1. Jared Goff
2. Kyle Allen
Jared Goff did his best to will the Lions to victory last weekend in Los Angeles. Goff has thrown for 300-plus passing yards in back-to-back games and hasn’t turned the ball over in three straight. He’ll need to bank on Jameson Williams and Amon-Ra St. Brown once again, but that’s been the strength of this team recently.
Running backs
1. Jahmyr Gibbs
2. David Montgomery
3. Jacob Saylors
4. Sione Vaki
The talk of the week has been about getting David Montgomery more snaps. The Lions deployed both Jahmyr Gibbs and Montgomery at the same time on six snaps last week. If they want to get Montgomery more chances, without cutting into Gibbs’ work, that seems like the best path forward for this Sam LaPorta-less offense.
Montgomery hasn’t had double-digit carries since six games ago. He’s played fewer than 20 snaps in back-to-back weeks — the only two times he’s played so sparingly all season.
“And it’s something I think about a lot, is how do we get them all involved?” Lions coach Dan Campbell said this week. “He’s one of those, when they’re all involved, we’re just better. We’re a better offense. Where do we get him touches? Where do we find them? So, I do. I think about him a lot.”
Wide receivers
1. Amon-Ra St. Brown
2. Jameson Williams
3. Isaac TeSlaa
4. Kalif Raymond
5. Tom Kennedy
6. Dominic Lovett
It’s been the St. Brown and Williams show recently, and that’s a very good thing.
Of the last 69 targets sent to a tight end or wide receiver, 53 of those have gone to the team’s top two pass catchers. Williams has caught a career-best seven catches in three straight games. St. Brown just became the first player in NFL history to catch 90 passes in their first five seasons.
Feed the beast(s).
Tight ends
1. Anthony Firkser
2. Shane Zylstra
3. Giovanni Ricci
Shane Zylstra led the tight ends with 37 snaps in the previous game. Anthony Firkser was next in line with 22 and Giovanni Ricci saw 12 reps as a practice squad elevation. They aren’t seeing many targets, but that’s where things stand at tight end right now.
Offensive line
Starters: LT Taylor Decker, LG Christian Mahogany, C Trystan Colon, RG Tate Ratledge, RT Penei Sewell
Reserves: OT Dan Skipper, iOL Michael Niese, OG Kayode Awosika, iOL Kingsley Eguakun
Questionable: LT Taylor Decker (shoulder/rest), C Graham Glasgow (knee), iOL Trystan Colon (wrist), LG Christian Mahogany (fibula)
Out: OT Giovanni Manu (knee)
One of the tougher calls of the season was what to project at center for Sunday. Graham Glasgow missed the team’s only two real practices of the week due to a knee injury. He missed the Thanksgiving game due to a knee injury and dealt with issues down the stretch last year. Trystan Colon should be an easy name to project there. But a wrist injury paired with some recent struggles makes that more difficult to do right now.
Kingsley Eguakun’s elevation was an easy one to project based on those two injuries. But might it be for more than just an extra body? Eguakun has spent the last two years on the team’s practice squad, appearing in two games this season with three snaps on offense and another 11 on special teams. It wouldn’t be the most shocking thing. But my take is that Colon will get another shot at center off the bat, with Eguakun ready to roll as Glasgow nurses his knee. Colon has struggled mightily through his three starts between center and guard. So, don’t be surprised if the Lions keep an open mind if Glasgow can’t play.
Left guard Christian Mahogany was activated on Saturday and appears ready to make his return. He’s been out since the loss to the Minnesota Vikings in the first game after the bye due to a fibula injury. When it comes to Taylor Decker? He’s a warrior, and at this point, it would be shocking not to see him out there.
Defensive line
Starters: EDGE Aidan Hutchinson, DL Alim McNeill, DT D.J. Reader, EDGE Al-Quadin Muhammad
Reserves: EDGE Marcus Davenport, DT Tyleik Williams, DL Roy Lopez, DL Tyler Lacy, DL Mekhi Wingo, EDGE Tyrus Wheat
The thinking for this group Sunday is not get frustrated and to keep rushing. Aaron Rodgers gets the ball out quicker than any other primary starting quarterback. The veteran Steelers quarterback, 42, is wisely avoiding taking too many hits, as well.
Marcus Davenport was up to 56 defensive snaps in Los Angeles. Alim McNeill played the same amount, too. But the Lions need more from those two if they are going to find a defensive spark through these final three games. McNeill was kept off the box score despite playing so much. Davenport had one quarterback hit and two tackles. The Lions need more.
“But Alim is a guy that we feel like — now Alim has not been playing bad,” defensive coordinator Kelvin Sheppard said this week. “But the caliber of player that Alim is and the standard he’s set for himself is to impact football games. And he feels like — he told me, ‘Coach, I haven’t been doing that. I haven’t been giving you what I should.’ And I told him, ‘Listen, just make sure you’re staying within the framework of the scheme,’ because what you could start to do when you start to hear all this outside noise, you start to kind of feel pressure on yourself, ‘I’ve got to make a play.’ And then you’re going so far off the reservation, you’re doing more harm than good.
“Just kind of find that fine balance. Understand you do need to play better and you do need to impact the game better.”
Linebackers
Starters: (WILL) Alex Anzalone, (MIKE) Jack Campbell and (SAM) Derrick Barnes
Reserves: Trevor Nowaske, Grant Stuard, Malcolm Rodriguez
More of the same from this group. The Lions continue to play a ton of base defense with all three on the field. That is very likely to happen again with the Steelers and all of their jumbo packages. Jack Campbell is playing like an All-Pro, and Alex Anzalone is as good as they get regarding coverage linebackers.
Derrick Barnes bringing more to the pass rush would bring a lot of good. He continues to get chances, with 20 pressures and four sacks across 168 pass-rushing attempts. He hasn’t had a sack since the first game after the bye against the Minnesota Vikings. Barnes has only six pressures across the last six games.
Secondary
Starters: CB D.J. Reed, CB Amik Robertson, S Avonte Maddox, S Thomas Harper
Reserves: CB Rock Ya-Sin, CB Khalil Dorsey, S Jalen Mills, CB Nick Whiteside, S Daniel Thomas
Questionable: Amik Robertson (hand)
Out: S Kerby Joseph (knee, placed on IR)
Amik Robertson is the main question mark this weekend. He suffered a hand injury in the fourth quarter last Sunday and was practicing with a big club on his left hand. But the team was hopeful all week about his chances to play, and Robertson said that was the plan. Now, he’s just deciding whether or not to keep the club on or off for Sunday.
Robertson handled the most snaps in the slot last week while also logging 24 at outside cornerback. That will likely continue, with Robertson sliding inside and Rock Ya-Sin going outside whenever the Lions find themselves in nickel. Detroit’s defense also needs more from this group. DJ Reed and Robertson have been beaten up pretty badly over the previous month.
No other cornerbacks have allowed more catches or yards in coverage than Robertson this season, per Pro Football Focus. And no other cornerbacks have allowed more catches than Reed or Robertson over the last four games.
Special teams
K Jake Bates
P Jack Fox
LS Hogan Hatten
KR Jacob Saylors, Tom Kennedy
PR Kalif Raymond
The Lions tried to get Kalif Raymond and Tom Kennedy on the field at the same time on one punt return. But it almost resulted in disaster. I’d expect Raymond to handle punts and Kennedy to stick on kickoff returns.
