Detroit Lions Report Card vs L.A. Rams | Week 1 Review & Grades | Johnny Gaz Sports

[Applause] Monty is just taking over they just put their foot down in this drivve still going wow oh my stretching their legs that's it they just put their muscle up front and did it way to finish it off Monty [Applause] the Lions had to lean on their bread and butter to earn a gritty victory over Matthew Stafford in the LA Rams on Sunday Night Football it wasn't pretty but Detroit starts their season off with a victory welcome back to the channel I am your host Johnny Gaz thank you for returning for another video today we're going to tweak a series here on the channel I'm going to open up my report card series and start handing out grades for the Lions week one Victory against CLA Rams let's go before we get into the one and0 Lions make sure to like the video If You Dig the vibe here at Johnny G Sports if you hit the subscription button and the notify Bell it's the best way to make sure you don't miss any future videos here on the channel we do have a membership option now available we'll be doing live play-by-play game reactions and highlight reactions all throughout the regular season here and of course we have all the funfree content that you've come to love throughout the channel make sure to comment down below what did you think of the Lions Victory on Sunday night football against the Rams was it everything you expected do they have some room for improvement we're going to get into all of that today let's dive into today's [Music] topics the NFL week one slate of games is wrapping up and it was a very exciting start to the NFL season no exception for the Sunday night matchup between the Detroit Lions and the LA Rams the lions are able to eek out a victory in overtime sort of putting their stamp on the game WI the coin toss driving right down the field and scoring a touchdown to earn a victory 2620 over the LA Rams it was the first time Matthew Stafford had returned to Ford Field in the regular season and unfortunately has now lost two games in a row at Ford Field coming off that wild card loss last season the Lions improved to 1 and0 and the Rams will fall to 0 And1 to start the season my report card series will go over the offense defense special teams and coaching grades for the particular week in question we'll also look ahead to that week two match up with the [Music] Bucks my report card will Begin by breaking down the offense and the individual position groups let's start with the quarterback Jared Goff I think he was a little bit shaky here in week one I think he was okay I just thought that he had some trouble reading through his second and third progressions there anytime he get Jared gof off his schedule things can get a little bit hairy and I think maybe he was quick to pull away from his second progression and get to you know maybe that that next open receiver that's going to come when you don't play playing the preseason and you just don't have the continuity with the entire offensive group and again I think he could be better he had the interception I thought he should have maybe been picked off again there was a dropped intersection in the second half so again a little bit shaky there I gave Jared gof the great of C for this first week performance against the Rams moving over to the running backs I thought this group was really good in week one matchup against the Rams obviously David Montgomery starting the game hot and of course finishing with that amazing Drive I think he had 45 yards alone rushing on that last Drive in overtime to really win the game for the Lions him combined with jir Gibbs getting a little bit more involved in the passing game and I expect to see more and more of that but I just again think kind of reestablishes the Lions true bread and butter that running game really took over there in the overtime period obviously to win it for the Lions so I thought overall their backs were very good you actually even saw sonone vaki get some time um in that third running back roll he s sort of was used in that hybrid fullback motion sort of being able to play off of you know the block going this way running the ball in the opposite direction so really utilizing that room to its full potential I thought in week one so I gave the running backs an A minus here for their match up with the Rams and a little bit in combination with the running backs let's take a look at the offensive line and I gave them a C+ for this game and it might seem a little bit harsh but I think and looking at the totality of the game the lull that they had in the second half they did give up five qu back hits on Jared Goff which included two sacks and again kind of got Jared gof off kilter there a little bit which contributed to his grade but then again they did reestablish themselves the running game ended up being very good 163 total rushing yards and again the reestablishing of the dominance that is their offensive line in running game and overtime it was just so hard to ignore that as they win that game on that David Montgomery touchdown but overall I think there is room for improvement especially in the QB protection area so they did get a C+ from me in this game against the Rams sticking with the offense and the wide receivers and maybe the group that had the biggest shine coming out of this week one with J Mo's performance I think still leaves a little room for improvement I mean overall J Mo had the big day five receptions 121 yards and the long bomb score he was really worked in the offense more than he ever has been and you hope to see that more and more throughout the season but ultimately where was the sun god and I know it was a scheme thing obviously the Rams defense is trying to do everything they can to stop him from going off um but for a week one performance knowing what the wide receiver room looks like you really I at least expected amanra to come out hot and he was nowhere to be found three receptions 13 yards only and no other wide receiver got an attempt at a reception in this game only Aman R st Brown and Jameson Williams otherwise it was a mix of the tight ends the running back room um and you'll probably see more and more of that until they either establish an X wide receiver they may pull somebody up from the practice squad you didn't see guys like Isaiah Williams get any play there Tom Kennedy did get in the game but was not a factor so I again I think they still have questions at wide receiver as much as the Jameson Williams um you know Breakout game is huge and they're going to need more and more of that throughout the season it's a great sign I think there is a lot of room for improvement so this room for me the wide receivers got a C+ and lastly the tight end group I just don't think there was enough tight end presence here in this week one matchup so I I went with a c minus as the Great here Sam laporta had four receptions for 45 yards Parker Hess played a little bit of a role in that hybrid fullback position and Brock Wright did get a little bit of a play but just not much there from the tight end group I know we're expecting a lot in year two out of Sam laporta but again I just don't think there was enough there I don't think they even got involved much in the blocking schemes as they have in in the past season so I'd like to see more out of them here as we get into week two and Beyond overall the offense I am giving a C+ for their performance and we W versus the LA Rams and again I think it was just to up and down we went through the individual position groups I thought the Jared gof performance was too up and down you can't go up 14 points and then go into a lull in the middle of the second half and allow another team regardless of who they are in this case being Matt Stafford in the LA Rams to score the next 17 points the Lions offense is too good to allow that to happen and when you go up 14 I expect the Lions to put their foot down right away in more situations down the the road here this season so there is a lot of room for improvement offensively and I gave them a C+ for this week one grade now let's switch over to the defensive side of the football start with the secondary in this case again I thought they were very up and down now you got to give these guys a little bit of slack of course Teran Arnold a rookie is going to need time to adjust and that is a tough assignment against the LA Rams a guy like puka nikua Cooper cup we know Nika went down in the first half but along with the other receivers and weapons that the Rams have it is a tough adjustment here for a rookie cornerback but I just thought overall they were they were very up and down you know you had the Kirby interception to end the first half that was a great play kind of a tough throw by Matthew Stafford but they end up getting the play that they need out of the secondary to stop the Rams there before the half was over I thought that was a big play um you know I thought Carlton Davis I think his athleticism sort of showed a little bit on the negative side in this game he dropped an interception I thought he was beat by Cooper Cup on a few occasions he wasn't bad overall and again I think not playing in the preseason having to adjust to a new defense and defensive scheme playing with other players we got to give these guys a little bit of leeway but I think there is certainly a lot of room for improvement they really just need more time to gel especially the young guys teron arnoldus rake straw you still have Brian brance adjusting coming off of his injury moving into the secondary role which he I thought played very well he had several pass breakups um I thought was very close to undercutting a few different times and getting an interception again that's Brian bran so again I thought they did a lot of good things um but I thought the middle Crossing patterns were a real problem for the lion secondary in this game and again I think that's that's coming in time understanding scheme and when the pass guys off at the right times and again against Matthew Stafford and the Rams offense it it really the the downside shown through so I think there's a lot of room for improvement I don't think it's a lost cause um but we're still left with a lot of the same questions after week one about the SE secondary so we'll have to see and I gave them an overall grade of a c for this performance against the Rams now let's talk about the defensive line and with most position groups here in this week one matchup it was very up and down let's start with Aiden Hutchinson I thought he was beat around the edge a few times there early in the game but then really started to turn it on there picked up his pressure rate I think he had 11 total pressures and did get a sack in this game Marcus Davenport on the other side also had a half a sack early on in this game and showed a little bit of a pressure rate but I think there's still more to be had there on the other side I think the biggest thing that I noticed was there just was not enough interior pressure and we know DJ reer did not did not play in this game and they expect him back in week two so that should help with that interior but a guy like alen mcneel was absent in this game against the Rams I did not hear his name called once so they're going to need to do a little bit more at that defensive tackle position knowing that the Rams offensive line was a little bit depleted in this matchup I did expect more out of this position group so we'll kind of see what happens when DJ reer gets back into the mix but overall they weren't bad I thought Hutch was pretty good I thought Marcus Davenport showed some flashes of what he could be on the other side um and again they were very Stout in their run defense holding Kyon Williams and their other running backs um down to a very low average and not many yards to be have there on the ground so really the Rams had to turn their rushing attack into that short passing game um to become effective against the Lions so again I thought the defensive line was okay okay there's certainly a lot of room for improvement but we need to be patient with this group as again they get fully healthy and start to establish themselves up front so I did give them a c plus for their matchup against the Rams and the linebackers what I thought was one of the better units here for the Lions on the defensive side of the football against the Rams and you got to start with the captain Alex anzalone he was a straight monster in this game and started off the very first play of the game with a with a huge hit to sort of set the tone I think he was the defensive player of the game for the Lions he had 133 tack three tackles for loss and was all over the field I mean he is such an underrated linebacker and a huge asset for this Lions team I thought there was still a little left to be desired though in that room I thought guys like Jack Campbell Derrik Barnes Still left a little to be desired there as far as their pass coverage again those middle and intermediate routes really kill them the Crossing patterns which is a combination not only the linebackers but the secondary as well you know pressure can affect that so it all kind of goes hand inand but I thought the linebackers were relatively good I thought Jack Campbell had a couple moments I thought Derrik Barnes got himself in there as far as you know on the Run stuffing side of the defense you know lions run stuffing defense in general was very good and the linebackers are a big part of that so I thought in general you know that crew was very good I gave them a B minus for their grade against the Rams and the defense overall I'm giving a C+ for the game against the Rams again I think there was just a lot of up and down I think you know they were good at points I thought that the very end of the first half after the Lions had gotten points it was tough to to see them allow the Rams to drive right down the field they did end up getting the Kirby Joseph interception there which is great um but the Rams really put themselves in a position there to get points I also thought the Lions defense was very good at the very end of the game they did have to force uh the Rams to punt the football to get the ball back for a chance to tie that game um late so again the defense did what they had to do to get the ball back to the Lions so that they could tie this game up get it to overtime and we know what the Lions offense did there to take over the game so I thought the Lions defense overall left a little bit out there for us they were okay I think we need to give them a little bit more time along with the young guys they have in the secondary the new pieces they've added up front they're going to get DJ reader back hopefully in week two so we got to be patient with this group and hopefully we'll start to see even more marked improvement over the next several weeks and let's look at the Special Teams let's start with the UFL kicker new kicker Jake Bates and I thought he assimilated very well in week one he went two for two very short field goals um but a pressure kick at the end of the game to tie it up and he nailed it so you got to give him credit I thought Jake Bates was very good we'll give him an A minus for his efforts here in week one and then I think Jack Fox may be the best punter in the NFL and I think another unheralded lion he flipped the field several times at the end of the game he gave the Rams a short field yet again he also literally pinned a punt at the one yd line which was accidentally kicked out of the back of the endzone by rookie Enis rraw so he would have had another punt down inside very deep in Ram territory I thought he was very good I gave him an A+ rating here for this particular game overall special teams I gave an A minus I think again we'll have to see a little bit more from Jake Bates as we build a little bit more distance on those kicks can he remain consistent and then can jack Fox just continue to be the all proo punter that he truly is so I thought they were very good in overall I gave the Special Teams and a minus there really wasn't much in return game as far as punts or kick returns khif Raymond had a couple shots at it but didn't get much out of those returns but there were Mo no major Gaff so again I thought special teams played very well against the Rams and lastly you got to look at coaching and I don't think there was any major decisions that went one way or another I thought they were aggressive in the right spots Dan Campbell went forward on the first half fourth down and they end up converting that fourth down I don't think there was much other opportunity to make any major game-changing decisions I think on the other side of the football I did think that the Rams offense sort of picked apart the defense with their middle to short range Crossing patterns and I don't know if there was a lot of adjustments um to make up for that it was very clear that they did not want to give up the big big play and they were pretty successful in doing that um I think they only had the one long pass of 60 yards that was really more of a run after catch situation so they really were not beat over the top and I think that was very clear as part of their game plan but again Stafford really did pick apart that defense and was able to get Dink and dunk up and down the field at will at certain times during this game especially in the second half so there is certainly room for improvement both offensively and defensively but I thought coaching wise the the the grade that they earned was a B for this week against the Rams check what grades would you give to Lions offense defense special teams and coaching for the week one matchup against the LA Rams was I close was I spot on or was I completely off let me know down in the comments what bring [Music] it was a fun game I think it started off slow Lions offense started to kick it into gear there with that long bomb to J but then sort of went into a lull the defense was up and down but did get the stop when they needed to to get the ball back to the offense to put them in a position to tie the game they got a little bit of luck with that coin flip and then inserted themselves in the bread and butter of their offense the offensive line the running game to ultimately leaded the touchdown to win the game in overtime 2620 over the LA Rams I think there's a lot of room for improvement I think we need to give some time to the secondary the defensive line as DJ reer reinserts himself there as the young guys in the secondary start to acclimate themselves throughout the season and as these starters start to actually play together after this week one match up against the Rams what do you expect to see for the bucks in week two you think the Lions have a good shot we'll get into it a little bit more as we get into this week I will give a full game preview for week two coming up against the Bucks Sunday at 1:00 she'll be a lot of fun so come back and see me more than anything else make sure to take care of yourself and your mental health that is so important I want to make sure you come back on future videos if you do dig the vibe here at Johnny gu Sports make sure to hit that like button the subscription button and notify Bell is the best way to make sure you don't miss any future videos there is a membership option now available for $1.99 if you hit that join button I'll walk you through all the options you have to become a part of the family we'll have all the live play-by-play game reactions highlight reactions all the fun stuff including all the free content you come to love here on the channel thank you guys so much for your time go [Music]