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Eric Woodyard, ESPN
DETROIT — After exploding for 189 yards from scrimmage in his “Monday Night Football” debut, Lions rookie Jahmyr Gibbs delivered a message for fantasy managers who have been questioning his production all season.
“I’m tired of hearing it,” Gibbs said with a smile from his locker room stall following Detroit’s 26-14 win over the Las Vegas Raiders. “My fault. My bad.”
With veteran running back David Montgomery ruled inactive for a second straight game, the No. 12 overall draft pick shouldn’t hear much criticism this week as Gibbs put up 29.9 fantasy points after rushing for 152 yards with a touchdown while carrying a heavier load.
Pro Bowl offensive lineman Penei Sewell said the Lions “finally saw the real Jahmyr.”
“He was really comfortable out there, he looked like he had a clear mind and knows the game plan well, so to see him out there doing what he does best, it was honestly crazy,” Sewell said. “I didn’t know he was that fast, and he just makes it look effortless out there — and it makes us look better.”
The Lions’ coaching staff made a conscious effort to get Gibbs going early with 11 touches in the first quarter off eight rushes and three receptions, which were the most touches in an opening quarter in the league since Christian McCaffrey‘s outing in Week 15 of last season.
Gibbs would finish with 31 total touches, as he recorded five receptions for an additional 37 receiving yards. In contrast, the Raiders’ offense totaled just 157 yards on the night.
“It was fun, and it’s good knowing that your coach and teammates got that much trust in you,” Gibbs said.
Over the previous two weeks, the Lions’ run game struggled, with just 124 total rushing yards combined. Against the Raiders, Detroit rushed for 222 yards as Gibbs found a groove.
Lions quarterback Jared Goff said the performance will be a “good little springboard” for Gibbs going forward, with Detroit off to a 6-2 start for the first time since 2014.
“I think it was seeing him get in a rhythm,” Goff said of Gibbs. “Like you could see it where his workload has kind of been on the field, off the field, on the field, off the field, and this was just like, ‘Hey, we’re gonna keep giving you the ball,’ and you could see him kind of start feeling the defense a little bit better, feeling those holes a little bit better, and he can do some pretty special things in space.”
Detroit enters its bye week with the second-best record in the NFC, and there’s plenty of reason for optimism moving forward, as the Lions have the fourth-easiest remaining schedule in the NFL based on their opponents’ record (.421 combined win percentage).
Detroit has five games left against the NFC North and have won six straight divisional games, tied for its longest streak since the 1970 merger.
Lions coach Dan Campbell feels the team accomplished its most important goal of “getting our identity back” following last week’s blowout loss in Baltimore. Entering Monday night’s game, the focus was on getting re-centered and trusting their process, which included a bigger role for Gibbs.
“We felt like there was some things that we could do, and we wanted to get Gibbs going,” Campbell said. “We wanted to be able to establish the run and you could tell he was feeling it. Every week, he’s gotten a little bit better, a little bit better, and I thought last week was his best game and this week certainly surpassed that.
“I think the more he gains his own confidence in his own abilities, in this league, he’s just going to continue to grow, and I think this was kind of the tip of the iceberg, if you will, for what he is able to do and gonna be able to do.”