Jahmyr Gibbs’ standout performance leads the Lions past the Raiders

Rookie Jahmyr Gibbs had a breakout performance, racking up 189 yards and a touchdown on 31 touches as Detroit shook off a loss at the Baltimore Ravens and improved to 6-2 on the season. Las Vegas fell to 3-5.

Raiders defensive back Marcus Peters cut the Lions’ early lead to two points with a pick-six early in the third quarter, but Gibbs responded with a 27-yard touchdown run three possessions later to put the game away for good.

Detroit Lions

Hosting their first Monday night game since 2018, the Lions bounced back from their first road loss of the season by beating the Raiders in front of an enthusiastic crowd at Ford Field.

Coming into the game, Lions receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown was listed as questionable due to illness, but was able to play and finished the night with his 11th career game with 100 receiving yards, passing Roy Williams for most such games by a Lion. In its first three seasons.

However, the night belonged to Gibbs, as the No. 12 overall pick in the 2023 draft announced his prime.

Buy breakout performance: Gibbs. Without returning veteran David Montgomery (ribs) for the second straight week, rookie RB Gibbs carried the load for 189 yards from scrimmage. He finished with 152 receiving yards and 37 receiving yards. The Lions’ running game has struggled over the past two weeks, totaling 124 combined yards during that span. In the first quarter alone, Gibbs had 11 touchdowns, the most in an opening quarter since Christian McCaffrey in Week 15 of last season.

Worrying trend: Incorporating wide receiver Jameson Williams into the offense remains a work in progress. Williams dropped a pass in the first quarter and also lost 6 yards on the final play after getting hit by Las Vegas defensive end Maxx Crosby. Williams, who now has three drops in three games, finished with two catches for 16 yards.

QB Breakdown: Jared Goff completed passes to eight different targets, going 26-for-37 with 272 yards and one touchdown. However, Beck did throw up six in the third quarter. Goff continued to use tight end Sam LaPorta, throwing him an 18-yard touchdown in the second quarter. Over the past two seasons, Goff has thrown 16 touchdown passes to tight ends, second-most in the league behind Patrick Mahomes (22) during that span.

Next match: at Chargers (4:05 p.m. ET, Sunday, Nov. 12)

las vegas raiders

The return of quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo failed to ignite the Raiders’ offense as they lost their second straight game to fall to 3-5.

The offense has been very weak under Garoppolo, who has missed the past two games with a back injury, leading Detroit to beat Las Vegas 486-157. In fact, it was the often-mocked defense that kept the Raiders in the game, at least, until the Lions broke the game open in the fourth quarter. The Raiders have a short week before facing the New York Giants at home.

Describe the game in two words: An unhappy homecoming. Crosby, who donated $1 million to the athletic department at his nearby school in Eastern Michigan, showed up in his return to the Motor City with plenty of pressures and recoveries from a strip and fumble, but it wasn’t enough to tip the scales in the Raiders’ favor.

Promising trend: The defense produced three takeaways. A fumble recovery by linebacker Robert Spillane, a pick-six by Peters, and a fumble recovery by edge rusher Crosby kept the Raiders in the game, even if Peters’ INT was the only forced turnover that led to points for the Raiders.

QB Breakdown: Sure, Garoppolo has missed two and a half games with a concussion and a back injury, but the quarterback, whose biggest selling point when signing with Las Vegas was his knowledge of the scheme and his winning pedigree, doesn’t look comfortable. Consider the first-half stats: 3-of-8 passing for 31 yards without a completion to a wide receiver and an end zone interception for a 9.9 passer rating.

Next Generation’s amazing statistics: Peters is only the third player in NFL history to have six selections to four different teams, joining Deion Sanders and Terrell Buckley. Peters had two pick-six picks with the Kansas City Chiefs, two with the Los Angeles Rams and two more with the Ravens before his 75-yarder with the Raiders in Detroit. In fact, he has six career INT returns of at least 50 yards, which ties Darren Sharper for second most in league history (Sanders had seven).

Next match: vs. Giants (4:25 p.m. ET, Sunday)