The Detroit Lions traveled to Miami and struggled to get the offense going early while Kelvin Sheppard’s unit held on to win the game 19-9.
The Detroit Lions were coming off of two important wins back-to-back against divisional opponents. They beat the Green Bay Packers and Minnesota Vikings to get to 2-0 in the division before having an expected week of relief against the Miami Dolphins. They lost Jack Campbell to a terrible injury, and were without Cade Mays, D.J. Reed and D.J. Wonnum to name a few. Christian Mahogany was also benched before the game due to a coaches decision to start Miles Frazier. The Lions were missing these few key players and Miami gave them all they could handle in a hard fought game in South Beach. The Lions offense sputtered throughout the day as the defense did not break to win 19-9.
The Lions offense struggled all game as Miami’s defense got pressure on blitzing and clogged run lanes from Gibbs and Vaki. They forced an early interception on Goff by hitting his arm when the pass rush got to him. Part of the reason the offensive line seemed to struggle today was the coaches decision to start Miles Frazier at left guard over Christian Mahogany. Any time the Lions tried to run behind Frazier on the left side Gibbs seemed to lose yards or get stuffed on most attempts. Mahogany did not enter the game on the injury report, he was fully active and good to go. What did Mahogany do to warrant the benching by coach Dan Campbell? It seemed to hurt the offensive line, the run game and the pass protection all day. The offense was not moving the ball like they usually do in today’s game. The Dolphins defense sacked Jared Goff three times in the first half and was all over forcing disruptions with the Lions offense.
Kelvin Sheppard’s defense had to put in overtime today missing a starting defensive end, starting cornerback and two linebackers. Miami’s offense might not be the best in the league, but Sheppard’s unit played bend do not break defense and held Miami’s offense in check while the offense was struggling to get going. Aidan Hutchinson was being held on a lot of the plays by Miami’s offensive line. Miami’s offense shot themselves in the foot with holding penalties putting them behind the sticks after plays that would get them good yardage. Sheppard’s unit took advantage of the penalties and stuffed the Dolphins offense. Tyleik Williams and Alim McNeill had solid games up the middle, stuffing the run. McNeill had a sack on Willis on a drive early in the fourth to push the Dolphins back when they were close to the goal line. Derrick Moore added another sack two plays later on third and goal to force the Dolphins to kick a field goal. Other than a fake punt that Miami pulled off that went for 46 yards, the Lions defense stepped up today when they needed to, the offense just could not get much going at all.
The Lions were able to pull away late in the game from the Dolphins despite the offense’s inconsistencies. Kelvin Sheppard’s unit has really stepped up in this four game winning streak as the offense has not had to score 30 plus to win games. Kudos to the Dolphins, they gave a great effort out there. They are reminiscent of the 2021 Lions in Dan Campbell’s first season. The Lions were able to get a win where their offense did not play a good game and that is an encouraging sign for the defense. They can rely on Kelvin Sheppard’s unit to get the job done.