{"id":248730,"date":"2025-09-29T11:37:36","date_gmt":"2025-09-29T15:37:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/?p=248730"},"modified":"2025-09-29T11:37:36","modified_gmt":"2025-09-29T15:37:36","slug":"detroit-lions-at-3-1-playing-complementary-football","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/2025\/09\/29\/detroit-lions-at-3-1-playing-complementary-football\/","title":{"rendered":"Detroit Lions at 3-1 Playing Complementary Football"},"content":{"rendered":"\r\n

The Detroit Lions scored another impressive 34-10 win on Sunday over the Cleveland Browns.<\/a> Each week in practice, Dan Campbell<\/a> emphasizes playing \u201ccomplementary football.\u201d Sunday\u2019s victory underscored why it’s so important.<\/p>\r\n

Detroit Lions at 3-1 Playing Complementary Football<\/h2>\r\n

Campbell referred to the 52-21 win over the Chicago Bears<\/a> two weeks ago as a great example.\u201cYou talk about complementary football, we played off each other. And when we needed it, the units picked it up. That was a good team win.\u201d<\/p>\r\n

The Lions’ Run Game is Something Special<\/h3>\r\n

In preparing for this week\u2019s game, OC John Morton<\/a> was asked about facing the NFL\u2019s number one run rushing defense<\/a>. Although he complimented the Browns tough defense, he stated bluntly, \u201cI don’t think they’ve seen a run game like ours yet.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\r\n

Morton was right. While the Browns successfully held Josh Jacobs to 30 yards on 16 carries and Derrick Henry to 11 rushes for 23 yards, the league\u2019s top RB duo<\/a>, David Montgomery <\/a>and Jahmyr Gibbs, <\/a>gouged Cleveland\u2019s number one-ranked defense for 109 rushing yards and a touchdown.<\/p>\r\n

The Lions’ Offensive Line Held Tough\u00a0<\/h3>\r\n

The offensive line did a tremendous job protecting Jared Goff,<\/a> who finished the game 16 of 27 for 168 yards with two touchdowns and one interception. Amon-Ra St. Brown had another exceptional game, scoring two touchdowns and proving as reliable as ever when Goff needed a clutch 3rd-down reception.<\/p>\r\n

Lions Defense Steps Up In A Big Way<\/h3>\r\n

Making matters even more painful for the visiting team, the Lions’ defense played an outstanding game, forcing three turnovers. Kerby Joseph<\/a>\u00a0and D.J Reed<\/a> each had an interception, and Aidan Hutchinson forced a fumble. After a rushing touchdown by Quinshon Judkins<\/a> on their very first possession and a 38-yard field goal by Andre Szmyt<\/a>, the Lions’ defense held the Browns scoreless in the second half.<\/p>\r\n

Instead of Myles Garrett<\/a> sacking Goff, the Lions delivered the punishment. Aidan Hutchinson<\/a> recorded his second and third sacks of the season, along with four quarterback hits, four tackles (two TFLs), and a forced fumble that was recovered by Trevor Nowaske. Alex Anzalone contributed a third sack on Joe Flacco.<\/a> \u00a0Jack Campbell<\/a>\u00a0<\/span>had another outstanding game; he was seemingly everywhere, creating chaos, and finished with 11 total tackles (seven solo).<\/p>\r\n

Lions Special Teams Were Simply Outstanding<\/b><\/h3>\r\n
\"\"
Detroit Lions punt returner Kalif Raymond (11) celebrates a touchdown against Cleveland Browns during the second half at Ford Field in Detroit on Sunday, Sept. 28, 2025.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\r\n

But when Campbell refers to complementary football, he is talking about all three units stepping up. \u00a0On Sunday, Dave Fipp’s<\/a> special teams unit delivered in a big way. Wide receiver and return specialist Kalif Raymond<\/a> had a sensational 65-yard punt return. Jake Bates<\/a> had a perfect afternoon, matching his previous longest field goal of 58 yards and adding another 48-yard field goal plus four out of four extra points. \u00a0Former UFL<\/a> all-star running back Jacob Saylors<\/a> had a great afternoon with two kickoff returns for 51 yards and his first two carries for 11 yards. \u00a0<\/p>\r\n

Complimentary Football Could Be the Key This Season \u00a0<\/h3>\r\n

The Lions are now at 3-1 on the season, with the disastrous first week’s loss to the Green Bay Packers<\/a> a distant memory. \u00a0Speaking about the Bears game<\/a>, Campbell maintained the key to that victory was the way the team played off each other, “I just thought we played really good complementary football. We played complementary offensive football<\/a> on that side too, the way everything was setting up, the play-action pass, the run game, drop back, and then the short, intermediate screens. All of it, it was good.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Next Sunday afternoon, the Lions take on the Cincinnati Bengals<\/a> on the road. \u00a0Once again, the Motor City team is running on all cylinders and looking like one of the best in the NFL. \u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\r\n

Main Image: Junfu Han \/ USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images<\/p>\r\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Detroit Lions scored another impressive win by playing \u201ccomplementary football” in Sunday\u2019s 34-10 victory over the Cleveland Browns. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5208,"featured_media":248945,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[6431,24],"tags":[8938,4828,9757,451,32106],"class_list":["post-248730","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nfl-teams","category-lions","tag-aidan-hutchinson","tag-david-montgomery","tag-jahmyr-gibbs","tag-jared-goff","tag-kalif-raymond"],"modified_by":"Drew Crabtree","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/248730","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5208"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=248730"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/248730\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":248947,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/248730\/revisions\/248947"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/248945"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=248730"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=248730"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=248730"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}