The Lions’ Jared Goff (16) looks to pass as the Rams’ Kobie Turner (91) rushes. Goff beat his former team again. (David Dermer / Associated Press)
The scoreboard said six points, but there was a lot more separating the Rams and Detroit Lions on Sunday night.
One game into the season and the Rams already are hobbled and hurting. That they not only were able to hang around, but also delivered such a scare to Detroit, was a testament to their experience and resolve.
As for the Lions, they’re finally good enough to start counting style points. Simply winning — as they did with their 26-20 overtime victory — isn’t enough anymore. Their standards have changed.
So there were no ear-to-ear smiles in the Detroit locker room after that game. If anything, the Lions were vaguely dissatisfied, even though they once again rebuffed the Rams — with all the history of quarterbacks Matthew Stafford and Jared Goff — as they did in the NFC wild-card game here in January.
At least some of the Lions thought the game should never have gotten to overtime, that they should have landed the knockout blow much earlier. That said, they loved the way the game was decided, with the Detroit offensive line finally imposing its will on a gassed Rams defense. Eight plays, seven runs, David Montgomery barging into the end zone from a yard out to end it.
Read more: Rams lose Puka Nacua, several offensive linemen, then to Lions in overtime
“The whole game was frustrating,” Lions guard Graham Glasgow said. “Things felt a little off, so it was nice to go into overtime there and every play we called worked. It just felt good. The fits were good. It was a satisfying end to a very frustrating game.”
In another era, we’d be peeling the Lions off the ceiling. This is a franchise that has never been to the Super Bowl, and before beating the Rams eight months ago, hadn’t won a playoff game in 32 years.
The Lions got to the NFC title game last season — in a 2024 scheduling twist, they…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/rams-succeed-frustrating-lions-not-100141582.html
Author : LA Times
Publish date : 2024-09-09 10:01:41
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