Lions win fourth straight game, with dominate defensive performance over Dolphins

Starts now. Welcome one and all to the Hope Chest, affectionately known as Sportswork Sunday Night. I'm Woody Woodruff, and tonight on the show, we'll show some love to the Michigan State Spartans, throw some shade at the Michigan Wolverines, dive into the Red Wings and Pistons, and get some rather sharp opinions from Rieger and Wojo at the roundtable. But we begin down in the Sunshine State as the Lions took aim at the Miami Dolphins. And perhaps taking aim is the right way to describe it. Detroit going through a very emotional week with Jack Campbell's injury situation, with every man on the squad wanting to play like Jack would. We'll be right back. Moving again, Jared Goff to Amon Ross St. Brown for a gain of 14 yards. But again, the drive stalled. Jake Bates hitting from 40 yards out as Detroit went into halftime with a 6-3 lead. Now Miami got the ball first in the third quarter. Malik Willis going deep and into double coverage. Bad idea. Chuck Clark there for the interception. He was able to take it all the way back to the Dolphins. 26-yard line. However, the Lions offense could not reach the end zone again and had to settle for a 33-yard field goal by Jake Bates. And that made it 9-3. Now after Miami made it 9-6, the Lions offense finally came through. Goff going deep and finding Jamison Williams for a gain of 29 yards. Deep into Dolphins territory. And it was 4th and 1 from the 8. Detroit going for it. The toss to Jameer Gibbs. And no one had a shot to catch him with that much room. Gibbs taking it in for the game's first touchdown and a 16-6 Lions lead. To the fourth quarter. The Dolphins drove it to the Lions 12. Third down when Willis was chased and taken down by Derek Moore. The former Michigan star. Making the play right there. Now Miami kicked a field goal to cut the lead to seven. But the Lions were able to answer because on third and eight from the Miami 45, Goff with a screen to St. Brown and he picked up 17 big yards. That led to another Jake Bates field goal and the lead was suddenly back to 10. Then the defense put this one away. Willis running for his life and it's more with his second sack of the game. Miami wind up giving it up on downs and the Lions ran out the clock from there. It wasn't pretty, but it was a win. Lions take it 19. And to move to 6-2 on the year, Jennifer Hammond has the wrap from sunny Miami. And two on. From his jersey hanging in the stall in the visitor's locker room to the number 46 on the back of Calvin Shepard's defensive call sheet, everything the Lions did this week was about winning number 6 for 46. And it showed on the field Sunday against the Dolphins. For everything that this week has been, this has not been easy. It's not been easy on anybody. Anybody? And for them to come in here, man, and lock back in and fight, get in a dogfight with a team, which, by the way, Coach Haff is doing a hell of a job. That team plays hard. The tape said so. We knew it would be that way. And hang in there and do what you have to do in the second half to finish this game. I'm unbelievably proud. Four in a row now in four different ways, and that's the hallmark of a good team is when you're able to find different ways to win repeatedly and just sticking in it. You know, defense played well, I thought, all day, but I can only speak for us offensively, like, just one more time. Chop wood one more time, chop wood one more time, and it doesn't matter who you're playing, what their record is. You know, this is NFL, and they were giving us all we could handle, and we just kept chopping wood, kept chopping wood, and felt good about the way we finished it. During the four-game win streak, Detroit's defense has allowed just 15.5 points per game. And on Sunday, they allowed a season-low 228 total yards, holding their opponent without a touchdown for the first time since 2024. To see Demo get going, too, and Aleem getting another one, it's really just trying to create pressure all day and make that quarterback uncomfortable. And I think we did that. And we've got a great unit, man, so we've just got to keep these boys together. And stay healthy and keep playing fast. Once you got on the field, was it easy to kind of, did you keep them in your mind or put that off to the side? Definitely, definitely keep them in your mind. You know, this is a physical game, physical sport, you know, and we all have emotions outside of this game. You know, we're not just football players, you know. So it's like we definitely think about our brother and he's thinking about us. And we know that the message that was kind of passed to us from him is that he's worried about us. You know, he's worried about how we're about to attack the week and attack the game. So I was like, man, we got to go out there and definitely do this for him. On the way out, I literally, you know, tapped the number 46. Thanks. You know, even now somebody had his jersey outside when we was running out there and it was dangling, you know, I went, you know, I touched my chest, you know, and touched his jersey and just to, you know, get some of that rub off on him. And man, and then I actually knocked the jersey down on accident. So I was like, yeah, I can't pick that up so fast. I just can't be on the ground. Gave it back to the guy. But No, man, like I said, man, Jack Jackson is special to us, man. You know, however we could, you know, be here to support him and level him from a distance, you know, I'm all for it. And near the end of his press conference, Dane Campbell made sure to tell us that that jersey is going everywhere with the Lions, including to Munich this week. In Miami, Jennifer Hammond, Fox 2 Sports. Thanks a lot, Hammer. That brings us to the roundtable for official introductions. Bob Winovsky is a shadowy figure that lurks around the offices of the Detroit News at 97.1 The Ticket. And Jeff Rieger masquerades as an internet troll who can also be found on 97.1 The Ticket. Hi, guys. How are you? He lurks around on Twitter. That's what he does. Lions winning without the offense firing on all cylinders. Is that the sign of a complete team or a warning light, Woj? Well, here's the warning light, Woody. How much longer can the Lions just win? And relying on their defense. When is the offense going to come back around? And it really is a flip when you think about it. I know it's the offense. I didn't even look this up, but I know it's factual. First time in Lions history they won back-to-back games scoring exactly 19 points. 19-15 and 19-9 today. That's true. The last four games the Lions defense has held the opponent to an average of 15.4 points per game. I'm not ready to declare the defense on the same level as the offense, obviously, but what they're doing is pretty impressive, especially with what they were dealing with without Jack Campbell. Go ahead, Jeff. I got to tell you, though, like you mentioned the offense, right? Defense. Defensively, they've been outstanding. Isn't that weird to say after how it started? It is. They were on pace for the worst defense in the history of the NFL. Not anymore, pal. Not anymore. I mean, they look outstanding. And did you see what they did against the Packers? How many points did they give up? Um... Very few. 17. Right. And then how many points did New England give up against the Packers? Like 100. Right. There you go. Is it wrong to say, is there an offensive problem? Yes. Just because they're great defensively. No, it's wrong to say. Three straight games, they haven't eclipsed 21 points. Jared Goff, three touchdown passes in three games. Sam Laporta hasn't had a touchdown in three games. And Amon Ross St. Brown hasn't had a touchdown in five games. Are we worried about the offense? What just happened here? This is what I deal with every day at 97. I talk about the Lions defense, how good it's been, and he wants to talk about the Lions offense. You know what? I can understand where Rieger's going because he does have a small point. I mean, right now we saw what? Just a small point. No touchdown passes for Jared Goff for the first time in 30 games? Is that what I'm, is that what I'm... Yeah, and back-to-back games with interceptions. Right, right. Although they haven't been... Both not really his fault. No, no. But I really do think, and it's not the entire thing today, but they were, Christian Mahogany was not in the starting lineup. Right, right. His decision, disciplinary action, whatever, and Miles Frazier in his first start, I think got run over quite a bit in the first half when Goff was getting hit. All the time. I think they sack Goff three times in the first half. When that offensive line is put back together, I assume it's just a one-game thing for Mahomes. You would hope. I assume they'll get right back to it. And they move the ball. They just settled for field goals. So what's more impressive right now, four-game win streak or the defensive transformation that we've seen from Detroit? I'll take both. Well, yeah, I think it's a defensive transformation. It really is. I mean, it's amazing what they did against Jordan Love and Christian Watson and Matthew Golden and, of course, Josh Jacobs. And then, I mean, let's be honest, the quarterback that you love so much, Kyler Murray, they were so good defensively that they made him fake an injury. And now he's not starting anymore. They went to the backup. He's not going to start tomorrow on Monday Night Football against the Bills. And then today, I mean, I don't know what you take out of today other than they got to Malik Willis. They should have had more sacks. Did a nice job of throwing away the ball. But I am now starting to wonder if the defense is real. But I need to see a great offensive team be shut down by Detroit. Maybe that comes on Thanksgiving when they take on the Bears. Well, they did it to Green Bay. They did. Let me throw this at you, Jeff. How important is it to have the offense clicking before the next tough stretch of the schedule? I mean, you know, going into Germany against the Patriots, that seems easy the way New England is playing. But, I mean, after that, the next stretch of the schedule, you want the offense to do what? It's going to be a bad, mad New England team. They just got destroyed. But, no, I mean, I think you look at it. I circle, at least for me, the Bears game on Thanksgiving because you get the Patriots, then you get the Bucs, and then you get the Bears. And I think that, and I know Wojo doesn't like playing the schedule game, but this is the ultimate game on Turkey Day where, like, who is the class? of the NFC North. It's probably not the Packers, and it's probably not the Vikings. So we're led to believe it's either the Bears or the Lions. So I think that game on Turkey Day on national TV is going to tell us a lot. He's already looking way far ahead. Let's go back to the defense for a second. Go ahead. They did what they did without D.J. Reid, their best quarterback, without D.J. Wanham, one of their better defensive linemen. Jack Campbell. Without Jack Campbell, and it was very honorable. And emotional, yes. The thing that they did, absolutely. Absolutely. The rookie Rookie came in, the rookie from Michigan, Derrick Moore, had two sacks, so once the defense gets whole again, and obviously we don't know about Jack Campbell, that's down the line, but Wanham and Reed. I mean, the all. Offense will work itself out. That is the least. Ask me how concerned I am about the offense. How concerned are you about the offense? Mm-hmm, mm-hmm. No, not much at all. Let's throw it this way. You just mentioned Derek Moore. He had two sacks. Are we seeing another important piece emerge for the Lions defensive line? Maybe that opposite end that we've been looking for? That certainly could be. And that's what happens when players go out with injuries like Jimmy Rolder and others. That others step in. And we didn't see in Chuck. Clark with a great interception and return. A couple of flowers. We're not going to give them the whole bouquet yet. But some flowers for Kelvin Shepard, right? Oh, no doubt. He was under fire a month ago. Absolutely under fire. And I don't know, I think they're still leading or second in the league in sacks. And that was without Hutchins, although Hutchinson was held in that game 18 times How many holdings did he force and then how many holdings did they miss? It was unbelievable. By the way, one thing neither of you guys mentioned, and I feel we need to mention it. Worst game ever in NFL histories that both punters threw a complete pass. Is that true? It is true. Well, that's right. I saw it on the social media. The social, that's correct. Well, I knew it happened, but I didn't know it had never happened before. Isn't that crazy? It was fun. Two fake punts It was fun. That's ridiculous. That is insane. Hey, why are you worried about that? No, I want to know. I saw it on social media, so blame them. Don't blame me. Why, you guys chew on that?