Inglewood, Calif. – It was an old-fashioned shootout at SoFi Stadium Sunday between the Lions and Chargers. In the end, Detroit's rushing attack, a career day by wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown and the right leg of Riley Patterson proved to be just enough to help the Lions edge the Chargers, 41-38, to improve to 7-2 on the season.
Detroit racked up 533 total yards of offense and 200 rushing yards in the win. They got two one-yard rushing touchdowns from Jahmyr Gibbs and a 75-yard touchdown run from David Montgomery, who led the way for Detroit's rushing attack with 116 yards on 12 carries. Gibbs had 77 yards on 14 carries.
St. Brown was quarterback Jared Goff's favorite target all afternoon as he recorded a career-high 156 yards on eight receptions, including a 20-yard touchdown in the third quarter. It was St. Brown's fourth straight 100-yard receiving game and his sixth in a seven-game span.
In a back and forth contest all afternoon that featured 954 total yards of offense between both clubs, a 25-yard touchdown pass from Goff to tight end Brock Wright gave the Lions a 38-31 lead with seven and a half minutes remaining. But like they did all afternoon the Chargers' offense responded with a 38-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Justin Herbert to wide receiver Keenan Allen on a 4th and 1 play with three minutes and 34 second left to tie the game at 38-38. It was Allen's second touchdown of the contest as he finished with 11 receptions for 175 yards.
It was one of those games where the team with the ball last was going to win and that was Detroit. A 41-yard pass from Goff to wide receiver Kalif Raymond set the Lions up at the Los Angeles 34-yard line with just over two minutes remaining. A 4th and 2 conversion from Goff to rookie tight end Sam LaPorta to the Chargers' 20-yard line set up Patterson for the game-winning 41-yard field goal as time expired.
QB Comparison: Goff finished 23-of-33 passing for 333 yards with two touchdowns and no interceptions for a 122.4 passer rating.
Herbert completed 27 of his 40 passes for 323 yards with four touchdowns, one interception (Kerby Joseph) and a 114.9 rating.
Big play: Facing a 4th and 2 at the Los Angeles 26-yard line with under two minutes remaining in the game, Lions head coach Dan Campbell opted to go for it instead of taking the lead and giving the Chargers the ball again with a chance to win with a touchdown. Goff found LaPorta between two defenders for a six-yard gain to help ice the clock for Patterson to win it as time expired.
Up next: vs. Chicago (3-7), Nov. 19, 1 p.m.
