It wasn't always pretty for the Detroit Lions Monday night against the Las Vegas Raiders.
The offense turned the ball over three times and were just 1-for-5 in the red zone, but good teams find a way and that's what Detroit did Monday defeating the Las Vegas Raiders, 26-14, to improve to 6-2 on the season as they head to their bye week.
Riley Patterson notched four field goals (44 yards, 31, 33, 52), and touchdowns from rookies Sam LaPorta and Jahmyr Gibbs were enough to lead the Lions to victory. Gibbs, who was making his third career start for the injured David Montgomery (ribs) had a breakout performance. He rushed for a career-high 152 yards on 26 carries (5.8 avg.) with a 27-yard touchdown. He also caught five passes for 37 yards, becoming the first rookie running back to produce a game with 100-plus rushing yards and 30-plus receiving yards since Barry Sanders.
Detroit's defense was terrific all night and a big reason why the Lions head into their bye week with the second best record in the NFC after Week 8. They held the Raiders to just seven points and 157 total yards of offense. The other Raiders score was a 75-yard interception return by Raiders cornerback Marcus Peters.
Detroit's defense held the Raiders to just 1-of-9 on third down and less than 100 yards rushing (80). They sacked quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo six times and hit him nine times.
QB comparison: Jared Goff was solid all evening outside of the pick-six he threw. He completed 26-of-37 passes for 272 yards with a touchdown, an interception and a passer rating of 88.5.
Goff completely outplayed Garoppolo, who completed just 10 of his 21 pass attempts for 126 yards with an interception and a passer rating of 46.9.
Big play(s): Detroit's defense came up big all night including a couple fourth-down stops late. The first was a 4th and 10 play at the Raiders' 36-yard line midway through the fourth quarter with a chance to ice the game up 26-14. Lions defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn dialed up pressure. Linebacker Alex Anzalone, who doesn't get enough credit for how good a blitzer he is, knifed through the defense and took down Garoppolo at the Las Vegas 28-yard line to give the ball back the offense.
Anzalone would seal the game one Raiders possession later, tackling Raiders running back Ameer Abdullah short of the first down on another Raiders fourth-down play with under four minutes remaining. Detroit ran out the clock from there. Anzalone finished with seven tackles, two sacks and three tackles for loss.
Key stat: Led by Gibbs' 152 rushing yards and Craig Reynolds' complementary 74 yards on 14 carries, Detroit totaled 222 rushing yards on the night.
Injury report: Guard Kayode Awosika left the game in the second half due to cramping and did not return. Also leaving the game and not returning in the second half were cornerback Khalil Dorsey (knee) and long snapper Scott Daly (knee).
Up next: Bye week
