Guard play: One really good development Sunday, and really all season through seven games, has been the play of guards Jonah Jackson and Halapoilivaati Vaitai. Both players were highly graded Sunday by Pro Football Focus, and both have been really solid all season. Vaitai hasn't allowed a sack all season and was only called for his first penalty Sunday.
Jackson has only allowed one sack. Jackson also showed off his athleticism in the open field on D’Andre Swift's 63-yard screen-pass touchdown. Vaitai's been a force in the run game all year. Detroit's gotten great play from those two, and the future is bright inside along the Lions' offensive front. – Tim Twentyman
Third punch: The Lions' one-two punch of running backs Swift and Jamaal Williams added a third member. Wide receiver Kalif Raymond had six catches for 115 yards. That complemented what the running backs produced: 48 yards rushing and 96 receiving by Swift, and 57 rushing by Williams. – Mike O'Hara
Showing some fight: Rookie left tackle Penei Sewell got into a little skirmish post-play Sunday with All-Pro defensive tackle Aaron Donald. It was good to see the youngster stand up for himself and not back down. Vaitai said something like that endears Sewell to his teammates and is a good way for the young buck to make a name for himself in this league. – Tim Twentyman
Special teams impact: Two fake punts and one onside kick that worked as planned. The Rams had only five real possessions. The other two were one-play kneel downs at the end of the first half and the game. – Mike O'Hara
Limiting Donald: Speaking of Donald, he's the best defensive player in the league, and the Lions talked all week about not letting him wreck the game. Donald finished with three tackles and one quarterback hit. The QB hit affected Jared Goff on the interception by Jalen Ramsey late, but for the most part, the Lions did a really good job limiting Donald's production all game. – Tim Twentyman
Coverage units: Kickoff coverage was another strong part of a big day for the Lions' special teams. The Rams managed only 70 yards on four kickoff returns, for an average of 17.5 yards. – Mike O'Hara
Steady: Austin Seibert has really solidified the kicker position for the Lions this season. He made all four of his field goal attempts Sunday, and hasn't missed since Week 1. He is 10-for-11 kicking field goals on the year and 5-for-5 on extra points. He missed a couple games due to COVID-19, but hasn't allowed that to affect him at all. – Tim Twentyman
Defensive trio: Three defensive performances that stood out to me Sunday came from linebacker Alex Anzalone (seven tackles and good coverage), outside linebacker Julian Okwara (sack, tackle for loss, QB hit and pass defended) and safety Tracy Walker (eight tackles and pass defended). Linebacker Jalen Reeves-Maybin gets an honorable mention (eight tackles). – Tim Twentyman
Key stats: Two key stats from Sunday the Lions have to improve this week against Philadelphia: Detroit was 0-for-5 in the red zone against the Rams, and Los Angeles was 9-for-13 on third down. – Tim Twentyman
