The Detroit Lions got an ugly, but meaningful (to them) win over the San Francisco 49ers on Monday night. We went back over the game and here are our 6 winners and 3 losers for this game:

Winners

Jared Goff

The guy is playing out of his mind right now and it absolutely sucks that he's just being overshadowed for the MVP award because he doesn't do anything flashy like Josh Allen or Lamar Jackson do. 

Goff completed 76.5% of his passes for 303 yards and three touchdowns. That's the eighth time this season that he has completed 75% of his passes or more in a game. 

Jahmyr Gibbs

It's still wild that people try to put Gibbs in this box that he's some guy that just runs in space. On Monday night he was flying between the tackles and picking up blitzes and all the stuff that makes that 12th overall pick so much worth it. He finished the night with 117 yards and a touchdown on the ground on 6.5 yards per carry and 46 receiving yards on four receptions. 

Jameson Williams

Williams was all over the field in different types of scenarios in this one. He was catching and running and blocking and doing it all. He has vastly surpassed his expectations for his first full season. He had five catches for 77 yards and two touchdowns in this one. 

Kerby Joseph

This guy has to be in the Defensive Player of the Year conversation and he has to be leading that conversation too. Joseph's two picks brought him to a league-leading nine on the season. Couple that with the fact that he's just been the best safety in the league all year and the pass rushers that usually get this award haven't really done anything special and there shouldn't be any argument here. 

Aaron Glenn

Some Lions fans resorted back to the "blame AG" thing that the same Lions fans do all the time after the Lions allowed 21 points in the first half. Then the Lions made the adjustments and only allowed one touchdown in the second half. Two if you count Josh Dobbs touchdown with seconds left in the game and the Lions in prevent defense. 

It wasn't just picks that made the difference, the Lions started getting pressure, which led to the picks and they also forced a long field goal attempt on another drive. That attempt missed. I think credit needs to go to the DC for this turnaround.

Amik Robertson

On a night where the Lions' secondary allowed just a little bit too much, Robertson allowed barely anything. He was targeted six times and only allowed two catches for 21 yards. He also had a big pass breakup that led to that long field goal attempt. Robertson on the outside is working very well. 

Losers

Jalen Reeves-Maybin

There's a qualifier attached to this one. Maybe he got thrown out there a little too much in his first game back since early November. He was struggling in this one for sure. Some missed tackles and some bad coverage really hurt the Lions at times. I think he bounces back from this. 

Brian Branch

Branch had a fine game from a play standpoint, but he made a very stupid mistake when he decided to do some extracurricular stuff to Jauan Jennings after the whistle in the fourth quarter. I get that there might have been some retaliation for what Jennings had done to Terrion Arnold earlier in the night, but that reaction cost the Lions a chance to force a punt on the next play. It gave the 49ers a free first down. 

Luckily Kerby Joseph picked off the next pass. Still, you just can't play retaliation ball even if it's warranted. The second guy always gets caught. 

Terrion Arnold

This was probably Arnold's worst game in the NFL. Maybe it was Jennings weirdly going after him and choking him in the early part of the game, but he was just not himself in this one. He was targeted six times and allowed six catches for 94 yards. I'm sure he'll rebound. 

Some Lions fans could be on the verge of making the biggest mistake of their lives

The stage is now completely set for Week 18. Sunday Night Football will be the spot where the 14-2 Detroit Lions go up against the 14-2 Minnesota Vikings for a shot at the first seed in the NFL Playoffs and the NFC North crown. This is everything that you watch football for.  If you have […]