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The Detroit Lions Bounced Back In A BIG Way At A Raucous Ford Field With A Dominant Win Over The Broncos

It was loud. Holy shit, it was loud. If that's the kind of atmosphere we'll get in Detroit for a Saturday night game, I shiver at the poor souls who will have to step into Ford Field for a playoff game. Maybe that wasn't the best or most memorable win of the Dan Campbell era, but I would argue it's one of the most important. Last week's loss to the Bears scared a lot of people. As a Detroit Lions fan, it's only natural to be afraid, but Saturday's game represented everything right about the Dan Campbell regime. This team kept a short memory, had a great week of practice, and bounced back with an emphatic victory against the Broncos. 

The Broncos defense has struggled a ton this year, especially against the run game, but the Lions opened up by passing early and often. Jared Goff played one of his best games in a long time. His last several weeks have not been pretty, but he played on Saturday night like a quarterback who wants to get paid, throwing five touchdowns and making very few mistakes. I'm a big fan of Ben Johnson making more of a concerted effort to get Jameson Williams involved in the offense as well. This is a wonderfully put-together group of skill position players. It's one of the best running back rooms in the NFL, and the offensive line imposes their will in the second half. Jahmyr Gibbs and David Montgomery were having their way.

We're 14 games in now, and it's not out of the realm of possibility to think that Sam Laporta may be having the greatest rookie season ever by a tight end. This guy is a God. With three touchdowns against the Broncos on Saturday, he's shattering every single Lions tight end record. He's been one of the most impactful rookies in the NFL this season. Taking him in the second round out of Iowa feels like an absolute steal right now.

I still have a lot of doubts about Aaron Glenn's defense being able to stop some of the tougher teams in the NFC, but that was an inspired effort tonight. They bent several times but did not break, and they won the turnover battle. That early turnover on Denver's first drive halted any potential momentum. Nothing seemed like it was coming easy, even on the possessions where Denver scored. As I said, I'm still not super-sold on Aaron Glenn, but it's clear that there's something there. This defense has talent; it seems they rarely put it all together, but they did tonight.

I don't want to put the cart before the horse. If any organization is capable of collapsing, it's the Detroit Lions, but the NFC North championship feels well within reach. They could potentially clinch it as early as next week. We'll cross that bridge when we get to it, but the Lions played tonight like a division championship team. They fed off the energy from the crowd, came in with a great game plan, and imposed their will on the offensive side of the ball. It was a masterful, masterful effort.