Detroit is looking to bounce back on the road after a tough home loss against the Vikings — here's how it might look.
The Lions are sitting at 5-3 after dropping a tough one at home against first-year starter JJ McCarthy in his first game back after injury. Now, Detroit must look to get back to its winning ways against the Commanders in DC. Washington will be without its franchise quarterback Jayden Daniels and No. 1 receiver Terry McLaurin, but it's always tough to win on the road in the NFL. If the three things below happen, Detroit will be sitting pretty.
1. David Montgomery and Jahmyr Gibbs will combine for 150+ yards and at least 2 touchdowns
Last week, the NFL's best running back duo was held to just 65 total yards. Montgomery did find the end zone, but the usually-effective tandem was kept in check for their standards. Gibbs had only 25 yards, didn't score and had a long run of just seven yards. Reading that out loud almost doesn't seem possible. Gibbs is so sudden and explosive, you imagine him getting seven yards on just about every carry, but that was not the case in Detroit last week.
Head coach Dan Campbell and offensive coordinator John Morton will definitely try to get the running game going, especially on the road. When a team can pound the ball on the ground and demoralize the home team's defense, the crowd settles down and the road team essentially takes over. Throw in the fact that offensive linemen Taylor Decker and Penei Sewell are expected to be full goes and things are looking up already. Expect quarterback Jared Goff to do his normal efficient thing, but really watch for Sonic and Knuckles to get it going on the ground.
2. Aidan Hutchinson will record a sack
The face of Detroit's defense has seven sacks on the season and leads the NFL in quarterback pressures, which isn't surprising at this point. Expect him to leave the nation's capital with one or two more sacks after getting ahold of Marcus Mariota a few times.
Washington's offensive line appears to be back to full strength with veteran left tackle Laremy Tunsil off the injury report but Hutchinson won't be bothered. No. 97 always shows up, always goes hard and always seems to make some sort of an impact. Couple that with Mariota's increasing age and declining mobility and you have the makings for Hutch to make a few plays.
3. The Lions will cover the spread
Detroit is favored by 7.5 points over the Commanders, which isn't surprising given the fact that Daniels and McLaurin are both out. Anytime a team loses its franchise quarterback, things change a lot. Take away WR1 and things get even tougher for the backup just trying to stay afloat.
Mariota is a veteran, and he's already started three times this year while Daniels nursed knee and hamstring injuries, but this is a tough outing for the former Heisman winner. Mariota played pretty well earlier this year completing nearly 65% of his passes but he has thrown four interceptions against his four touchdowns. He's played a lot of football over the course of his 11-year career, so nothing will rattle him at home, but the Lions are a good team and they will get after him.
I see Detroit scoring at will like it usually does and I see Washington's offense sputtering a bit under Mariota's guidance. I'm not willing to go to blowout status, but I do think the Lions will avenge last year's playoff loss and take down a battered Commanders team.
Detroit 34, Washington 20