Breaking Down Every Lions Offensive Lineman’s Performance Against the Saints

After each Lions game this season, I’ll be breaking down their PFF grades by position. Detroit came away with a narrow 31–30 victory over the Saints that took overtime to finish, but the Lions got the job done. In this article, we’ll be breaking down the offensive line.

OL Breakdown

Right off the bat, we saw Christian Mahogany go down with what appeared to be an ankle injury. He would not return to the game, leaving Ben Bartch to step in and fill the role of left guard.

Starting with Juice Scruggs, who played all 77 snaps at center, he was the highest-graded offensive lineman for the Lions. Scruggs finished with a 77.5 overall offensive grade, a 79.6 pass-blocking grade and a 75.0 run-blocking grade.

I was quite impressed with Scruggs, who is filling in for the injured Cade Mays. Scruggs allowed just one QB hurry and one QB pressure all game and did not allow a single sack.

Outside of Mahogany who played just 11 snaps, Blake Miller had the second-highest grade on the offense with a 74.7 overall grade, along with a 78.4 pass-blocking grade and a 69.3 run-blocking grade. Miller allowed just one QB hurry and one QB pressure while playing 74 snaps at right tackle, with his other two snaps coming at left tackle.

Penei Sewell had a 67.5 overall grade and a surprisingly low 51.8 pass-blocking grade, but he had the best run-blocking grade on the offensive line at 79.1. Sewell did draw one penalty, but the thing I liked most about what the Lions did with Sewell was putting him back at right tackle on a goal-line snap to block for Jahmyr Gibbs, which helped lead to a touchdown.

Sewell allowed just one QB hurry and one QB pressure.

The most interesting play involving Sewell came when running back Sione Vaki ran into the back of him, allowing Saints edge rusher Chase Young to get around the edge and deliver a free hit on Jared Goff. It initially looked like the Saints had forced a huge turnover, but the play was overturned due to a rule I had never heard of.

It appeared Goff either threw a backward pass or fumbled the ball, but after review, officials determined that his arm was moving forward, indicating an attempt at a forward pass. The result was an incompletion, leaving the Lions with a huge break.

Tate Ratledge finished with a 63.9 overall offensive grade, a 76.9 pass-blocking grade and a low 57.9 run-blocking grade. Ratledge also drew one penalty.

Despite the penalty, Ratledge did not give up a single sack, quarterback hit, QB hurry or QB pressure all game long as he looks to pick up where he left off after a strong rookie season last year.

Going into this game, Dan Campbell waited until the last minute to name the starter at left guard. It was a battle between Ben Bartch and Christian Mahogany, with Mahogany ultimately winning the job. However, after Mahogany was injured just 11 snaps into the game, Bartch played the remainder of the contest.

Bartch played 66 snaps and earned a 65.6 overall offensive grade, a 53.4 pass-blocking grade and a 66.7 run-blocking grade. Bartch drew one penalty and allowed one QB hit and one QB pressure.

Overall

Overall, the offensive line played great and allowed just one sack all game, along with eight quarterback hits.

The run blocking was phenomenal, as Detroit rushed the ball 31 times for 163 yards and two touchdowns. Most of that production came from Gibbs, but Vaki also contributed with two carries for seven yards.

If the offensive line can maintain this level of play, Detroit should be well on its way to getting back to where it was two years ago.