DETROIT (AP) — The Detroit Lions were on the verge of their first Super Bowl appearance, but couldn’t finish off the San Francisco 49ers in last season’s NFC championship game.
This year, they have developed a killer instinct.
Entering their matchup Sunday with Mac Jones and the Jacksonville Jaguars, the Lions were favored by two touchdowns for the first time in 47 years. In the past, they might have taken a win for granted.
They didn’t overlook the Jaguars.
The Lions (9-1) set franchise records for margin of victory (46 points) and yards gained (645) in a 52-6 rout. They scored touchdowns on their first seven possessions, a field goal on the eighth and took a knee to end the game on the ninth. Defensively, they held Jacksonville to two field goals and 170 yards of offense — their 475-yard advantage was the NFL’s biggest margin since 1979.
“When you score seven touchdowns and hold the opponents to two field goals, you obviously had a number of guys who played very, very well,” Lions coach Dan Campbell said. “Man, they finished today. They started it and they finished it. That’s awesome.”
The Lions are only seven-point favorites for Sunday’s visit to Indianapolis, but they know they should win, especially if they play like they did against the Jaguars.
“We’ve got to go to Indianapolis and play a team that is very much in the playoff race,” Campbell said. “They are going to be ready to go. So are we.”
What’s working
The Lions are leading the NFL in scoring at 33.6 points per game on the 80th anniversary of the last time they finished first in that category.
They are fourth in passing touchdowns (22) and second in rushing touchdowns (18), so teams can’t load up their defenses to take away their strengths.
“It all starts with our offensive line,” Campbell said. “When they play the way they played yesterday, it doesn’t matter what (plays) we call. We can do anything.”
What needs help
DE Za’Darius Smith made his Lions debut after being acquired at the trade deadline. Campbell has stressed that Smith isn’t expected to fill Aidan Hutchinson’s shoes — no one could reasonably be expected to do that — but he can be part of Detroit’s attempt to replace the league’s best pass rusher in the aggregate.
It wasn’t a spectacular debut. Smith combined with Jack Campbell on Detroit’s only sack, but only assisted on one tackle in a game where the Lions registered three quarterback hits.
Stock up
After throwing five interceptions against Houston, Jared Goff only had five incompletions against the Jaguars. He finished 24 of 29 for 412 yards, four touchdowns and a perfect 158.3 passer rating.
Goff became the first quarterback in NFL history to have multiple games with a perfect rating, 400-plus yards and four-plus touchdowns — he also did it for the Rams in 2018 — and his 82.8% completion percentage made him the first to have five games over 80% in the same season.
Stock down
P Jack Fox is having a great season — his net average is over 45 yards and he’s put 45.2% of his punts inside the 20 — but, through no fault of his own, he only got on the field Sunday to hold for extra points and field goals. It was the second time the Lions haven’t punted this season. Fox wasn’t needed in the 47-9 win in Dallas on Oct. 13.
Injuries
LB Alex Anzalone will miss 4-to-6 weeks with a broken right forearm, adding to a depth problem at linebacker. Derrick Barnes and Jalen Reeves-Maybin are on injured reserve, along with both starting defensive ends — Hutchinson and Marcus Davenport.
Key number
8.5 — Detroit’s average yards per play against the Jaguars, the second highest in team history. The Lions were at 8.8 in the final minute — good enough to break a 43-yard-old record of 8.6 — but backup quarterback Hendon Hooker took a knee on the last two plays.
Next steps
If the Lions have one weakness, it is defending mobile quarterbacks, so Anthony Richardson could be an issue on Sunday.
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