Lions Maul the Commanders in Roaring Rebound
November 10, 2025
It was (kind of) a rematch from last year’s divisional round between the Commanders and Lions. Detroit had the one seed and got their teeth kicked in by Jayden Daniels and the surprise of the year Washington squad. This rematch went .. a little different.
For starters, Jayden Daniels has struggled to stay healthy all season and sat out today with multiple injuries. Not only were they without their phenom at QB but they were also short multiple weapons including Terry McLaurin. This is the same Commanders group that was just dismantled in primetime television last Sunday night by the Seahawks. Truthfully, they showed little fight against the Lions as well.
Detroit got the ball and marched right down the field and scored. Jared Goff found Jahmyr Gibbs out of the backfield for a touchdown pass and they were off! Goff would later go on to find Amon-Ra St. Brown who took a backseat to Jameson Williams on the day. Williams could not be contained as he went 6 for 119 and a touchdown. He was seemingly running open at all levels of the field. Jared Goff had himself a 300 yard day and threw for 3 scores when all was said and done. The first quarter carried through the rest of the game as the Lions dominated each quarter in scoring until their 44-22 victory was completed.
Lions fans got a scare earlier in the contest when Penei Sewell went down with an injury. However, after a few visits to the tent and a couple different body parts taped up, he was able to only miss one drive and return to the action. Gibbs was thankful for that as that meant more open running lanes – And he took FULL advantage of every opening. Gibbs had an absurd 9.5 YPC on just 15 rush attempts that went for 142 yards. He also added two touchdowns on the ground to total a monumental day. He’s definitely solidified this backfield as his as we didn’t see much of David Montgomery until the very end to churn out the clock.
This was all Detroit from the opening kickoff. Detroit nearly doubled Washington in total yards (546-288), they did double them in first downs (30-14) and only committed three penalties while giving up no sacks and no turnovers. Marcus Mariota did what he could for Washington, and he only took two sacks, with his options so limited it was hard to make a dent in the tough Lions defense. Also, to his credit, he did not turn the ball over and kept fighting until the end. If you’re wondering just how limited his options were, his top wide receivers were newly added Treylon Burks with 58 yards and Jaylin Lane, who I don’t feel like googling right now, with 41 yards.
Flat out, Detroit needed a game like this after their big loss to the Vikings last Sunday. It was their second straight loss after losing to the Bucs before their BYE. Dan Campbell took over play calling duties which may have assisted in getting them back on track. We saw Jameson Williams get far more involved than we have at any point this season and less of a reliance on screens or long developing plays. There is so much talent that hasn’t been used as much as we’ve seen in the last few seasons, hopefully the change in play calling will let us see the Lions offense that we’ve grown accustomed to watching.
Keith, Author
Keith runs youth flag football leagues by day, and by night he hosts the podcast and writes articles with the confidence of a man who’s been rushing quarterbacks since dial-up. A longtime flag football DE and lifelong Falcons fan, he’s no stranger to heartbreak and enjoys watching the bears get slaughtered each week. Equal parts coach, critic, and chaos, Keith calls it like he sees it… even if it hurts.
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