The Detroit Lions opened up the 2023 portion of the 2022 NFL season by pounding the visiting Chicago Bears, 41-10. After a close first quarter, it wasn’t really much of a game.
The Pro Football Focus grades for the Lions reflect the lopsided contest. Detroit as a team earned its highest overall game grade (90.3) of the season and also topped out several team metrics. The individual grades for players were also very high, almost across the board.
Here are the breakdowns for the Lions top and bottom performers in Week 17.
Top offense
Top overall offensive grades:
RB D’Andre Swift – 90.3
TE Brock Wright – 89.3
RB Jamaal Williams – 84.3
WR Amon-Ra St. Brown – 83.6
QB Jared Goff – 80.9
Swift churned out the highest-scoring single-game grade of his three-year career. He forced six missed tackles–more than his last five games combined.
Williams, who ran for a career-high 144 yards, forced five missed tackles and also posted the most yards after contact (107) of any Lions RB in one game in at least the last six seasons.
Wright and St. Brown both earned nice boosts from their run blocking grades, in addition to great marks in the passing game.
Bottom offense
The bottom grades from the offense (min. 10 snaps)
FB Jason Cabinda – 41.5
TE Shane Zylstra – 50.3
LG Jonah Jackson – 57.5
WR Josh Reynolds – 60.4
RB Craig Reynolds – 64.0
The two Reynolds wound up with the two highest grades of any Lions players finishing in the bottom five in any week this year on offense or defense. That’s an indication of how strong overall the Lions were against the Bears.
Cabinda earned his lowly grade by allowing QB pressures on both of his pass protection reps.
Top defense
Top defensive performers:
DE Aidan Hutchinson – 90.7
DE James Houston – 85.1
S Ifeatu Melifonwu – 82.2
CB Amani Oruwariye – 80.5
CB Will Harris – 78.6
Hutchinson had a monster game with seven QB pressures and six QB hurries in 22 pass rushing reps. That doesn’t count his interception or his fumble recovery in the game. Houston bagged three sacks, earning a 91.6 pass rush grade for the game.
The trio of Lions from the secondary all attained season-high grades. Will Harris, playing in the slot, notched the highest single-game coverage grade (78.6) of his four-year career. Oruwariye played just 14 snaps but made them count.
The pleasant surprise here is Melifonwu, who was at the bottom in the Week 16 loss in Carolina in his first extended action. In 26 snaps against Chicago, Melifonwu did not allow a completion and recorded two tackles without a miss, plus chipping in a sack on his one pass rush attempt.
Bottom defense
The bottom performers on defense (min. 7 snaps of 52):
LB Josh Woods – 34.9
LB Alex Anzalone – 45.6
S Kerby Joseph – 47.9
DE Romeo Okwara – 54.1
LB Derrick Barnes – 55.6
As was the case on offense, the low-end range here is significantly higher than in most games. Missed tackles hurt both Anzalone and Joseph, though each fared well in coverage. Okwara registered two QB hurries as a pass rusher but scored a low (49.9) run defense grade.
Other notes
–The Lions as a team hit their season-high grades in the following categories:
- Offense – 88.6
- Receiving – 79.6
- Running – 90.3
- Pass rush – 83.5
–PFF logged the Lions with six missed tackles in the game. The Bears defense was credited with 12. Interestingly, the Lions had just three in run defense; two came after receptions (Kerby Joseph and Josh Woods) and one was on special teams (punter jack Fox, believe it or not). Chicago missed 11 of its 12 in run defense.
–Lions WR DJ Chark earned the only dropped pass of the game and it almost certainly kept him out of the top five grades on offense.
–RT Penei Sewell earned his lowest overall game grade of the season at 65.3. Sewell has had four of his five lowest-graded games in the last six weeks.
–Chicago’s overall team grade of 44.3 was its lowest of the season. Detroit’s worst overall team grade is 54.2 in the Week 3 loss to the Vikings.
