Lions Game Ball, Unsung Hero of Week 12: Alim McNeill continues to dominate

Make it nine straight wins for the Detroit Lions after controlling Indianapolis Colts for the majority of the game to 24-6. The Lions have now swept the entire AFC South a year after sweeping the AFC West. It is also the first time in franchise history that they have won at least 10 games in consecutive seasons.

It says a lot about where Dan Campbell has taken this franchise that an 18-point road win in which the Lions led for the final 42 minutes felt ho-hum. It wasn’t the fireworks factory in the touchdown department, but they put together some dominant drives offensively, recording nearly 400 total yards and 26 first downs, and most importantly, they had over 37 minutes of possession. It was a complementary victory. The defense has now gone 10 straight without allowing a touchdown (allowing just 12 total points in the 2.5-game span). The defense stifled the Colts in the second half. In five Colts possessions, they forced four punts, one turnover on downs, allowed just 67 yards on 20 plays (3.35 yards/play), and held them to 7:40 possession time (longest possession was just 2:12 ).

The Lions rode the ponies into the ground and had several deserving players for my game ball and unsung hero award.

Game balls: Jahmyr Gibbs and Alim McNeill

Both Jahmyr Gibbs and David Montgomery were the identities of the offense on their touchdown drives. Montgomery was also super productive when he got the rock, totaling 75 yards on 11 touches (6.8 yards/touch) before his injury (Dan Campbell held him out for being overly cautious). Gibbs and Montgomery became the first pair of teammates in NFL history to each record 10+ rushing touchdowns in consecutive seasons.

Gibbs gets to play the ball in front of his nose for the end zone (two rushing touchdowns) and his ability to be a workhorse when the team needed him. Gibbs now has 11 total touchdowns this season, matching last year in just 11 games (nine rushing touchdowns in the last seven games). He also recorded the second-most carries (21) and touches (24) in a game in his career, totaling 99 yards (4.1 yards/touch). Despite the heavier workload, he still finished strong with 23 rushing yards on three carries in the final drive. While Gibbs didn’t bust out any massive breakaway runs, he still galloped for three runs of 15+ yards to pick on the Colts’ defense.

Gibbs’ ascension in his second season, becoming a more well-rounded effective running back while maintaining his elite dynamic, was too much for the Colts to handle as he wore down their defense.

Alim McNeill gets my second game ball. While he was hardly in the box, his presence was often felt and he could have been the best player in the game. This was also by far McNeill’s most impactful game he has had without recording an actual sack.

McNeill recorded a tackle, a forced fumble, a quarterback hit, drew at least one team penalty and had numerous pressures. McNeill consistently made life hell for rookie right guard Dalton Tucker and All-Pro left guard Quenton Nelson. On the season, Nelson had allowed just 11 quarterback pressures (per PFF), had only once allowed more than two pressures in one game and allowed a quarterback pressure on just 3% of dropbacks (second best in his career) And yet, man couldn’t tell that some of his matchups with McNeill — and some of his defensive linemates — consistently came in the pocket.

It was McNeill and these linemates who deserve just as much credit for the pass defense’s performance today. While the Lions didn’t sack Anthony Richardson, they did get six quarterback hits and limited him to a 39% completion percentage — the fourth-worst of the season for any quarterback with at least 20 pass attempts in a game. DJ Reader and Za’Darius Smith each had two quarterback hits, while Levi Onwuzurike recorded one, and all three had terrific performances besides McNeill’s destruction.

Richardson had some success on the ground, but McNeill and the Lions defense shut down another stud running back. Jonathan Taylor rushed 11 times for just 35 yards (3.2 yards/carry), including a pointless 14-yard carry on third-and-20. Taylor’s disappointing day also included a fumble recovered by Richardson and not a single rushing first down down.

McNeill’s continued dominance is a big factor for the Lions’ top-five defense, as the Colts found out in Week 12’s buzzsaw.

Unsung Hero: Tim Patrick

Week 12 against the Colts was by far the most impactful game Patrick has had for the Lions since the 2021 season. Patrick was everything the Lions needed him to be in his remarkable redemption arc, filling the Josh Reynolds role for this season’s offense.

The 6-foot-4 target was a massive safety valve for Jared Goff. Patrick had four catches for 45 receiving yards and three big first downs.

Patrick’s first catch went for 27 yards, the longest by any Lions player on the day. It happened when Goff had slipped out of the pocket to his left and Patrick was working across the middle of the field to give him a big passing window. It looked like a game a quarterback and a receiver play when they’ve been teammates for several seasons, no less than three months.

But that’s Tim Patrick for you. He has quickly got used to being a Lion and getting used to the attack and the dressing room.

“He’s just a great ball player,” Goff said Sunday. “He just does the right thing over and over and over. He’s a big body. He’s got good hands. He catches the ball away from his body. In traffic, I trust him. I know I can throw it in there and know, that he will take it.”

The most telling thing about Patrick’s fit with the Lions is the way he blocks with every ounce of effort within his big frame. You know he has his running backs and wide receivers coach Antwaan Randle-El dizzy with some of the blocks he puts on defensive backs and linebackers.

He is a dirty-work player in a small forward’s body. From JUCO to Division 1 scholarship, to undrafted rookie roster, to a well-deserved extension, to multiple seasons lost to injury, to being cut – Patrick has been through a lot, and his performance in Week 12 had to be a fresh one blow air. He started to look like the fantastic version of himself in 2020-21. More days like that and I’m sure the 31-year-old wide receiver could use more than just this year in Detroit.