Week 10 Lions Burning Questions
The bye week has passed for the Detroit Lions, and Dan Campbell's team is now tasked with preparing to take on the L.A. Chargers in a Week 10 road contest.
With one of the easiest remaining schedules this season, the Lions have a legitimate shot to not only earn a playoff spot, but also to capture one of the top two seeds in the NFC.
Before we jump ahead to any of that, though, let's take a look at the three burning questions facing Detroit this week.
How should Lions handle running back duties?
I love David Montgomery and what he's done so far for this Lions offense. He's averaged 4.1 yards a carry, and has been great as the team's goal-line back, with six rushing scores on the season.
However, I'm of the mindset that even with Montgomery back in the fold, Jahmyr Gibbs should still be featured prominently. The rookie back is coming off the two best weeks of his season. He amassed north of 100 all-purpose yards in both Weeks 7 and 8, which included a career-best 152 yards on the ground against the Raiders.
So, coming off the bye, this is certainly not the time to significantly decrease Gibbs’ number of touches. To me, he should still be in line for 20 touches against the Chargers (15 rushes and five receptions). And, if Montgomery shows any signs of rust, I think it'd be smart for Ben Johnson to reward Gibbs with a few extra reps out of the backfield. The rookie runner has definitely earned it at this point.
Will Donovan Peoples-Jones be heavily featured?
I'm not going to go so far as saying heavily featured, and it's still no guarantee that he even suits up for the Week 10 contest due to a rib injury.
If he does play, though, I believe there are at least four pass-catchers that will earn more targets than him: Amon-Ra St. Brown, Josh Reynolds, Sam LaPorta and Jahmyr Gibbs. You can also make a case for second-year wideout Jameson Williams getting more looks against the Chargers than Peoples-Jones. However, I do think that “DPJ” absorbs the majority of Kalif Raymond’s targets. Also, if Williams continues to drop passes on a regular basis, I think Peoples-Jones eventually moves ahead of him on Detroit's receivers depth chart, too.
On Sunday, though, I wouldn't be surprised to see the Detroit native – if he takes the field – emerge as the Lions’ fifth-most targeted pass-catcher.
Will pass rush emerge?
Well, Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert has been sacked at least once in seven of the eight games he's played in this season. And, in two of the past three weeks, he's been sacked five times, including last week against the N.Y. Jets.
So, I'm going to say that the Lions’ pass rush gets back on the right track Sunday at SoFi Stadium. And, I do also believe that Aidan Hutchinson ends his three-week long sackless streak. I believe the second-year EDGE got warmed up with two QB hits in Week 8 against Jimmy Garoppolo, and will notch at least one takedown of Herbert.
