The Detroit Lions walked out of Week 1 with plenty to sort through, but the center spot wasn’t one of the problems.
That’s the big early takeaway after Juice Scruggs turned in a strong debut in the Lions’ 31-30 overtime win against the New Orleans Saints. While the secondary left a lot to be desired, especially after halftime, Scruggs gave Detroit something it badly needed: stability in the middle of the offensive line.
He played every one of the Lions’ 77 offensive snaps and graded out as the team’s highest-rated offensive player on Pro Football Focus at 77.5. His pass-blocking mark of 79.6 topped his run-blocking grade of 75.0, and PFF charged him with just one pressure and one quarterback hit allowed.
According to Pride of Detroit’s Al Karsten, Scruggs was the second-highest graded center among qualified centers in Week 1. For Detroit, that’s a welcome change from last season, when only one game at the position graded better.
The numbers are one thing, but Scruggs looked the part too. His work seemed to settle the entire line, which had a much cleaner opening act than it did in last year’s Week 1 debacle.
The Lions gave up only one sack, and it went for just two yards. Jared Goff had a mostly smooth day, finishing with 206 passing yards, completing two thirds of his throws, and tossing two touchdowns without an official turnover.
Jahmyr Gibbs also fed off the improved blocking. In his first game as the clear lead back, he handled 29 carries for 156 yards and scored twice, both marks good for the league lead on Sunday.
There was still some Week 1 messiness, sure, but against a good Saints defense, Detroit had to like what it saw up front.
That leaves the next question: what happens when Cade Mays comes back?
Scruggs was brought in as part of the David Montgomery trade and originally looked like a candidate to fight for the left guard job. But Mays’ wrist injury opened the door at center, and Scruggs stepped right into the role, where he has played a small number of games with the Houston Texans.
When Mays returns in a matter of weeks, the Lions will have a real decision to make. Do they put Mays back at center, where he was expected to start when he signed in free agency? Or do they stick with Scruggs if he keeps playing like this and give Mays a look at left guard, a spot he has some experience at?
The likeliest path is that Scruggs moves back to left guard. He has more experience there than Mays and got reps at the spot throughout training camp. Left guard was never his best position in Houston, but the need is real, and it got even more urgent after Christian Mahogany went down early in Sunday’s game.
That spot was already unsettled before the opener. The plan entering Week 1 was a rotation between Mahogany and Ben Bartch. If Scruggs can carry over what he showed at center to left guard, and if Mays handles his return the way the Lions expect, Detroit may suddenly have a line that makes sense across the board, with depth to match.
The test comes fast. The Lions have a short week before Thursday’s game against the Buffalo Bills, and Goff, Gibbs and the rest of the offense may need to keep scoring with Josh Allen and Buffalo. For that to happen, Scruggs and the line will have to prove Sunday was the start of something real, not just a one-game flash.
In Other News...
Lions Have Clear Risers And One Growing Concern Before Buffalo
The Lions got the kind of win that can strengthen a locker room and sharpen a coaching staffs eye at the same time. After building a 21-point lead and then surviving overtime against the Saints, Detroit had plenty to like from a handful of players who helped steady the finish, including Alex Anzalone, DAndre Swift and Aidan Hutchinson, with several rookies also making useful contributions along the way.
Buffalo is waiting on Thursday night, which means the turnaround is short and the margin for slippage is thinner than usual. A comeback win can buy some goodwill, but the Lions still have a growing concern to sort through before they line up against one of the AFCs tougher opponents, especially after letting a big lead turn into a longer, more stressful afternoon than it needed to be. [Read more 🡒]
Lions May Have Finally Found The Defensive Edge They Needed
For all the attention on Detroits second-half defensive wobble against the New Orleans Saints, the opening act was hard to ignore. The Lions came out with the kind of front-seven energy that can change a game, finishing Week 1 with a league-leading 26 pressures and turning that heat into five sacks. Aidan Hutchinson was right in the middle of it, and the overall rush gave the defense something it can build on even as the rest of the unit tried to settle in.
The challenge now is making that edge a weekly identity instead of a promising flash. Detroit still has work to do in the secondary, and the pass rush will not always get to feast the way it did in the opener. But if the Lions can keep forcing quarterbacks off their spots while the back end tightens up, they may have found the kind of defensive formula that changes the tone of their season. [Read more 🡒]
Lions Already Face A Jahmyr Gibbs Problem They Can't Ignore
The Lions spent the offseason reshaping their backfield around Jahmyr Gibbs, moving on from David Montgomery with the idea that Gibbs would become the featured running back. In the opener against the Saints, that plan was on full display, as Gibbs handled a massive share of the offense and turned it into 186 yards from scrimmage while looking every bit like the centerpiece Detroit wants him to be.
The bigger question now is how often that kind of workload can hold up. Dan Campbell acknowledged after the game that what Gibbs took on in the opener may not be something the Lions can ask of him every week, and that leaves Detroit with an immediate depth issue behind him. For a team built to lean on the run, finding a reliable backup plan is no small matter, especially with the season still just getting started. [Read more 🡒]