The Lions got the kind of win that leaves a bruise.
Detroit beat Minnesota on Sunday, but the bigger story was how quickly the injury bug finally showed up for a team that had been unusually healthy and, even better, getting healthier. One of the biggest hits came in the second quarter, when center Cade Mays went down with an ankle injury and did not return.
That moment also put Juice Scruggs right back in the middle of the conversation about the Lions’ offensive line, and it made a strong case for keeping him around past the trade deadline.
The logic for moving Scruggs had been easy to follow. Mays was supposed to be the starter from the start, and with guards Tate Ratledge and Christian Mahogany playing well, there didn’t seem to be another obvious spot for Scruggs. Since he’s an unrestricted free agent after this season, the thinking went, Detroit could sell high and get a real return from a team in need of center help while still keeping the line in good shape.
Sunday made the opposite case.
When Mays left, the Lions’ offense was already stuck in the mud. Jared Goff had just thrown his first interception of the season on the same play, and Detroit’s run game had only 23 yards at that point. The longest carry was 12 yards, the second-longest was three, and the line had already allowed three sacks.
Scruggs stepped in, and it didn’t snap everything into place immediately. Goff was sacked on the next drive during a three-and-out. But a 19-yard run up the middle by Jahmyr Gibbs late in the half helped change the feel of the game, and the second half belonged to Detroit’s ground attack.
Once Scruggs was in, the Lions ran for 207 yards and Goff was sacked just once the rest of the way. Gibbs and Sione Vaki kept finding more room as the game wore on, and the Vikings’ blitz-heavy approach started to look less and less effective.
Drew Petzing’s scheme deserves plenty of credit for that, but the bigger takeaway was hard to miss: the offense, especially the run game, looked smoother with Scruggs at center.
The whole debate had started because Mays was viewed as the better pass-blocker, while Scruggs was seen more as a strong mover in the run game. In theory, that setup could have helped unlock bigger plays for Gibbs. In reality, Mays still looked like a player who needed those preseason reps to fully settle into the job, and asking him to hold down the spot against Minnesota and the Green Bay Packers may not have been the right call.
Mays had shown some promise, and the Lions had won both of his starts. But now that he may miss time because of the ankle injury, even the possibility of him returning quickly should be enough to cool any talk of trading Scruggs.
Depth on the offensive line is hard to find, and Detroit should treat it like the luxury it is. This team has gone as far as its line could carry it in recent years, and with one of the league’s best units again, plus the kind of depth that Sunday put on display, the Lions have a chance to lean into that strength.
Scruggs might be the kind of asset another contender would love to use in a trade to fix a different problem. But after Sunday, he looks more valuable to Detroit staying put as the starting center going forward.
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Miami has been leaning into youth, cutting veterans and bringing in a wave of rookies, which has made the first part of the season uneven. The results have mostly been rough, but the Dolphins have shown some signs of life lately, including a close loss to the New England Patriots, and that kind of progress can make an early November test a little trickier than expected for a Lions team trying to keep its footing. [Read more 🡒]