Detroit Lions: 3 things to be thankful for this Thanksgiving
By Bob Heyrman
As the 4-6 Detroit Lions enter their Thanksgiving tilt with the 3-7 Houston Texans; let’s stop and take a look at three things to be thankful for this Thanksgiving.
The year 2020 has been a year to forget, but here we are on Thanksgiving, trying to put a positive spin on things for a day. While the Detroit Lions certainly have an abundance of issues starting from the team president all the way down to the players let’s focus on some good.
Let’s take a second to talk about some of the bright spots on this Detroit Lions team.
D’Andre Swift
The Detroit Lions are finally moving off of their 10-14 touch commitment they’ve clearly made to the corps of Adrian Peterson. They are expected to use rookie runner D’Andre Swift in a ‘featured-type’ role moving forward.
Earlier in the year, Swift proved he could produce offensively, rushing for 116 yards on 14 carries while adding two touchdowns in Detroit’s Week Six matchup with the Jacksonville Jaguars.
Swift followed up that stellar performance totaling 28 rushing yards in the following two weeks combined on 15 carries. The numbers certainly don’t pop, but Swift wasn’t exactly given the proper carries in Atlanta or against Indianapolis to get into the groove of things. Swift then averaged nearly five yards per carry against the Vikings on 13 totes and added 33 yards receiving on three receptions.
Before Week Ten, offensive coordinator (OC) Darrell Bevell finally committed to Swift as a starting running back. Swift rewarded his OC with a tremendous performance running for 81 yards on 16 carries while adding 68 receiving yards on five receptions and a touchdown.
Despite being sidelined with a concussion the following week, Swift’s status entering Thursday’s matchup with Houston remains in question. Regardless of Swift’s availability on Thanksgiving, it’s a breath of fresh air knowing this coaching staff is prepared to use him as a three-down back, precisely what you’d expect of a player that was drafted with the 35th overall pick in the draft.
D’Andre Swift is something we can indeed be thankful for moving forward.