The Detroit Lions suffered a setback against the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday night, but among the things that drove Lions fans crazy in the 30-17 loss was the usage (or lack thereof) of running back David Montgomery.
Montgomery had a role in one of the biggest plays on a pass to quarterback Jared Goff that was taken off the board due to an illegal formation penalty, but he didn’t do much outside of that, with just four carries for 24 yards. Two days after Montgomery was basically mothballed in the loss, head coach Dan Campbell made it clear that he was stepping in, telling Nolan Bianchi of The Detroit News that he would like to get Montgomery “a bigger piece of the pie in the rushing attack” moving forward.
David Montgomery Should Be Ready to Eat After Lions Misused Him vs. Chiefs
The disappearing act Montgomery had on Sunday night was surprising. The 28-year-old had double-digit carries in four of the five games coming into the game against the Chiefs, and he had nine carries in the game he missed the mark, a Sept. 28 win over the Cleveland Browns.
Even more surprising was that Montgomery wasn’t on the field for most of the game. According to Justin Rogers of the Detroit Football Network, Montgomery was out-snapped by teammate Jahmyr Gibbs 37-17 despite averaging six yards per carry to Gibbs’s 3.8 yards per carry.
Going up against a Chiefs offense that is allowing 119.2 yards per game (14th) after Sunday’s game and was on a short week after a loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars the following week, it may have been a great idea for the Lions to use Montgomery’s physicality to establish the running game. But that plan went out the window when Detroit fell behind 20-10 on a quarterback Patrick Mahomes touchdown pass to Hollywood Brown on the opening drive of the third quarter and trailed by double digits in the second half.
Still, the Lions are at their best when Gibbs and Montgomery both get their carries. Since Gibbs and Montgomery both joined the backfield in 2023, the Lions are 21-6 when Montgomery gets 10 or more carries in a game. They are also 15-4 when Gibbs and Montgomery each have 10 or more carries in the same game, signifying their importance to Detroit’s success.
Perhaps this was another instance of John Morton settling in as the Lions' offensive coordinator. Nevertheless, Campbell’s comments make it seem like he’ll have a voice in the game plan for Monday’s game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and that Montgomery will get fed a lot more than he did in Kansas City.