Coming out of the Week 8 bye, the Detroit Lions were considered the overwhelming favorites to win on Sunday afternoon against the Minnesota Vikings. However, the Vikings had other plans as they punched Detroit in the mouth, handing them a 27-24 loss.
Anything and everything that could go wrong for the Lions did in their first game after the bye. They could not run the ball, struggled on third down, and saw multiple offensive linemen exit the game due to injury, including second-year offensive lineman Christian Mahogany.
Mahogany was carted off the field with a knee injury and was initially ruled questionable to return. However, the team ultimately ruled him out. After the game, Kory Woods of MLive.com reported that Mahogany was seen on crutches, which is never a good sign.
Lions head coach Dan Campbell provided more clarification on Mahogany’s injury, and it sounds like he’ll be out for a while. According to ESPN’s Eric Woodyard, Campbell said the 25-year-old lineman did not suffere a season-ending injury but will be out “probably for a long time" with an early estimation of a December return.
Lions Reportedly Lose Christian Mahogany Until December with Knee Injury
While we don’t know what type of knee injury the former Boston College standout has, it's not good to hear that he’ll be out until next month.
Before exiting Sunday’s game against Minnesota, the young offensive guard was not having the best performance coming out of the bye. According to Pro Football Focus, Mahogany was great in run blocking with an 80.3 grade on 19 snaps. However, he left a lot to be desired in the pass blocking category, posting a dismal 21.4 grade (38 snaps).
In fact, it's the second time in the last three games that he’s had a pass blocking grade in the 20s. For the season, pass blocking has been a huge issue for Mahogany (19 pressures and two sacks on 259), and it's something that Detroit will hope Kayode Awosika can be better at if called upon in the coming weeks.
Awosika, who is the backup at right guard, was asked to be the replacement for the second-year lineman. The 27-year-old did not play badly in Sunday’s loss, as his pass-blocking grade (80.6 on nine snaps) was better than Mahogany’s.
The run-blocking grade wasn’t spectacular at 57.3 (three snaps), but it was a small sample size, so it's hard to make a clear-cut determination. That said, in the three games he’s played in, the veteran lineman has allowed zero pressures on 20 pass blocking snaps, which is good.
With the NFL trade deadline coming up, the Lions will look to bolster their defense, but it might be in their best interest to do some homework in case Mahogany’s injury keeps him out longer than expected.