With a depleted secondary entering Sunday night's showdown against the Kansas City Chiefs, it was clear coming into the game that the Detroit Lions would need to do their part on offense to come out of Arrowhead Stadium with the road win. Although quarterback Jared Goff and the passing game combined for 203 yards and two TDs, the run game (98 yards) was relatively quiet and more of a one-man show after David Montgomery was rarely used.
Prior to Sunday night's affair with the Chiefs, the Lions' backfield of Jahmyr Gibbs and Montgomery had put up similar numbers and split the work each game, making it difficult on opposing defenses to get a read on Detroit's offense. While Gibbs had 17 carries for 65 yards Sunday night, which equated to only 3.8 yards per carry, Montgomery only ran the ball four times for 24 yards and added a pair of catches for 37 yards, a far cry from the game plan through the first five weeks. According to Lions beat reporter Justin Rogers, Gibbs was on the field for 37 snaps (69%) compared to only 17 snaps (31%) for Montgomery, a surprising and costly decision against a Chiefs defense on a short week following the Monday night loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars.
David Montgomery Should Have Played a Bigger Role in Detroit's Offense
While the painful 30-17 loss to Kansas City was eased somewhat on Monday when it was announced that Tampa Bay Buccaneers rookie wideout Emeka Egbuka, who has the fourth-most receiving yards (469) in the NFL, is expected to miss some time with a hamstring injury ahead of the teams' Week 7 game, the lack of snaps for Montgomery did not make any sense at all after leading Detroit in rush yards for three of its first five games, including a season-high 151 yards and two TDs in a Week 3 win over the Baltimore Ravens.
Prior to the meeting with the Chiefs, Gibbs had the 13th-best overall grade (73.8) out of 45 qualified RBs from Pro Football Focus, along with the 15th-most rush yards (325) and sixth-most TDs (four). For comparison, Montgomery had slightly fewer rushing yards (310), but his overall grade (74.7) was better, and he also had four rushing TDs. The Lions could have worn the Chiefs' defense down by utilizing both RBs and allowing Montgomery to be the primary runner and receiver, which in turn could have made Gibbs more effective in the run game and opened up the playbook even more. That was ultimately not the case, and it hurt them in the end.
There were some bright spots to the loss, though, as wide receiver Jameson Williams was more involved in the offense with six catches for 66 yards and a TD, showing positive signs after his offseason extension. The Lions could potentially lose safety Brian Branch to a suspension after his actions following the game, but the decision to take the ball out of Montgomery's hands and go with more of a one-man approach on the ground proved costly more than anything during the game itself.
Heading into a Monday night tilt with the red-hot Buccaneers, who are battling several key injuries as well, could help Detroit get back on track after seeing its four-game win streak snapped by the Chiefs. Getting Montgomery some increased snaps and reverting back to more of a balanced attack on the ground should be highly considered, given the success Detroit's offense has had when both are splitting the workload.