The Lions brought Jared Goff to Detroit, then bid farewell to their top two receivers in free agency. Their compromise was signing Tyrell Williams, who hadn't played in a year, and Breshad Perriman, who would be cut before the start of the season. Welcome to town, 16.
On the bright side, the Lions had a couple blossoming stars at tight end running back. Three games into the season, T.J. Hockenson leads the team in receiving yards (179). D'Andre Swift leads the team in targets (23) and receptions (19). Don't be surprised if this holds for the rest of the year. The Lions were blanked in the first half against the Ravens last Sunday, then made a point to get the ball to Swift and scored on all three drives in the second.
On three straight throws in the third quarter, Goff went short right to Swift for 11 yards, short left to Swift for 14 yards, short right to Swift for 19 yards. Baltimore's defense was on its heels for the rest of the game. Swift caught all six of his second half targets for 54 yards to produce 100-plus scrimmage yards for the second time this season.
"He’s done a great job, man," Goff said Tuesday on the Karsch & Anderson Show. "He’s been really fun to work with. Seeing him get better all the way from the spring until now has been awesome. He was a guy that I was excited about playing with when I first got here, and he’s exceeded my expectations wholly. He’s been unbelievable out of the backfield with the ball in his hands. He’s as special as they get. Some of the tackles he’s able to break and just making plays down the field, he’s done a great job of that."
It was a tackle Swift nearly broke against the Ravens that had Ford Field in a frenzy. After catching another short pass from Goff deep in Baltimore territory, Swift raced toward the pylon, leapt over 6'1 safety Brandon Stephens and was only denied a touchdown when another safety knocked him out of bounds in mid-air. A week prior against the Packers, Swift had made a similar maneuver look easy. His 10 broken tackles on receptions are second most in the NFL, according to PFF.
Jamaal Williams might have better rushing numbers thus far, but it's clear that Swift is Detroit's most talented back. Indeed, he might be the team's most talented player. He's tied for sixth in the NFL with 52 touches -- trailing only Derrick Henry, Joe Mixon, Christian McCaffrey, Alvin Kamara and Najee Harris -- and the Lions should do all they can to get him the ball more.
Other highlights from Goff's interview on 97.1 The Ticket:
On the rivalries in the NFC North: "The Green Bay game was fun to see how many fans we had there. I’m not used to that, especially in the Midwest. Having that many fans and seeing our guys travels like that was fun. And Chicago being so close, I would expect it to be somewhat similar if not more (on Sunday). I love playing for these fans, man. It’s been a lot of fun. I think even last home game, that’s the loudest I‘ve played in front of at the end of that game. It was a lot of fun seeing them get excited, and hopefully we can give them a lot more to be excited about in the future.
On Detroit-style pizza versus Chicago deep dish: "I actually love Detroit style pizza. I’ve had it a little bit since I’ve been out here and I’ve actually had some back in California, I know it’s not the same. But I’ve always been a fan of that. And to be honest, I’m not just saying this, I don’t love Chicago-style pizza. I’ve never been a fan of eating it with a fork, it just doesn’t make sense to me."