With one cut, D'Andre Swift was going. With another, he was gone, 57 yards to the house. He widened the gap on his defenders as he raced into the end zone and shushed the crowd in Cleveland. He makes more noise each week.
Swift is a man of few words. He talks as quickly as he runs, like he's got somewhere to be. Asked about his touchdown in the Lions' 13-10 loss to the Browns on Sunday, Swift made it sound like a walk in the park:
"Tried to set it up inside, bounced it out a little bit, safety came down, made him miss and ...
"... started running."
Then he flashed a smile, because it can't be so easy. It can't be so simple. The Browns had the play well defended to start. It was a handoff to Swift on third and 8, and he ran several yards to his right looking for a lane. He found one by turning safety John Johnson inside-out, faking right and cutting left, and found another by doing the same to safety Grant Delpit. He found the end zone by leaving everyone else in the dust.
Swift finished the game with 136 yards on 14 carries. Even without the touchdown, he averaged six-plus yards per carry. This comes a week after he rushed for 130 yards on 33 carries against the Steelers. He's the first Lion to run for at least 100 yards in back to back games since Barry Sanders. And he's the first Lion to record rushing and receiving touchdowns of 50-plus yards in the same season since, you guessed it, Barry Sanders.
Jonah Jackson has blocked for Swift for two seasons. They were drafted as a duo, Swift the second-round running back, Jackson the third-round offensive lineman. Swift's career started with a calamitous drop and his rookie season was muted as a whole due to injuries and inexperience. But he showed flashes of what he could be, bursts of talent that lit up a grim season in Detroit. Jackson said the 22-year-old has grown "a lot" in his young career.
"He was already a man when he came in. But just mentally, physically, running the ball, everything," said Jackson. "Top notch."
The Lions planned to pound it with Jamaal Williams on Sunday, knowing the Browns would pound it with Nick Chubb. Williams got the first three carries of the game. Swift had just four carries by halftime. He was raring to go after the break, and Detroit let him rip. He put up 110 yards on six carries in the third quarter alone. If Swift keeps this up, he'll become the Lions' first 1,000-yard rusher in eight years. Can he keep this up?
"We’ll find out," Dan Campbell said with a smile. "This kid is pretty dynamic. I think more than anything it’s about the load that he takes. How many plays can he play a game? What kind of plays are those? We have to be mindful, but at the same time, we’re trying to win a game. If he gives us the best opportunity to win, we have to find ways to get him the football.”
On this team, that's not really in doubt. Swift is taking the if out of the equation. He's the Lions' most dynamic player. Their otherwise meek offense is dangerous when the ball's in his hands. Swift said he felt "good" after Sunday's game. He said he can "most definitely" handle more work. Until the Lions start winning, he won't be working enough.
"I feel like I’m not doing enough," he said. "We’re not winning. There’s always opportunities to get better. Look at the film and see where I could’ve scored again, where I could’ve done something else, where I could've got a few more yards. It wasn’t enough."
Once again, Swift is the light in the dark for Detroit. Things were dour in Cleveland on a drizzly day, another week falling by the wayside for the Lions, another third down hand-off doomed to fail. Then Swift dashed through the defense. With a couple hard cuts, he turned nothing into something. Eventually, the Lions might have something to show for it.