Last October, Amik Robertson came to Ford Field with the Raiders and felt the Lions breeze through a win. Their offense put up nearly 500 yards on a night that it wasn't close to its best. After the offense hung 52 points Sunday on the Jaguars, Robertson shook his head when asked how he'd try to stop it.
"Hey man, I don't know. You gotta remember, I was on the other side and you know what the outcome was," he said with a laugh. "I’m just glad I’m on this side."
Robertson went on to say that the Lions' offense is the best he's seen, "easy," in his five years in the NFL. He spent his first four in the AFC West playing the Chiefs twice a season. Let's widen the parameters. Could Detroit's offense be one of the best in NFL history?
"We’ve got that capability, certainly," said Jared Goff. "We've got some work to do still, but that’s kind of been something we talked about in the offseason, is history and how great we can be. We know the group we have, we know what our capabilities are, and today was a good example of that.”
The Lions scored touchdowns on their first seven drives against the Jags before Goff and most of the starters took a seat. They are the first team to do that since the 2007 Patriots, who went undefeated in the regular season with the second best scoring offense in NFL history. The Lions broke franchise records for total yards (645) and first downs (38), and for margin of victory (+46) on a day their defense was similarly dominant.
Dan Campbell reveres the game. He's spent more than half his life in the league as a player or coach. He had a hand in some of the best offenses in recent memory during his time as assistant head coach of the Saints, and does not take history lightly. Asked if the Lions' offense stands among the best the league has seen, Campbell said, “I think we have that ability, I really do."
The Lions are averaging 33.6 points per game this season, more than a field goal better than anyone else.
"We have, to me, everything that we need to be potent," Campbell said. "And like I say, we’re well-rounded. When you’re able to run the ball with the big boys up front, you’ve got a hammer like David (Montgomery) and you’ve got electricity with (Jahmyr) Gibbs, and you’ve got (Jameson Williams) on the perimeter, and then you’ve got our rock (Amon-Ra) St. Brown who just continues to make plays -- you put him anywhere you want to put him, and you need it, he’s got it -- and then running the whole show is Goff, yeah, I mean, we can be dangerous.
"We have that ability because, really, we can play the game any way we need to, as long as we’re on our stuff, we’re on our game, we’re locked in and we’re finishing. We can do that.”
St. Brown, Montgomery and Gibbs all scored touchdowns against the Jags, the eighth time they've done that in the same game. That's an NFL record for any trio, and this is their second season together. The Greatest Show on Turf Rams are widely recognized as the best offense ever. Asked if the 2024 Lions could claim that title, Montgomery said, "I think we got a good shot."
Bill Belichick recently called the Lions' offense "impossible to stop." It poses too many challenges for a defense to account for. It's a testament to Detroit's weaponry that Goff can get to the third or fourth progression in a given play -- which is a testament itself to his offensive line -- and it's still "a good player that can do something with the ball," he said.
"That’s not the case everywhere, and I don’t take that for granted," said Goff. "It is something that we have the luxury to do."
St. Brown wouldn't go so far as to call the offense unstoppable, "but I think we're pretty good," he said.
"We got an O-line who’s our foundation, the guys up front, they protect Jared, they get the run game going, we got playmakers all across everywhere with the receivers, the tight ends, the running backs, and then our quarterback who can get it anywhere on the field he wants, makes great decisions, is our leader. And obviously you got our coaches and Ben Johnson, who’s running the whole show. I feel like we have a really good team, obviously, but I think our offense is special," said St. Brown.
Each week, it seems, the Lions set new franchise records. St. Brown just set one himself by catching a touchdown for the eighth straight game. And the Lions just extended their NFL record by rushing for a touchdown for the 24th straight game, including the postseason.
"It's a lot of fun to be a part of it," said St. Brown. "Looking back, a few years from now, I’m gonna be able to say I was part of one of the best offenses that the Lions maybe ever had. But we gotta keep going. Now’s not the time for us, for me to sit down and really admire what offense I’m in. I’m in the thick of it."
As Montgomery put it, "It don't matter if we don't win the Super Bowl."