On his bobblehead day at Ford Field, David Montgomery left the Jaguars spinning. He scored two touchdowns and had several runs that brought Ford Field to its feet in the Lions' 52-6 win. In Chicago, the Bears lost their fourth game in a row.
Montgomery has become a heart-and-soul player for Detroit since signing here after four years on the other side of Lake Michigan. He's a tone-setter on offense. He falls into the same category as the likes of Amon-Ra St. Brown and Jared Goff, which is why the Lions recently extended his contract.
Montgomery's downhill running style personifies the Lions' identity. Asked to describe their brand of football after Sunday's win, he said, "It's cliche, but it's grit."
"I think it’s the land of the misfit toys," Montgomery said. "A lot of people got rejected and wasn’t good enough. I was in Chicago and I wasn’t good enough to be there, so Detroit took a chance on me here and I ensure that they know they didn’t make a mistake by doing so."
Who else is a misfit? Montgomery pointed to three of the Lions' captains: "Saint, he went where he went (in the draft). J-G. You got guys on defense, Alex (Anzalone), he was with the Saints and they said he wasn't good enough. Having a group of guys like that, it shows who we are and what we're capable of."
Montgomery spent the first four years of his career with the Bears, who took him in the second round of the 2019 draft. He ran hard behind some mediocre offensive lines, rushing for about 900 yards a season and 3.9 yards per carry. When Montgomery became a free agent, the Bears let him walk to the Lions on a three-year, $18 million deal.
At the time, Montgomery said he was "just scratching the surface" of his NFL potential and that he had the "ability to do a lot of things that I haven’t been able to showcase the last four years."
He's on pace for his second straight 1,000-yard season while averaging 4.5 yards per carry in Detroit, behind an elite offensive line. He's rushed for 23 touchdowns in 24 games with the Lions, compared to 26 in 60 with the Bears. He was rewarded last month with a two-year, $18.25 million extension.
"Just a badass dude who frickin’ runs with a purpose," center Frank Ragnow said earlier this season. "It seems like every run, he’s making someone pay if they want to try and tackle him. It’s an honor to block for him. Just violent."
Montgomery, 27, has spent most of his career getting overlooked. As he said entering this season, "I’ve been in the league going on six years, I feel like I’ve never got the credit I deserve."
"I think I get labeled a lot for what people say that I can’t do, but I feel like I’ve proven people wrong every single time," Montgomery said.
In Detroit, he keeps proving the Lions right.