The Lions rode Adrian Peterson for as long as they could, probably longer than advised. After a strong start to the season, the future Hall of Famer has looked more like the 35-year-old that he is.
So here comes the 21-year-old, and here comes the next hope for a long-dormant ground game in Detroit. Here comes D'Andre Swift.
The Lions nearly burned their season last week, but Swift -- along with Matthew Stafford -- rescued them from the fire. He turned 21 touches into 149 yards and a touchdown. He was explosive on the ground -- more than 5.0 yards per carry -- and he was dynamic through the air.
He was a flat-out problem for Washington's defense, the problem the Lions were hoping for when they drafted him early in the second round.
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"Feel like we’ve got him up to speed," offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell said Tuesday, noting Swift dealt with a leg injury in training camp. "He’s in a good spot and then he showed up in the game. He did a great job with the run game, and we were able to get him involved in the pass game as well.
"As you watched the games prior, I think you can kind of see some of the things that were coming and how we were using him. He stepped up.”
The games prior paint a clear picture: this backfield now belongs to Swift. He's logged 35 carries, 14 targets and 111 offensive snaps over the last three games. Combined, Peterson and Kerryon Johnson have logged 22 carries, 12 targets and 84 snaps.
Against Washington, Swift set season-highs in carries (16) and snaps (43) on the same day Peterson set season-lows: four carries, seven snaps. This wasn't a product of the game script or the 'hot hand' or anything else circumstantial. This was a reflection of the new hierarchy in the backfield.
Bevell said he's relayed this message to Peterson.
"Whether it’s Adrian or any of our guys, we try to be as transparent as we can," he said. "We try to make sure they understand the game plan, understand their role, how they’re built into it. Definitely, it was important for us to talk to Adrian and understand the roles that they’re going to play from now on."
The Lions won't remove Peterson from the picture completely. His new role is likely somewhere in the middle of what it was to start the year and what it was last week. Detroit remains committed to featuring different looks in the backfield, and Peterson can still provide a spark.
But Swift is the spark the Lions have been missing. And he's a threat in every way, which lessens the need for a rotation. It took time for Detroit to break him in, and it took time for Swift to get moving. Now it's full-steam ahead.