Jared Goff often says he has "the best seat in the house" to watch Jahmyr Gibbs. Tate Ratledge used to have one of the worst. After Gibbs ran through the Giants and saved the Lions from disaster the Sunday before Thanksgiving, Ratledge laughed and said, "Sh*t, I saw it on the opposite sideline all the time in college. In high school I saw it. He put up, like, 450 yards rushing on us in high school."
"So I’ve been seeing it for a while," said Ratledge, "but seeing it now -- it’s awesome."
Ratledge's view on the first play of overtime was similar to that of Penei Sewell, who thrust his arms in the air to signal touchdown when Gibbs was 55 yards from the end zone. Goff signaled it even sooner. As soon as he saw the angle Gibbs had, "and the angle the safety had, it's over," said Goff.
It was all but over for the Lions on Sunday. They trailed the last-place team in the NFC by double digits in the fourth quarter, boos beginning to fill Ford Field. It was an ugly day on both sides of the ball for a supposed Super Bowl contender. Gibbs ensured that it wasn't costly. The more the Lions fed him, the more he feasted. He turned 26 touches into a career-high 264 yards and three touchdowns in a 34-27 win, in a game Detroit couldn't afford to lose.
"He’s a cheat code," said Amik Robertson. "That’s all I can say. He’s a cheat code. He’s a guy that can run a 4.2, so he’s a walking explosive play. He can go for the knockout, no matter where he’s at on the field."
The Lions needed a spark midway through the second quarter, trailing 17-7. So did a frustrated fanbase. There went Gibbs, up the gut and then down the sideline for 49 yards. He finished the drive on the next play when he made an over-the-shoulder catch out of the backfield and twisted through the air like a contortionist to reach the ball over the pylon.
"He’s like an alien, bro," said cornerback Rock Ya-Sin. "He’s really a different player. So dynamic, man. He’s one of one in this league right now. The speed, the balance, his big-play ability, he’s able to run between the tackles, great hands, a matchup nightmare out of the backfield. He’s just an all-around complete player."
The Lions needed another spark early in the fourth quarter, back down by 10. And there went Gibbs again, through the trenches and a thicket of defenders in the second level and 49 yards to the house. When Gibbs finds a crease, said Dan Campbell, "he’s gone." The Lions weren't all that efficient in accruing nearly 500 yards of offense on Sunday. The Giants had more first downs. But the Lions had a "game-changer" in Gibbs.
"He bailed us out today in a big way," Campbell said.
The Lions struggled to mount pressure on Jameis Winston against a poor offensive line, and failed to bring him down -- until the last play of the game -- when they had him in their grasp. They leaked oil in pass protection. On a day that spotlighted a couple of the only oversights by Brad Holmes, his boldest move shined brightest. As Holmes said when he drafted a running back 12th overall three years ago and most of the football world mocked him, Gibbs is no running back at all.
"He's a multi-phase, elite, explosive, position-less weapon."
Trailing by three with under three minutes to go, the Lions were staring a crippling loss in the face. Deep in their own territory, facing second and long, Goff dumped off a pass to Gibbs, who juked his way to a first down. After a few clutch catches by Amon-Ra St. Brown, whose suddenly shaky hands were sure when it mattered most, Gibbs shook a linebacker on a Texas route -- good luck -- and snared another first down. When the offense stalled out, Jake Bates drilled a 59-yard field goal to keep the Lions alive.
Taylor Decker has had the pleasure of blocking for Gibbs for three years. In the locker room after the game, the 10-year vet and the Lions' longest-tenured player thought about what distinguishes Gibbs from other great backs in the NFL and said that "one thing I’ve seen, especially this year -- because he’s not surprising anybody anymore -- I think defenses are scared of him."
"They know that if they don’t tackle him in the hole and he can get to the second level, he’s got some big-time potential," said Decker. "They either have to play base or they have to play with more guys in the box, which allows us to hit big play-action plays, as opposed to being able to sit back in two-high in a nickel defense. He’s special. You can make the case that he might be the best offensive player in the league."
"That dude is as good as they come in our league," said Goff, "regardless of position. We are lucky to have him, man."
Ratledge, the Georgia product who watched Gibbs run wild in the SEC in his lone year at Alabama, called him "a Swiss Army Knife when it comes to being explosive." That was the Lions' saving grace Sunday. They weren't hiding from it afterward. Goff acknowledged that Gibbs "supplemented some of the struggles we were having." Such explosiveness, said St. Brown, "corrects a lot of your mistakes as an offense," of which there were plenty.
"I wasn’t really thinking about carrying the team," said Gibbs. "I just do whatever it takes to win. Whatever they call me for, I'm willing to do. That was really my mindset."
Shortly before the start of overtime, St. Brown said he told wide receivers coach Scottie Montgomery and running backs coach Tashard Choice, "Let's run the run ball. Trust me, we gotta run it." They agreed; of course they did. And as the players jogged onto the field, St. Brown told Sewell, "Penei, we’re coming to the right side, right to you, Jahmyr's about to score, bro. We’re about to win."
The call came in, St. Brown erased a blitzing safety, Sewell and the offensive line cleared a path, the crowd started to roar, "and when he gets that ball and you hear the crowd erupt," said Ratledge, "usually it’s housed."
Gibbs maxed out at 22.2 mph on his 69-yard dash to the end zone, per Next Gen Stats, giving him three of the top four speeds by NFL ball carriers this season. Giants safety Dane Belton never had a chance. "I pretty much knew I had him," said Gibbs, as modestly as possible. I just had to, you know, run."
"That’s what makes him so special," said Goff, "that next-level speed."
A loss would have spelled next-level trouble for the Lions in the NFC North. The two-time defending champs were on the ropes Sunday, staggered by a team with more talent than its record might suggest, in danger of falling two games behind in the division. Angst was turning into anger inside Ford Field. With a few sparks, Gibbs lit the torch and led the way, and made sure a bad day for the Lions had a good ending.