The best running back in the NFL might play for Baltimore. The best duo plays for Detroit. On a night that the Ravens did their best to contain Jahmyr Gibbs, David Montgomery wore them out.
His first carry came from his own goal line and started a 98-yard touchdown drive. His longest sparked a 96-yard touchdown drive. And his last went 31 yards to the end zone and sunk the knife in the Ravens. When it was all said and done, Montgomery had rushed for a career-high 151 yards.
And Baltimore had allowed a total of 224 yards on the ground, its most in regulation in 13 years and second most in 18 years under John Harbaugh.
"It was not me at all," Montgomery said after the Lions' 38-30 win on Monday Night Football. "You can’t play this game by yourself. The guys up front, the receivers, the tight ends, you can’t do that at all without those guys being selfless enough to move (their) guys out the way so I can have the right read. My job is easy. They did the hard part. Again, I’m grateful for those guys."
The feeling is mutual. Montgomery barreled through the trenches Monday night, reminding everyone how the Lions play football. Detroit's perimeter rushing attack came alive in Week 2 against the Bears, after an ugly offensive showing in Green Bay. Against the Ravens, the Lions were able to move it up the middle. Montgomery's 72-yard run late in the third quarter that set up a go-ahead touchdown went straight through the teeth of Baltimore's defense.
When Aidan Hutchinson took the podium for his postgame press conference, Montgomery sat with the media in the front row, ready to go next. He perked up and played along when a reporter asked Hutchinson to describe Montgomery's performance, breaking out his phone to film Hutchinson's response. Hutchinson pointed at Montgomery and smiled, "Look at him, he's loving this."
"David brought a lot of joy when I was sitting on the bench today. ... He deserves it all. He works his ass off. Really, no one deserves it more than David with what he did today. I wish he would have cribbed that long run," Hutchinson said with a grin, "ended up getting caught a little bit. But he’s a baller, man. He won us that game today, was a big reason why we won."
Montgomery spent his first two seasons in Detroit running behind one of the best offensive lines in the league. The unit looks different this year, but it's starting to play the same. Tate Ratledge and Christian Mahogany are growing up quickly at guard; Graham Glasgow is beginning to find his footing at center. The O-line succumbed to a raucous environment in Green Bay. It brought the noise in Baltimore. It played cohesively all night, paving lanes on the ground and keeping the sack column clean for the second straight game -- which happened just once each of the last three seasons.
"It starts up front," said Montgomery. "Those guys don’t get enough credit. They caught a lot of backlash after the first week. Everybody was kind of on them about it, and it’s really important to keep the horse-blinders on when you’re in the midst of the mud. We got the best group up front in the league, so they did exactly what I knew they would do and we had fun tonight."
Meanwhile, Montgomery was at the center of Detroit's three biggest drives of the night. When the Lions went 98 yards on 18 plays in the second quarter, Montgomery started it and ended it. When they went 96 yards in the fourth quarter to take a lead they wouldn't give back, Montgomery chewed off most of it by heeding a message he hears frequently from Lions running backs coach Tashard Choice.
"I was just thinking in my read, Coach Choice had been on me this whole offseason about trusting my read, staying square, and I was able to do that. I’m more disappointed that I got hawked," Montgomery said with a smile. "My brother’s going to be on me about that. It’s cool, though."
And when the Lions went 70 yards on their final drive to seal the game, it was Montgomery who scampered around the right edge behind terrific blocks from Glasgow, Ratledge and -- who else -- Penei Sewell and then outraced a trio of Ravens defenders into the end zone with the help of a downfield block by Jameson Williams.
Montgomery was too elated to hit his customary celebration, which he broke out after his first touchdown. He buries his facemask in his hands and pretends to sob, an ode to the misunderstood villain who Montgomery considers his alter ego.
"I see myself as The Joker," he said. "In one of his movies he was fake-crying and he started to laugh; it’s kind of like a joke on the world. That’s my go-to celly for the whole year."
With a nod he added, "You’ll see it a lot."