Detroit Lions running back Jahmyr Gibbs (26) and Detroit Lions wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown (14) celebrate a touchdown during an NFL football game against the Indianapolis Colts, on Nov. 24 in Indianapolis.Zach Bolinger/The Associated Press
Jared Goff and the Detroit Lions spent three months scoring at a historic rate.
Now with the weather changing outside, they’re winning with old-school football, too.
Jahmyr Gibbs rushed for two scores, David Montgomery added a third TD run and Detroit’s increasingly stingy defence kept the Indianapolis Colts out of the end zone on Sunday, leading the Lions to their ninth straight win, 24-6.
“This is, whatever it is, 10 quarters without allowing a touchdown and the three last games in the second half we’re not allowing it,” coach Dan Campbell said. “We talk about it all the time – limiting points, play physical style, shut down the run – we were able to do that.”
They’ve been doing it all season in their greatest run in decades, but have been more effective lately and it has shown.
The Lions improved to 10-1 for the first time since 1934, their inaugural season in the Motor City. They own the league’s longest active winning streak and are 6-0 on the road this season.
While the Lions have scored points by the dozens all season, Campbell’s preference for physical football means they’re equally capable of grinding out wins with the combination of a ball-control offence and an ascending defence that propelled them to this win.
Gibbs finished with 21 carries for 90 yards on a day Goff went 26 of 36 with 269 yards and no touchdowns. And for the third straight week, all against AFC South foes, the Lions had a second-half shutout.
“If you can win on the road, you’re normally a pretty damn good team,” Campbell said. “And we can win on the road.”
The Colts (5-7) found out the hard way by losing their second straight home game and for the fourth time in their past five games.
Anthony Richardson had another up-and-down game, going 11 of 28 with 172 yards while rushing 10 times for 61 yards. But it was Indy’s inability to finish drives with touchdowns that again cost the team.
Detroit made Indy pay dearly for its offensive miscues.
Gibbs’s one-yard TD run on the Lions’ second series made it 7-3 early in the second quarter and after Indy settled for another short field goal, Montgomery spun his way across the goal line for a six-yard TD and a 14-6 lead.
Detroit’s defence made sure that was all the scoring punch it needed.
“Those players, we’ve been around each other long enough, they’ve been around each other to know exactly what we’re looking for,” Campbell said. “We have an identity about us. We know the critical factors as they pertain to winning, and those guys take that stuff serious.”
Gibbs’s five-yard TD run late in the third quarter gave Detroit a 21-6 lead and they closed it out with a 56-yard field goal midway through the fourth.
Amon-Ra St. Brown caught six passes for 62 yards for Detroit while Michael Pittman Jr. had six catches for 96 yards for Indy despite leaving briefly in the first half with an injured shoulder.
Gibbs’s first score extended Detroit’s league record to 25 consecutive games with a TD run, including the playoffs.