- REWATCH: Lions-Ravens on NFL+ Premium
- READ: Goff on historic night for Montgomery, Gibbs: 'Pick your poison'
- READ: Ravens RB Henry 'at a loss for words' after latest fumble
- Title contenders trade haymakers. We've seen some truly excellent football in prime-time windows in the first month of this season, but this felt like one of the true 12-round title fights between heavyweights. Detroit compiled an impressive opening drive, Baltimore answered with a quicker scoring march, and then the Lions responded with an incredible statement of a drive that covered 98 yards over 18 plays and announced they would not be intimidated by the aura of M&T Bank Stadium at night. These teams battled back and forth throughout much of the night, delivering a thrilling viewing experience before the Lions' commitment to their identity -- and their refusal to back down, converting a courageous fourth down and capping it with a touchdown run -- won out, producing a momentous victory. If every game in the NFL was like this one, we'd never leave our homes. And we just might have seen a Super Bowl preview on Monday night.
- Baltimore needs to get healthy up front. It's not often a game between two elite clubs includes a couple of 95-plus-yard touchdown drives completed by one team, but that is what the Lions did, imposing their will on the Ravens with a blend of sharp third-down conversions and an insistence on running the ball down Baltimore's throat. Frustrated Ravens fans can't run from this fact, but they can and will point to the absences of Nnamdi Madubuike and Kyle Van Noy, two players who occupy different roles along the defensive front but are each essential to maintaining their run-stopping integrity. With both sidelined Monday night, the Lions capitalized, balancing an offense that is already predicated on play-action passing with an aggressive ground game that produced multiple highlight runs by David Montgomery and stole the soul of Baltimore's defense. This is not Ravens football, and the Ravens will be plenty hard on themselves after getting bullied up front. Hopefully that criticism (and some time to heal) corrects matters.
- Detroit swarms Lamar Jackson. It's not often a defense bottles up Lamar Jackson to the point he's visibly frustrated on the sideline in the crucial moments of a game, but it certainly happened Monday night. The Lions' defensive front -- a unit many saw as a concerning weakness entering 2025 -- harassed Jackson all night, sacking him seven times and doing so with multiple shoestring tackles. More importantly, Detroit played physical, tough and fundamentally sound defense, limiting Baltimore's explosive offense in the most important moments. Perhaps it will be a wake-up call for Jackson and how he approaches his improvisational brand of football. For the Lions, it was a huge feather in their cap.
- Henry has a fumbling problem. On 683 touches from Week 18 of the 2022 season through the end of the 2024 season, Derrick Henry fumbled just three times. He's fumbled three times on just 43 touches this season. Henry's fourth-quarter fumble came after he mysteriously faded from Baltimore's offensive game plan in a second-half stretch in which a threatening running game would have been useful in order to sustain drives in a tight contest. And as soon as he returned, he committed the worst mistake, giving possession right back to the Lions right after they were forced to settle for a field goal in a one-score game. No football player is infallible. Plenty of excellent defensive players knock the ball loose every week in the NFL. But Henry's sudden fumbling tendency is alarming because of the role he plays in Baltimore's offense. He's a home run threat, a bulldozing back, a reliable workhorse and a proven closer who has suddenly lost the ability to accomplish the latter, which reduced his role on Monday night and directly affected the outcome of the game. Henry served as one-third of an incredibly dynamic and explosive offense in Baltimore last season, yet his value in its attack is uncertain, at least for now. His emotional sideline display said it all. We can't explain why Henry is suddenly giving away possession, but if he and the Ravens are going to reach their potential, he better solve it fairly soon.
- Lions remind NFL they're still the same machine. Detroit entered 2025 with plenty of question marks. Would its defense -- a unit lacking proven talent up front outside of Aidan Hutchinson and veteran D.J. Reader -- be able to stop explosive opponents in high-leverage moments? Would the Lions recover from losing defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn and offensive coordinator Ben Johnson to head coaching jobs elsewhere? They answered both questions emphatically Monday night, playing excellent defensively, piecing together outrageously impressive offensive possessions built on a rugged running game and excellent quarterback play from Jared Goff, winning the physical battle in the trenches and sprinkling in some trickery that was a staple under Johnson. In one night, the Lions returned to the form that made them Super Bowl favorites a year ago. Their struggle-filled Week 1 display feels like a distant memory after this prime-time performance.
Next Gen Stats Insight for Lions-Ravens (via NFL Pro): David Montgomery rushed for a career-high 151 yards on only 12 carries, gaining +108 rushing yards over expected, which is +39 more than any other player this season. Montgomery recorded four explosive runs (10-plus yards) for only the fourth time in his career and gained a career-high 87 yards after six missed tackles forced.
NFL Research: The Ravens allowed touchdown drives of 96 and 98 yards on Monday night, becoming the first team to allow multiple 95-yard touchdown drives on Monday Night Football since the 2010 Ravens, who did so in a 34-28 win over the Houston Texans.
