Jared Goff says the Lions won't take the struggling Bengals lightly
Jared Goff and the Detroit Lions are motoring on all cylinders with three straight wins after a season-opening loss at Green Bay.
Even though the Lions are double-digit favorites on the road against the reeling Cincinnati Bengals, Goff isn't taking his team's momentum going into Sunday's game for granted.
Goff also dismisses the notion that the Bengals are a trap team despite having lost two straight games by a combined score of 76-13.
“I think these guys are not even close to being a bad team, to be a trap team. I think they’re a really dang good team,” Goff said. “Certainly, on defense they present some challenges for us on offense that we have to handle. There’s no way we could take them lightly in any way.”
Detroit (3-1) has bounced back from a season-opening loss at Green Bay with three straight wins, averaging 41.3 points and outscoring Chicago, Baltimore and Cleveland by 20 points on average.
“We’re on fire right now,” said edge rusher Aidan Hutchinson, who has a three-game sack streak. “We want to keep this train moving.”
Cincinnati (2-2) has been listless on offense since losing Joe Burrow to a toe injury in a Week 2 win over Jacksonville. The Bengals suffered the worst loss in franchise history at Minnesota (48-10) in Week 3 and were dominated 28-3 last Monday night at Denver.
Jake Browning has thrown five interceptions since replacing Burrow. The offense has averaged a league-low 4.13 plays per drive and gone three-and-out on 12 of its 23 drives, while the defense has been on the field an average of 34:27 the past two games.
“We need to improve in just staying ahead of the sticks,” Browning said. “Also just how I approach some of my decision-making and prioritizing, knowing when the situations are to take the shots and knowing when the situations are to just take the completion underneath, get us into a third-and-manageable.”
Ja'Marr Chase's only good game this season came in the Bengals' Week 2 home game against Jacksonville, when he had 14 catches for 165 yards and a touchdown.
In the other three games, he has had 12 receptions for 99 yards. He was frustrated on the sidelines during the second half against Denver after having five catches for only 23 yards. The 4.6 average yards per reception was his second-lowest in a game with at least two catches.
Chase's 264 yards through four games is his lowest in his five-year NFL career.
“I think we can throw it to him 20 times and it is still not enough,” offensive coordinator Dan Pitcher said. “I love Ja’Marr. I love everything about him. I love how competitive he is. I love how he practices. I love how he plays. If we are going to improve, then the road to improvement certainly goes through Ja’Marr Chase.”
After allowing 100-yard rushers the last two weeks, the Bengals' defense faces a challenge this week trying to contain Detroit's Jahmyr Gibbs and David Montgomery.
The Bengals have allowed a league-high 303 rushing yards on missed tackles, not a good trend going into a game against a duo that's one of the best in the league at making defenders miss.
“Just defend your gap, keep the ball on your inside pad. Play with leverage,” defensive coordinator Al Golden said.
Lions assistant head coach Scottie Montgomery compared Amon-Ra St. Brown’s mentality and competitiveness to two Basketball Hall of Famers: Michael Jordan and the late Kobe Bryant.
“He’s a throwback player playing in today’s society,” Montgomery said.
St. Brown has 27 receptions for 307 yards and six touchdowns this season, scoring in three straight games. He is the first NFL player with 25-plus catches, at least 300 yards receiving and six receiving touchdowns through four games since Hall of Famer Randy Moss did it in 2007 during his first season with Tom Brady and the New England Patriots, who went undefeated in the regular season that year.
Since Detroit drafted St. Brown out of Southern California in the fourth round in 2021, the two-time All-Pro and three-time Pro Bowler has a league-high 457 catches.
“He’s been doing this for really for 4 1/2 years,” Detroit coach Dan Campbell said. “Once he figured it out halfway through ’21, nobody’s as consistent as he’s been.”
Detroit has not given up a sack in three straight games for the first time since it became an official statistic in 1982.
“It’s cool, but it’s not just us,” center Graham Glasgow said. “A lot of that is Jared (Goff) getting the ball out, receivers getting open along with running backs and tight ends chipping in to block.”
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AP Sports Writer Larry Lage in Detroit contributed to this report.
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