Detroit Lions fans are excited as Jared Goff enters Ford Field before the season starts
Jared Goff enters Ford Field to warm up less than an hour before kickoff; Lions fans respond by chanting his name before the Rams’ opening game on September 8, 2024.
Carlton Davis simply had the air taken out of his lungs.
Davis left the Detroit Lions’ 26-20 victory over the Los Angeles Rams on Sunday on the penultimate play of regulation after missing an interception that potentially would have prevented the game from going into overtime at Ford Field.
Davis remained bent over on the ground for about a minute and was cared for by trainers before leaving the field under his own power.
“Should have caught the ball,” Davis said after the game. “It hit my stomach and knocked the wind out of me.”
Ennis Rakestraw Jr. replaced him and played the final snap of regulation when Aidan Hutchinson sacked Matthew Stafford and the Lions won the overtime coin toss and scored a game-ending touchdown.
Davis could have returned if the Lions needed him on defense, and he indicated he would be fit for next Sunday’s game against his old team, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
TRENDING: Sure, there were problems, but the Lions showed special qualities in their victory over the Rams
Davis, an offseason transfer, made 10 tackles in his Lions debut but said he and the Lions’ new-look secondary will have to be more opportunistic going forward. He dropped what appeared to be an interception on a Stafford pass that was thrown too far with 11 seconds left. Had Davis held onto the ball, the Lions would have recovered it near the halfway line after a timeout.
Safety Brian Branch also allowed an interception and the Lions allowed Stafford to complete 34 of 49 passes for 317 yards on a day in which he played behind a severely undermanned offensive line and Pro Bowl receiver Puka Nacua was out with an injury.
“I thought we definitely played well as a secondary,” Davis said. “Like I said, we want to be perfect, we want to be the best in the league, so we have to be better and more opportunistic, especially with the ball. We just made too many bad passes. But overall we kept the score low, 20, we just have to get better and work on the little things. We’re still working on the chemistry in the back end in the first game, but it’s coming together.”
GAME BALLS: David Montgomery storms to victory; Matthew Stafford strong for LA
Slipping and sliding at Ford Field
Several Lions players had problems with their footing on Sunday and occasionally slipped on the turf at Ford Field.
Jahmyr Gibbs stumbled as he got loose in the Rams’ secondary with just over a minute left, allowing Jared Goff to send a touchdown over his head. Amon-Ra St. Brown slipped on a break-in route later in the same drive and Kalif Raymond lost his footing on an incomplete pass on third down before the Lions settled for the tying field goal.
Lions running back David Montgomery said he slipped several times on Sunday, but said it was not a problem with the turf at Ford Field.
“I definitely slipped,” he said. “I need to get back on my feet, play more on my toes. That can’t be an excuse for why I slipped. I just need to make sure I get back on my feet and that’s what I’m going to do.”
Wide receiver Jameson Williams said the problem was partly due to the Lions playing on artificial turf for the first time this preseason.
“I wouldn’t say it was slippery,” he said. “But for a lot of us it’s the first game on grass. Some of us didn’t play in preseason, so we’re just happy to have the grass feel again. We train a lot on grass, so that might play a role. I’m not really sure about the grass. I think it was OK. I don’t know for sure. I didn’t slip.”
Dave Birkett is the author of the new book “Detroit Lions: An Illustrated Timeline.” Pre-order now from Reedy Press.
Contact him at [email protected]Follow him on X and Instagram at @davebirkett.
