It had to come.
With all the improvements Jim Schwartz and his staff have made to the Lions, it was only a matter of time before they got their first win of the season, and they did so in emphatic style against the Rams.
Detroit finally got the ball rolling on the season and the Rams fall to 2-3, just one game back in the NFC West.
Rams: Three performances of note
There weren't too many performances to smile about for the Rams, but one that stood out was the play of LG Jacob Bell (+2.6). Bell graded positively in both pass protection and run blocking and was the sole standout from a line that was controlled by the Lions.
Defensive ends Chris Long (-1.0) and James Hall (-2.5) are expected to do the bulk of the work rushing the passer, and they couldn't get it done in this game. Long notched a hit on the QB and a pair of pressures, but Hall managed to register just a single pressure from his 35 pass rushes.
We've never understood why David Vobora lost his starting spot in the Rams' D. With neither Larry Grant (-0.5) nor Na'il Diggs (+0.2) able to impress in this game, Vobora recorded a +1.3 PFF rating thanks to his performance in the run game.
Lions: Three performances of note
It's worth starting with the quarterback. Shaun Hill (+4.1) was given time in the pocket and responded by completing 21 passes for 27 yards and three touchdowns. Hill finished the game with a QB rating of 125.3 on his aimed passes (taking out balls thrown away, spikes, etc.) and was able to lead the Lions' offense down the field with ease.
On the other side of the ball, defensive end Cliff Avril (+3.8) had a fine day, hitting Sam Bradford once and getting five more pressures on the rookie quarberback. He also performed well against the run before being forced to leave with a knee injury.
Rookie running back Jahvid Best may not have had great numbers, but he ran well and made the most of what was there, gaining a +2.1 PFF grade for his day's work.
Rookie report
Bradford (+0.5) didn't have as terrible a day as his QB rating might suggest. He was hurt by a poor interception to Alphonso Smith that was returned for a touchdown, but the game was well out of reach by that point anyway. He wasn't helped out by four drops from his receivers.
Rodger Saffold (-3.7) did not have a good day, struggling to contain Kyle Vanden Bosch and getting called for three penalties.
Jerome Murphy (-0.3) played 38 snaps, largely from the slot, and Mardy Gilyard (-1.2) found himself as one of the primary receivers as soon as Mark Clayton went down hurt. Gilyard was thrown at five times and caught two passes for 22 yards. Fendi Onobon played four snaps.
Defensive ends Eugene Sims (-1.6) and George Selvie (-1.1) split their work at DRE (Sims playing the run and Selvie rushing the passer), and neither player performed well at their designated task.
Ndamukong Suh (+0.3) had a pretty nondescript day until a great bat-and-interception play. Best ran well and Amari Spievey (+0.8) played 30 snaps at free safety, and was targeted just once — a 9-yard completion.
Random note
At one point in the coverage, FOX ran a film of Hill's scrambles. They had some kind of blue ray coming from his eyes as he ran, intended to show the vision Hill was using as he ran for positive yardage and judged when to give himself up, but it looked more like he was frying defenders with superpowers.
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