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ASSOCIATED PRESS

The Detroit Lions made a change offensively on Sunday afternoon, and it looks like it was a great move.

Lions head coach Dan Campbell was spotted holding a play sheet on the sidelines at Northwest Stadium and appeared to be calling plays during the Lions’ blowout 44-22 win over the Washington Commanders. He confirmed as much at halftime.

“It’s just a changeup,” he told Fox’s Megan Olivi at the break. “We wanted to mix things up.”

That changeup worked.

The Lions scored on their first eight drives on Sunday in Maryland. They took a 25-10 lead into the locker room, thanks to a pair of touchdowns from running back Jahmyr Gibbs and a 9-yard reception from Amon-Ra St. Brown. Jameson Williams caught a 14-yard pass to add to that lead out of the break, too, and then Gibbs erupted for a 44-yard score in the fourth quarter.

Everything was clicking perfectly, and it allowed them to roll to the 22-point win without any issue whatsoever.

Jared Goff went 25 of 33 for 320 yards with three touchdowns in the win. Gibbs finished with 142 yards and two touchdowns on 15 carries on the ground, and he had another 30 yards and a touchdown on three catches. David Montgomery had 71 rushing yards on 15 carries, too, and Williams had 119 yards and a score on six catches. The win pushed the Lions to 6-3 on the year.

While it’s not their highest-scoring day of the season — they dropped 52 points on the Chicago Bears back in September — it came close. The Lions’ 44 points trail only that Week 2 win, and nearly doubled their point totals from the last two games. Campbell was asked how he planned to jumpstart their offense after the team fell to the Minnesota Vikings last week, and was a little vague about what he was going to try.

“I’ve got a million ideas,” he said, via the Detroit Free Press. “And I believe it’s going to work this week. And if it doesn’t, then I’ve got another idea. I’ve got plenty. We’ll get this thing going.”

To be fair, the Lions are catching the Commanders at the perfect time. The team has now lost five straight, which moved them to 3-7 on the season. Marcus Mariota went 16 of 22 for 213 yards with a pair of touchdowns. Jacory Croskey-Marritt had 30 yards on 11 carries, and Treylon Burks had 58 yards on three catches.

Washington lost quarterback Jayden Daniels last week to a gruesome elbow injury in garbage time, too, and defensive lineman Daron Payne was ejected in the first half after he turned and punched St. Brown in the helmet after one of Gibbs’ touchdowns. Clearly, things aren’t going great inside that locker room.

But thanks in part to Campbell taking the reins from offensive coordinator John Morton, the Lions have found their offense again. Whether this version is sustainable — the Lions will take on the Philadelphia Eagles on the road next Sunday night in what’s sure to be a great test — remains to be seen.

While the Jets kept their quarterback plan under wraps the entire week, forcing the Browns to prepare for an offense led by either Justin Fields or Tyrod Taylor, the gamesmanship maneuver didn't play to any advantage. Oddly enough, they managed to take care of business in spite of the passing game.

An inefficient Fields, who racked up a measly 54 passing yards on just 6-of-11 passing as the expected starter, was fortunately bailed out by clutch special teams touchdowns and timely rushing attacks in New York's 27-20 win over Cleveland on a rainy Sunday afternoon at MetLife Stadium.

The Jets (2-7) didn't check off boxes in all three phases, but their second straight win featured several plays that met head coach Aaron Glenn's demand for complementary football. The efforts across the 53-man roster also arrived just days after stunning trade deadline departures of once-foundational players.

"We're trying to build something. There has to be a foundation that has to be set. These guys understand that," Glenn said after the win. "We know we have a long way to go and have a lot of work to do on both sides of the ball. But our special teams really gave us a spark today, and that's what we need... Today was really supportive football again."

The Jets became the first team since the 2007 Chargers (h/t Rich Cimini) to record touchdowns via punt return and kick return in the same game, and they happened achieved this feat midway through the first quarter. 

Kene Nwangwu contributed the first score, returning a kickoff 99 yards to help knot the score at 7-7, while Isaiah Williams broke the tie less than a minute later by evading punt coverage from 76 yards out. After 12 minutes of play, the Jets held a 14-7 lead.

With the game knotted at 17-17 entering the fourth quarter, Breece Hall played the role of hero, snagging a screen pass from Fields near midfield and taking it 40 yards to the house for the go-ahead touchdown. Then, on the first play of the Jets' ensuing drive, the star running back hustled for 30 yards along the left sideline for a mammoth gain. Hall finished with 125 all-purpose yards.

"It's less about learning how to win and just being tired of losing. Everybody's tired of losing," said Hall, who wasn't dealt by the Jets amid months-long trade rumors. "I wouldn't say it was a roller-coaster week... For me, it's kind of like, 'F, it.' It is what it is. I'm here to show up on Sundays, Mondays, Thursdays. The other stuff is for y'all to gossip about and for everybody else on the outside to talk about."

The final stats from Sunday don't tell the entire story. The Jets ran fewer plays than the Browns, allowed more yards and twice as many first downs, and committed the game's lone turnover.

But energy from two special teams returners and their leading rusher provided ample momentum for a Jets squad now seeking a three-game winning streak for the first time since Weeks 5-8 of 2023.