Amon-Ra St. Brown shows in the win against Dallas that the Lions can only make it to the playoffs with him.
By Tobias Wiltschek
Briefly, very briefly, it looked as if he was sliding into a crisis.
Amon-Ra St. Brown was only able to catch two of twelve passes addressed to him in the game against the Philadelphia Eagles. A devastating statistic for a wide receiver.
That was mid-November. There is no longer any talk of a crisis. The Detroit Lions’ pass receiver is more important than ever to his team – and the deciding factor for getting into the playoffs and beyond.
This realization came about at a time when he wasn’t able to participate at all. After St. Brown had to leave the field injured on Thanksgiving against the Green Bay Packers, quarterback Jared Goff was suddenly missing his number one receiving station.
He did manage to get two touchdown passes. But he couldn’t prevent the bitter 24:31.
Detroit Lions: Amon-Ra St. Brown takes offense to another level
Now St. Brown is back, and the Lions’ offensive game immediately gains power. The team covered a total of 92 yards thanks to its catches. The 26-year-old received six out of nine passes.
The 44:30 win over the Dallas Cowboys also showed that the German-American has invaluable value to the Lions beyond statistics: as a driver, as a role model, as a player for the decisive plays.
In the last Lions drive, he caught a very important pass and brought the ball into the redzone, where running back Jahmyr Gibbs was able to finally decide the game with a touchdown.
Detroit Lions: Amon-Ra St. Brown is “unique”
St. Brown did all of this just a few hours after it became clear that he could play after recovering from an ankle injury. “He’s unique. He just refuses to fail,” said head coach Dan Campbell, tipping his hat to the man with number 14.
Who, and now we’re back to statistics, caught more balls in the first five years of his NFL career than anyone else before him during that period. In Dallas he made his 511th catch.
St. Brown carries the Lions’ offense, and he carries it to one of the best in the entire league. While the defense around Aidan Hutchinson only has mediocre values, the Lions’ offense is in the top five in receiving yards and even in first place in terms of average points scored!
Detroit Lions: Playoff chances increase to over 50 percent
Thanks to St. Brown’s return and the win in Dallas, the Lions’ playoff chances have increased enormously. According to “ESPN Analytics”, they are now at 56 percent, 13 percentage points higher than before the game in Texas.
For quarterback Goff, it is clear that St. Brown is developing into the decisive player “that we always knew he would be.”
There are still four games left in the regular season. The road to the playoffs won’t be easy. But since the game in Dallas it has been clear: Only with St. Brown are the Lions a real candidate for the postseason.
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