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Lions DeskThe TapeGame center →

Lions turn a third-quarter interception and a Jahmyr Gibbs touchdown into a 19-9 win in Miami

Detroit went 4-for-4 on fourth down and scored 10 points in the third quarter to beat the Dolphins 19-9 and run its winning streak to four.

0Jahmyr GibbsThe TapeW 19–9atDOLPHINSRBJahmyr Gibbs
By Lions Desk, Pigskin NightlyNov 8, 5:50 PM ET3 min read

The deciding stretch

The Lions won this game in the third quarter, when they outscored the Dolphins 10-3. It started at 13:38 with M.Willis throwing deep left for C.Douglas. C.Clark intercepted at the Detroit 40 and ran it out to the Miami 26, a 34-yard return. The play moved Detroit's win probability by 7 points.

The bigger swing came at 1:20. L.Borom reported in as eligible, and Jahmyr Gibbs ran right end for 8 yards and a touchdown. That play was worth 9 points of win probability, the largest swing of the game for Detroit. The Lions led 16-6 after three quarters, having led 6-3 at the half.

The swing

The Lions were not clean. They finished 3-for-12 on third down and 1-for-4 in the red zone. Only one of their eight drives ended in a touchdown, and five ended in points.

Fourth down is where they made up the difference. Detroit went 4-for-4. Miami went 1-for-2. The Lions kept the ball for 31:15 to the Dolphins' 28:45, and they had 16 first downs to Miami's 12.

The Lions also took two early hits. Jared Goff's pass for Amon-Ra St. Brown was intercepted by C.Johnson at 5:14 of the first quarter, and it cost 8 points of win probability. The Dolphins then got a 46-yard completion on a punt-formation pass from B.Pinion to K.Allen at 14:55 of the fourth quarter. That play cost Detroit another 8 points, and the Lions still held on.

Who moved the needle

Gibbs carried 20 times for 74 yards, 3.7 a carry, with the touchdown. His longest run was 16 yards. Sione Vaki added 14 yards on 3 carries, and Jameson Williams gained 9 on his one rush. Williams also caught one pass for 31 yards, the longest Detroit gain in the receiving log.

St. Brown led the receivers with 8 catches for 86 yards on 10 targets. Sam LaPorta caught 4 for 32.

Goff completed 17 of 25 for 170 yards, with no touchdowns, one interception and a 70.4 rating. He was sacked 3 times for 13 yards. His 29 dropbacks cost Detroit 3.5 expected points added. EPA measures how much each play changes a team's scoring expectation compared with an average result from that spot. His 3 rushes lost another 2.3.

The best EPA marks belonged to a short-yardage pair. Jack Fox threw one pass, completed for 11 yards to Tay Martin, and each was credited with 3.1 EPA. Isaac TeSlaa was next at 1.4 over two plays.

The defense decided the efficiency numbers. Detroit finished at 0.009 EPA per play with a 44 percent success rate. Miami finished at minus 0.211 and 29 percent. Derrick Moore had 2 sacks and 2 tackles for loss, and Alim McNeill added a sack. Malcolm Rodriguez led with 8 tackles and a pass defensed, and Brian Branch had 7 tackles. Miami also went 0-for-3 in the red zone and lost 23 yards to sacks.

Where it leaves them

Detroit is 6-2 with a plus-33 point differential, 222 points scored and 189 allowed. The record is 4-0 at home and 2-2 on the road. The Lions hold the fifth seed in the NFC.

The division is tight. Minnesota is 6-1, Chicago is 6-2 and the Lions are 6-2, which leaves Detroit third on tiebreakers. Green Bay is a game back at 5-3.

The Lions host the New England Patriots in Week 10 on Sunday, Nov. 15, at 9:30 a.m. ET on Fox. Detroit's offense will have to turn more of its 12 third-down tries into conversions. That is the number to track.

How this was reported. Every number in this piece comes from the play-by-play, drive, injury and snap data Pigskin Nightly collects for every game. EPA (expected points added) is from the open nflverse model. We do not use anonymous sources or invent quotes. Read how we write; spotted an error? Tell us and we will correct it in the open.