Lions Sack Ravens, Win Heavyweight MNF Bout, 38-30

The Detroit Lions were looking to continue their success on Monday Night Football against an opponent that entered the 2025 season among the very few legitimate Super Bowl contenders.

Two years ago, the Baltimore Ravens were able to get out to an early lead and never looked back in a blowout victory at M&T Bank Stadium.

Quarterback Jared Goff had won three consecutive games on Monday Night Football and entered the game riding high after a stellar performance against the Chicago Bears.

“You’ve got to be careful, because listen, that’s great, that doesn’t happen every week. But yet, when you know you truly did leave things out that was our own doing, just the small little things," Dan Campbell told the team's flagship radio station before the game. "From identification, the scheme to the fundamentals, we should’ve had more points than that. We can not waste those because when you play the Baltimores, the Kansas City, the Philadelphias, it’s not gonna be good enough.” 

After 60 minutes of action, the game lived up to all the hype beforehand and started to answer some of the questions about their two new coordinators.

Detroit's defense made a major statement in their efforts to sack one of the game's top signal-callers and the offense found a way to get the football to the team's best players.

Here are several takeaways from the Lions' 38-30 victory to advance their record to 2-1.

Lions aggressive, march down the field for opening touchdown

The Ravens won the opening coin toss and elected to defer. Goff kept the Lions' offensive momentum rolling on the team's first possession of the game.

Speedy wideout Jameson Williams was targeted twice, and secured two receptions on the opening drive for 43 yards.

Campbell, one of the most aggressive coaches in the league, showcased again he was going to continue to push the envelope. On fourth-and-3 from the Ravens' 11-yard line, Goff connected with Amon-Ra St. Brown to put Detroit at the doorstep.

Jahmyr Gibbs capped off an 11-play, 67-yard drive with a 1-yard touchdown scamper to give the Lions an early 7-0 lead.

The former first-round pick added another score early in the fourth quarter, giving the Lions a 28-21 lead. He was on the receiving end of a pitch from Amon-Ra St. Brown.

Derrick Henry, Lamar Jackson lead Ravens' offense early

Despite knowing the Raven's offense was led by two dymanic offensive weapons, it was still challenging trying to limit quarterback Lamar Jackson and running back Derrick Henry early in the game.

Lions linebacker Derrick Barnes had an early opportunity to corral the speedy quarterback, but his innate ability to elude defenders allowed the talented quarterback to scamper for an early 12-yard gain.

Baltimore was able to respond quickly, marching 80-yards and just six plays to even the score.

Henry found daylight on a 28-yard run and found his way into the end zone untouched, evening the score at 7-7.

Best defense against Ravens star players is 18-play drive

After both teams exchanged three-and-outs, Detroit was pinned back on their own two-yard line.

Ravents punter Jordan Stout unleashed a 63-yard punt that was followed by a Lions penalty. As a result, Detroit found themselves needing to go nearly the entire length of the field.

Detroit was then able to pull off an 18-play, 98-yard drive that ate up nearly 11 minutes of action in the second quarter.

David Montgomery's one-yard scamper helped the tandem with Gibbs establish a new NFL record. It marked the 11th occasion in which both has recorded a rushing touchdown in the same game.

The Lions dominated time of possession in the first half, possessing the ball for 19:48 compared to the Ravens' 10:12 in the first two quarters.

Late in the third-quarter, with the game tied 21-21, Montgomery was able to break free for a 72-yard scamper through the interior that put Detroit deep in Ravens territory on the 13-yard line.