Lions looking like a contender as expected, leaning on Jared Goff's arm, run game and playmaking DBs

ALLEN PARK, Mich. — The Detroit Lions have lived up to lofty expectations, looking like a Super Bowl contender.

“I feel like we can beat anybody in the league,” coach Dan Campbell said Monday.

Detroit is 7-1 for the first time since 1956 despite its defense missing eight key players, including Aidan Hutchinson. The Lions have won six in a row for the first time since 1995.

The defending NFC North champions lead the conference and have beaten division rivals Green Bay and Minnesota on the road.

“We're in a good place right now,” Campbell said.

The Lions, though, desperately need an edge rusher or two after losing Hutchinson, Marcus Davenport and John Cominsky to injuries and Josh Paschal to an illness.

Campbell said it was hard to say how likely it was that Detroit general manager Brad Holmes would make a deal ahead of the NFL trade deadline on Tuesday.

“I don’t think it’s entirely up to us,” Campbell said. "I can tell you that we’re trying. Brad's trying.

“We’ve looked at everything, we really have, made a ton of calls, and he’s been rolling on it. So, we’ll see, we still have a little bit of time here.”

If Holmes decides the price for a defensive end is more than he wants to give up, Campbell shared the team's plan.

“If something doesn’t get done, we’ll start poaching some of these other practice squads,” Campbell said. "See if we can find some guys that we really liked when they were coming out (of college) that have some ability, see if they can grow, and then we’ll continue to give our guys here on this roster a shot.”

What’s working

The offense. Jared Goff has completed 82.8% of his passes and has a 140.1 passer rating since Week 3, the best six-game stretch in NFL history by a quarterback with at least 100 attempts.

The last 30 times Goff has targeted Amon-Ra St. Brown, the All-Pro receiver has made a reception. St. Brown has a touchdown catch in six straight games, matching Herman Moore's franchise record from 1994.

The Lions have rushed for at least 100 yards and a touchdown in the first eight games of a season for the first time since 1936, with David Montgomery and Jahmyr Gibbs running behind one of the league's best offensive lines.

Gibbs is the first NFL player to average 5-plus yards per carry in a seven-game stretch with at least 10 rushing attempts per game.

What needs help

Sacking quarterbacks. Hutchinson had 7 1/2 sacks when he broke his leg last month during a 47-9 win at Dallas and his production has been missed.

In three games without Hutchinson, the Lions have only one sack by a defensive lineman.

Stock up

Kerby Joseph has six interceptions, tied for the most in the NFL. He is the league's first safety with 14 or more interceptions in his first three seasons since the start of Ed Reed's Hall of Fame career from 2002 to 2004.

Led by Joseph and Brian Branch, the team has an interception in the first eight games of the season for the first time in more than four-plus decades.

Stock down

Jameson Williams was suspended for the last two games for violating the NFL's performance-enhancing substance policy, a year after missing three games for violating the league's gambling policy. Detroit hasn't missed a beat without the speedy receiver.

Injuries

Paschal has missed two straight games, following his annual checkup on the cancer he was diagnosed with on his foot in 2018 while at Kentucky.

Linebacker Malcolm Rodriguez was inactive against the Packers with an ankle injury, but he could return against Houston on Sunday night.

Key number

0.0001 % - That's the chance St. Brown had of catching 30 straight passes, including the difficulty of each throw, according to the NFL's NextGen statistics.

What’s next

The Lions will have to decide what price they are willing to pay for edge rushers by the trade deadline before playing the AFC South-leading Texans.