The Detroit Lions played the Buffalo Bills on Thanksgiving without both regular starting offensive guards. Pro Bowl left guard Jonah Jackson was sidelined with a concussion, while right guard Evan Brown sat with an ankle injury.
Those unfortunate injuries thrust two relative unknowns into the starting lineup. Veteran Dan Skipper took over on the left side for Jackson and Kayode Awosika filled in on the right side. Skipper had experience playing at RG before but the left side was a new experience. Awosika had played all of eight NFL snaps in two seasons prior to this game.
This week’s film spotlight is on the replacement guards. The criteria are simple: I watch every snap and give a plus for a positive play or a minus for a negative play. Not every play earns a mark. Prior week spotlights started with Jeff Okudah in Week 1 and carried through Alex Anzalone in Week 10.
Jeff Okudah: Breaking down the Lions CB's Week 1 performance vs. the Eagles
Film review: Breaking down Lions LB Alex Anzalone in the Week 10 win over the Bears
The Lions didn’t hesitate to test the replacement guards. On the very first play from scrimmage, it was an outside run to the right with both Skipper and Awosika pulling in front and leading the blocking. Skipper moved very well and held his point of attack to the point where RB D’Andre Swift had to choose his option. Awosika got outside capably but struggled after initial contact with the Bills defender who eventually made the tackle on Swift. Skipper didn’t hold the backside of that well either.
The first couple of drives were clearly a feeling-out period for the Bills defense, especially with Awosika on the right side. Buffalo DTs Tim Settle and Jordan Phillips played it pretty straightforward with their rushes. I had Skipper for two minuses in pass protection on those drives–both losses to his outside shoulder where the DT beat him with quickness. He earned one plus as a run blocker, on Jamaal Williams’ TD run to cap the second drive.
Awosika had one minus in pass pro, a designed bootleg where he was too quick to turn his blocking mark loose. He had one plus and one minus in the run game.
The next drive, Bills DT DaQuon Jones beat Awosika with a pretty basic outside swim-over move for an easy sack on Jared Goff. One play later, the final snap of the first quarter, might have been Skipper’s best of the day; the LG didn’t bite on a stunt and stonewalled Settle with excellent balance on a pass pro rep.
The first half ended with this tally:
Awosika – 3 plusses, 7 minuses
Skipper – 3 plusses, 6 minuses
Two plays, one run and one pass, saw both guards earn minuses at the same time. That’s (obviously) very bad.
The second half saw the Bills try a few more gimmicks — overloaded lines, twists, LB gap blitzes. They got Skipper cleanly twice for quick pressures off those. Awosika handled his business in the run game better, though his range just isn’t there. The Bills defense figured out to attack the gap between Skipper and LT Taylor Decker with Decker’s attention held outside by a wide rush. Skipper just didn’t show the quickness to handle rushers with a two-way go option.
It wasn’t all bad. Skipper was at his best run blocking in short-yardage and red zone reps, and he was legitimately good there. But the safety was on Skipper’s ledger, though Goff deserves some blame too; Skipper held on long enough to give Goff an escape route but the QB didn’t take it.
Awosika got away with some serious holding, an unexpected positive for a greenhorn. His biggest area for improvement is in “look for work” situations, where he doesn’t have anyone immediately to block on a play. The Bills got savvy to this and let him uncovered in run situations quite a bit, and it worked for Buffalo. Awosika’s inexperience showed in being unable to find targets in those reps.
The final tally, with both players on the field for all 71 offensive snaps:
Skipper – 7 plusses, 13 minuses. The run/pass splits: 5/3 in the run, 2/10 in pass protection
Awosika – 6 plusses, 15 minuses. The run/pass split was 2/7 in the run and 4/8 in pass pro
All things considered, it could have been a lot worse. But Jackson and Brown both need to return quickly for the Lions offense to perform better.
