It is not very often that Lions fans experience a beatdown where they are not on the receiving end, but that is exactly what the Detroit Lions did. They put together a near-perfect performance from every facet of the game as they dismantled the Jacksonville Jaguars, 40-14, to keep their playoff hopes alive.
The offense was cooking, with Jared Goff slinging the rock proving strong outings from Amon-Ra St. Brown and DJ Chark, with Swift looking like his former dominant self. Michael Badgley was perfect in field goals today, giving the Lions some form of stabilization on that end of the field. The defense had many solid players today, from DeShon Elliott creating turnovers to James Houston doing nothing but sacking quarterbacks left and right.
There is one Lions player that typically falls under the radar because, most of the time, he creates plays for the players around him, from Aidan Hutchinson to Alex Anzalone, who each are having solid seasons. Even though he might have been cast off, he has potentially found a new home in Detroit as he is exactly the type of player the Lions want to have as he embodies the grit, tenacity, and no-quit attitude. The player I am talking about is none other than John Cominsky.
The Atlanta Falcons waived Cominsky in late May, and even though nearly a third of the league put in a claim for the uber-athletic defensive lineman, the Lions were awarded him. He was being looked at as a possible rotational piece on a defensive line that saw the youth injection of Hutchinson and Josh Paschal in the draft and the re-signing of Charles Harris and Romeo Okwara.
Right out of the gate, the acquisition was paying dividends as he led the team in pressures through the first couple of weeks, but that was short-lived as he broke his thumb in Week 2, sidelining him for nearly the following month afterward. He would return in Week 7 with a protection club on his hand, but you could see he was hindering him, as he couldn’t produce the same numbers he put up earlier in the season.
Even though he wasn’t putting up the numbers he did earlier in the season when he returned, he still provided a significant presence along the defensive line that was sorely missed while he was out with his injury. His toughness was on full display, and he wanted to be there for his teammates as it did not go unnoticed by defensive line coach Todd Wash.
“It does limit him a little bit, but that’s just part of the game. He’s a tough S.O.B. by playing through this thing. He probably shouldn’t have played a couple weeks ago, but he’s going to play no matter what and there’s a lot of respect for him there,” Wash said.
It did take a hot second for him to get adjusted back to full gameplay with a limited snap count, but in Week 10, he saw at that time a season-high in snaps and started to look like his usual self. Then in Week 11, he was on full display with another season-high snap count while creating four pressures, a sack, and a pass breakup.
In Week 12, the coaches decided to give the Buffalo Bills a healthy dose of Cominsky as he led the defensive line in snaps (63) and was an absolute havoc in the trenches. He was fully healthy, leading the team with nine pressures, including seven hurries and two QB hits.
From the eye test against the Jaguars, Cominsky continued to off his performance from Week 12 as he made big stops against the run and tipped a ball that he almost picked off himself. Essentially if he wasn’t making the play, he was setting someone else up to make a play and was a key cog in their defensive performance holding the Jaguars to only 14 points.
Cominsky is proving he is an essential piece to the Lions defensive front, and if I were the Lions, I would resign him quickly. He encompasses everything the Lions are trying to do in Detroit and could be someone to push that message forward. The spotlight might be on Hutchinson, but in the shadows, Cominsky is sitting there quietly and has the silent killer to any opposing offense that gets in his way.
