Remember when the Detroit Lions used to be annual laughingstocks of the NFL, as they’re one of the worst franchises historically and were the worst team of the 2000s. But, they’ve built themselves into a powerhouse over the last few years and may be the best team in the NFL this year.
A big part of their resurgence has been due to a dominant offensive line blocking for two great running backs in David Montgomery and Jahmyr Gibbs. They form a great dynamic duo, and now have an awesome nickname to go along with it.
Both the veteran Montgomery and the second-year Gibbs are having monster years on the ground. They’ve combined for 699 rushing yards through six games, and have scored nine touchdowns. Add in another 198 yards in receiving and you’ve got a really productive pair of running backs.
The skill sets for the two players complement each other so much. David Montgomery is a traditional, between-the-tackles back that uses excellent vision and contact balance to pick up consistent chunks of yards. Meanwhile, Gibbs is one of the twitchiest backs in the league, and his incredible agility and quickness allow him to dominate on stretch plays. Both are reliable pass-catchers, and behind an unreal offensive line, it makes the Lions offense unstoppable at times.
Plenty of great pairs in sports and pop culture history have had great nicknames. Now, these two have one, as well.
<blockquote class=”twitter-tweet”><p lang=”en” dir=”ltr”><a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/Lions?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>#Lions</a> RB coach Scottie Montgomery says the official nickname for Jahmyr Gibbs and David Montgomery is Sonic and Knuckles.</p>— Nolan Bianchi (@nolanbianchi) <a href=”https://twitter.com/nolanbianchi/status/1846586046428885071?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>October 16, 2024</a></blockquote> <script async src=”https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js” charset=”utf-8″></script>
Sonic, of course, is Gibbs, and Knuckles is Montgomery. Very apt, if I say so myself.
The Lions have their biggest game of the year so far this weekend against the undefeated Vikings.