Once again tied at the tail end of the third quarter, Detroit vaulted back ahead on another lengthy drive, though this one was a sprint that encompassed 96 yards in just seven plays and 3:41, with Montgomery busting loose for a 72-yard gain before he was dragged down from behind.
Four plays later, Gibbs scored from 4 yards on a bit of razzle dazzle as Goff pitched it to St. Brown, who then optioned it off to Gibbs for six.
“I didn’t know what we were gonna do. We had been practicing it for three years,” Gibbs said of the play. “We had it my rookie year. This is the first time we ran it.”
The Lions on Monday night were equal parts might and creativity out of the backfield, exemplified by St. Brown’s usage and the propensity for using a tight end, as well. Plenty of times, Detroit sported a Maryland I-formation look with two backs and a tight end lined up behind Goff.
It was out of a single-back set in which Montgomery ran for the Lions’ final score, though. He bounced right, cut to the sideline and raced to six, shrugging off a pair of arm tackles before crossing the goal line.
The production of Gibbs and Montgomery is unprecedented, as their aforementioned record 11 times rushing for scores in the same game can attest. They took it a step further on Monday though — and rewound the clock by almost 100 years.
In the autumn of 1936, Hall of Famer Dutch Clark had a pair of 1-yard touchdown runs — along with a field goal and three extra points — as the Lions lambasted the New York Giants, 38-0. Clark was complemented by the play of Ernie Caddell, who had two 40-yard touchdown gallops. The one-two backfield punch for head coach Potsy Clark was stellar that day — Nov. 15, 1936.
Nearly a century later, Gibbs and Montgomery became the first Lions teammates with multiple rushing TDs in a game since Clark and Caddell.
On Monday night, Sonic and Knuckles put on a rushing performance for the ages.