Bold take: Jahmyr Gibbs is making a compelling case to be spoken of in the same breath as one of the greatest names in Lions history. On Thursday night, Gibbs scored three touchdowns to power Detroit to a 44-30 win over the Dallas Cowboys, moving his total to 47 TDs and tying Barry Sanders for two longstanding NFL benchmarks. Sanders’ record—47 touchdowns in a player’s first three seasons and before turning 24—now has a modern parallel in Gibbs, who is still just in his third season and with his 24th birthday arriving on March 20.
Gibbs punched in a 1-yard score to put Detroit up 10-3 late in the first quarter, followed by a 10-yard scamper to widen the gap at 37-27, and closed the night with a 13-yard run to seal the margin. An early highlight occurred when Gibbs’ first TD joined an existing record-beating moment: Detroit teammate David Montgomery broke a 35-yard TD run late in the first half, and the Gibbs-Montgomery pairing has now produced a touchdown in 15 games—more than any duo of running backs in NFL Super Bowl era history, surpassing the previous 14-set mark by Emmitt Smith and Daryl Johnston of Dallas.
Box score note: Gibbs finished with 43 rushing yards on 12 attempts and added 77 receiving yards on seven catches. Lions head coach Dan Campbell praised Gibbs, calling him unique and special. Campbell acknowledged that Gibbs didn’t find the same production in the run game as he’s capable of but highlighted Gibbs’ growth through the passing game, practice repetition, and route crispness. The coach stressed that Gibbs is continually expanding his horizon and that his ceiling remains vast, even as he’s still early in his NFL journey.
The evening also featured a sizeable Alabama footprint across the rosters:
- Lions cornerback Terrion Arnold (Alabama) is on injured reserve and did not play.
- Cowboys starter Tyler Booker (Alabama) began at right guard.
- Brian Branch (Alabama) started at safety for Detroit, finishing with six tackles, a quarterback hit, a pass breakup, and a fumble recovery before leaving with an ankle injury late in the game.
- Jameson Williams (Alabama) started at wide receiver for the Lions, tying his career high with seven receptions for 96 yards and adding a rushing yards total.
Other Alabama-linked players on the field or roster notes included mentions of Trevon Diggs (Alabama) on IR with Dallas, and several Alabama natives appearing in various roles on the Cowboys and Lions rosters. The game also featured several players who, due to in-game injuries and roster decisions, took on special-teams duties or moved to practice-squad elevation status midweek.
Impact on the standings: The Lions (8-5) and Cowboys (6-6-1) entered Thursday’s contest outside the current NFC playoff picture. Both teams now have four games left in the regular season. Detroit travels next to face the Los Angeles Rams at SoFi Stadium, while Dallas visits the Minnesota Vikings at AT&T Stadium in the closing stretch.
For broader context on Alabama-connected players in the NFL and more coverage surrounding Week 14 storylines, see AL.com’s NFL hub and related links. This season marks the 12th year of Mark Inabinett’s coverage of Alabama roots in pro football, with a long tenure dating back to 1976.
Would you view Gibbs’ early-career milestones as a legitimate challenge to the all-time greats, or do you see more time and achievements required before making that comparison?
