'I could tell my son that I beat the Packers', proud David Montgomery says after scoring three in first win against Green Bay

Widad September 29, 2023 0

 

David Montgomery

After going 0-7 against the Green Bay Packers as a member of the Chicago Bears, David Montgomery rushed for a career-high three touchdowns to lead the Detroit Lions to a 34-20 victory on Thursday Night Football. Montgomery was wearing a new uniform, but he left the stadium with a feeling he'd never before felt.

"It definitely felt great," Montgomery told reporters about getting his first win over the Packers. "You know I haven't been able to do that, but to come here with the group of guys that I'm able to play with, it's a blessing."

On Thursday, Montgomery was the epitome of a workhorse, racking up 32 carries, matching a career best and setting a record for the most by an NFL player this season.

In the first, second, and fourth quarters, he scored on rushes of 3, 2, and 1 yards, respectively. He carried the ball 32 times for a total of 121 yards, averaging 3.8 yards per carry. The latter is hardly cause for celebration, but he was able to ground and pound the Packers, assisting in Detroit's 27-0 first-half surge and ending any dreams of a comeback with a touchdown with six minutes left. With 113 yards after contact, the most in a single game of his career, Montgomery reportedly beat and wounded the Packers.

"He does get better throughout the game," Lions quarterback Jared Goff said. "He gets better the more he gets hit. The more that he's able to see the holes and see what's going on -- and yeah, he did get better. I think there was two types of runs like where the lane was wide open, and he was running right through them doing his thing. Then, there was runs where there wasn't much there and he kind of made something out of nothing. That's when you know your guy is in the zone a little bit. You try to keep feeding him and he did his thing tonight."

Given that Montgomery missed Week 3 due to a thigh injury and wasn't certain to play on Thursday, his contribution and workload were all the more impressive.

However, offensive coordinator Ben Johnson and head coach Dan Campbell fed Montgomery frequently and early. Fans are still going to demand more from first-round pick Jahmyr Gibbs, who averaged five yards on his eight attempts for 40 yards despite not finding any significant chunk gains. Montgomery was supposed to hammer the Packers, and he did so consistently for 60 minutes.

"You could just see the look in his eyes," Campbell said. "He just looked ready to go. He was ready to go. You could tell his body looked ready to go. So certainly we were going to take him where we could take him as far as he wanted to go or his body would let him and it was certainly ready to go."

Montgomery is unfamiliar with beating the Packers, and he is also unfamiliar with where he had the Lions on Thursday night—first in the NFC North. Montgomery's teams with the Bears from 2019 to 2022 never finished higher than second. If the Lions are to stay in first place this season, he is likely to be a key player, NFL writes. For Montgomery, the outcome on Thursday night was exceptional. He led the way as Detroit defeated Green Bay for the fourth time in a row after years of losing to the Packers in the final score.

"It felt real different coming in," Montgomery said. "With the group of guys that I'm with, like I said, 'I'm blessed.' To come out here with these guys and get the dub, that's big for me. I could tell my son that I beat the Packers. So, I'm excited to say that. I'm really excited to be part of this team."