The Detroit Lions opened up the season against the Kansas City Chiefs in a primetime matchup on Thursday Night Football. The Lions snuck out a well-earned victory against the reigning Superbowl champions by a narrow 21-20 victory for the first NFL game of the season. Jared “Goofball” Goff had a good game and extended his streak of pass attempts without throwing an interception. The Lions defense played exceptionally well against one of the NFL’s perennial offense’s which was a leading factor in the thrilling victory.
In this close win Amon-Ra St Brown managed to rack up a total of 71 yards, and a touchdown on six total receptions. Amon-Ra’s 71 yards was second best of the game only behind Josh Reynolds’ 80 yards on his four receptions.
In week two the Lions took on the Seattle Seahawks at Ford Field as 4.5-point favorites. The Lions would play in front of a sold out home crowd for the first time since Ford Field opened in 2002, according to (USA Today). The Seahawks were able to squeak out a upset in overtime with a riveting victory over the Lions 37-31.
In this punch-to-punch offensive game Amon-Ra St Brown managed to obtain 102 yards on his six receptions of his seven total targets. Amon-Ra’s big play came from a 39 yard dart from Lions quarterback Jared Goff that would then unfortunately lead to a fumble. The fumble doesn’t overshadow the fact that Amon-Ra was the standout wide receiver that game.
Amon-Ra St Brown has a total of 173 receiving yards, 1 receiving touchdown, and 12 receptions on 16 targets so far this season.
Depending on the analyst these stats could be considered underwhelming, or they could be considered outstanding. Last year at this point in the season Amon-Ra had 180 yards, seven more than he has now. The big difference is in the touchdowns. This year in two games Amon-Ra only has one receiving touchdown, last year Amon-Ra had three at this point in the season. Amon-Ra also has seen a decrease of attention this year, it may be more or less that the Lions have planned differently that would involve their new rookie running back Jaymir Gibbs, but the loss of targets has been nothing but noticeable.
Among his decrease of targets in general the biggest downfall has been his decrease of production within 20 yards of the endzone or what is most commonly known as the “red zone”. Last year Amon-Ra was a top five wide receiver in total redzone production, he had a reception percentage of 61.9% out of 21 total targets. In those thirteen receptions Amon-Ra produced 6 touchdowns, 98 yards, a yards per reception rate of 7.5, and totaled 43.8% of the Lions total red zone targets. In the first two weeks of the 2022 season Amon-Ra was one of the best red zone receivers only behind Cooper Kupp. He had 4 red zone targets, 3 redzone receptions, 28 yards, and 3 touchdowns. Besides Amon-Ra and Kupp, Michael Thomas was the only other wide receiver to have three touchdowns by week 2 last year.
This is what led to the large anticipation of Amon-Ra to be one of the best receivers this season, many believing he could be one of if not the best red zone threat this season. But through the two weeks so far this season Amon-Ra isn’t even a top 20 red zone receiver and is struggling to find his place so far. Although Amon-Ra has had a decrease in attention he has caught both of his red zone targets, and has a singular touchdown, paired with 14 total yards. His attention may be minimal but his targeted percentage in the red zone is 50%, so his presence is still being felt but not as impactful as many were hoping.
The season is still young and with it only being week two there is no reason to be worried that Amon-Ra is going to have a disappointing season. With the opportunities that he has been given, he has produced which is probably the most important thing so far.
Considering this a slow start is understandable under certain circumstances, but holding it as a consistent factor to defer this season a bust is nothing but radical. Amon-Ra is bound to be a 1,000 yard receiver with a heavy impact in the red zone, with time it will show and Amon-Ra should return to his former self.
