How Amon-Ra St. Brown Figures ESPN’s Biggest Key for Lions vs. Packers

Getty Amon-Ra St. Brown on the field before Lions-Panthers in 2022.

The Detroit Lions will face a stiff challenge on the road against the Green Bay Packers on Sunday night, and a big question for the team is how to pull out a clutch victory.

This season, the Lions have had the benefit of a great offense to rely on most weeks. Detroit maintains a top-three offense in the league, and a big reason that has been the case is second-year wideout Amon-Ra St. Brown.

During games this season, it’s been obvious how vital St. Brown is to the Detroit attack. That’s only more the case for Week 18, as the Lions try to finish the season with a big road win and a potential playoff birth.

Before the game, ESPN analyst Matt Bowen took a look at analyzing game plans for teams in the playoff hunt facing critical games. As he wrote, the Lions working St. Brown into motion and getting him the ball fast needs to be a focus of Ben Johnson.

“Brown has 100 receptions this season, and almost half (45) have come on throws where he is moving before the snap. This meshes with what we see on tape, too. The Lions do an excellent job creating free access of the ball — avoiding jam or reroute situations — for Brown to get into the route stem quickly and without disruption. He’s a key second-level target for quarterback Jared Goff, especially on money downs. So look for Detroit to use pre-snap movement here to get Brown away from press coverage or into stack/bunch sets to work inside the numbers against the Packers’ coverage schemes,” Bowen wrote in the piece.

Finding a way to get the ball into St. Brown’s hands seems to be a good idea no matter what the game. The wideout has already topped 1,000 yards on the season, which is a solid number for a Lions receiver.

Seeing what St. Brown can do against a couple tough corners in Jaire Alexander and Rasul Douglas is going to be important for success this week. Detroit’s ability to move him around may help determine if they can do enough on offense to win the game.

St. Brown: Lions Prepared for Week 18 Playoffs

In terms of what he thinks about the game, St. Brown didn’t offer much of a matchup analysis, but rather explained what he is feeling.

This week, St. Brown was speaking on The 33rd Team and was asked where his mind is at ahead of the matchup. As he said, he’s all about the opportunity the Lions will be provided given it’s a new one for his team this season.

“It comes to the last game. I’m excited for Sunday Night Football. Honestly, we didn’t have one prime time game all year if you don’t count Thanksgiving, so we’re excited to get a Sunday night game. Basically a playoff game for us,” St. Brown said on the show. “(It) does suck the Seahawks play before. For us, we definitely feel like whether they win or lose, we want to we want to finish 9-8. That’s huge to say you had a winning record from what we did last year. Beat the Packers and knock the Packers out of the playoffs.”

As St. Brown clarified, he’d rather make the playoffs, of course. With that said, the chance to beat the Packers in a season finale grudge match is very attractive to both he and the team.

“Obviously, we want the Seahawks to lose. But if they win, we’re still going to go out there and try to win because shoot, take the Packers out, have a winning record, finish the year strong? That would be amazing,” he said.

If St. Brown is able to do that while having his own big game on the field, it will only be more amazing in the end for both him and the Lions.

St. Brown’s Career Stats Good vs. Packers

Another deeper reason St. Brown could be a key in this game? He usually puts on a show against the Packers.

Though St. Brown has only been in the league since 2021, he has a very solid stat line against Green Bay to rely on. In three games against the Packers, St. Brown has a winning 2-1 record. He’s also caught 15 passes for 182 yards and one touchdown in the games.

St. Brown’s best game against Green Bay came in the season finale early in 2022. During Detroit’s 37-30 win in Week 18, St. Brown went for 109 yards and the score and also had 12 yards rushing on the afternoon.

In the most recent contest this year, a 15-9 Detroit win on November 6, St. Brown was Detroit’s leading receiver with four catches for 55 yards. While he didn’t score a touchdown, he was still dangerous all afternoon.

It’s safe to say St. Brown is going to have to find a way to be dangerous once again in this matchup. If he does so, the Lions could have a great chance to win.