The Detroit Lions had a fantastic weekend and notched their fourth win of the 2025-26 season on Sunday, October 5, with a 37-24 win over the Cincinnati Bengals. While the Lions were favored in this game, it was still a thrill to see the team pull off a road win and come out of it with a 4-1 record. Now that every NFL team has lost at least one game this season, the Lions are tied for the best record with a handful of other special teams. That’s something worthy of bragging rights.
While this win meant a lot for everyone in the Detroit Lions‘ camp, the victory over the Bengals meant even more to one particular Lions player. This game was one that he played from his heart, and his family was there to watch. While most players have family in the stands, this was different, and it’s a really touching story.
Detroit Lions’ David Montgomery Shares Personal Moment
For David Montgomery, this win over the Bengals was personal. His family was there, supporting him the whole game, and it was his sister’s first time watching a game since she got into a car accident last year.
“Super meaningful,” he told the media. “My sister hadn’t seen me play in person since her accident. But to be able to get her here. I really appreciate the Cincinnati Bengals for helping, and they made sure that she got on the field. That was really special, and I appreciate them for that.”
The NFL also shared the moment on social media, noting, “David Montgomery’s sister Kiki was in a car accident a year and a half ago. Today, she got to see her brother score a touchdown in person.”
Montgomery also talked about what it was like playing in his hometown. “Super, super meaningful,” he said. “To be able to come back home where it all started for me, being able to kind of show my arm where it all started for me, I think it was a special moment.”
Dan Campbell Talks Detroit Lions Win
Following the win, Campbell said that he “told the team that’s a good win. We will take that.” He added that while the team has things to “clean up” and it “wasn’t perfect,” it was “what we did what we needed to do.”
“Came in here and I thought our guys were ready to compete,” he said. “We fought, and once again, the best thing we did was that we played complementary football and that’s what great teams do.”
Regarding defense, he said, “We make an emphasis in practice. Every day we do some type of takeaway circuit, just like we do ball security on offense. We start every day right out of warm up. We go into those and we coach them, we teach them and we try to highlight it. We don’t want it to be lip service”
He added, “They’re hunting for them. When you make a conscious effort to go after them or the ball is in the air and you say, ‘I’m going, that’s, my ball. I’m going to get it,’ then good things happen.”
The Lions don’t get their bye week until Week 8, so they have a few more weeks to go until they get some time off.
Super Bowl Champion Says Teams ‘Targeting’ Broncos CB Riley Moss
One of the great things about having Denver Broncos cornerback Patrick Surtain II on the roster is that, every time he plays, essentially one half of the field is shut down to the opposing team’s passing game.
That just leaves one side of the field to throw to. And Broncos‘ opponents are throwing there. A lot.
Former Broncos NFL All-Pro safety, 3-time Pro Bowler and Super Bowl champion safety T.J. Ward pointed out teams are now targeting Broncos cornerback Riley Moss, the starter opposite Surtain the last 2 seasons.
Specifically, Ward compared this year’s Denver defense — considered the NFL’s elite unit — to the Broncos‘ Super Bowl winning defense in 2015.
“The thing with us was, we figured out there weren’t no holes (in our defense),” Ward said on the DNVR Broncos podcast on October 7. “You couldn’t pick out one person and say ‘We gonna go at him’ … you couldn’t target anyone. Teams are targeting (Moss). He has to do better situationally.”
The Broncos are 3-2 and coming off an upset win over the defending Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles in Week 5 — a game in which Moss was constantly torched by Eagles wide receiver DeVonta Smith, who finished with 8 receptions for 114 yards.
The Broncos return to action in Week 6 in London, where they’ll face the New York Jets.
Moss Became Full Time Starter in 2024
It’s not a stretch to say Surtain is playing just as good or better as he did last season, when he became the first Broncos player named NFL Defensive Player of the Year since linebacker Randy Gradishar in 1978.
It might not also be a stretch to say Surtain only was able to ascend when he got an elite cornerback playing opposite him when Moss became the Broncos‘ full time starter at the other outside cornerback spot in 2024, in his second season.
Moss was something of an oddity when he first got into the starting lineup as the NFL’s first white, starting cornerback since New York Giants cornerback Jason Sehorn in 2002.
Moss was originally committed to play for FCS powerhouse North Dakota State but flipped when he got a late offer from Iowa, where he was an All-American and the Big Ten Defensive Back of the Year in 2021 and a two-time All-Big Ten selection.
Moss ran the 40-yard dash in 4.45 seconds in the 40-yard dash at the 2023 NFL combine and was drafted by the Broncos in the 3rd round (No. 83 overall) of the 2023 NFL draft.
Moss Also Popular Target on Social Media
Few NFL cornerbacks get lit up on social media like Moss does, week in and week out.
“Raiders CB Kyu Blu Kelly has allowed 346 yards this season, the most in the NFL,” Catapult Sports’ Tristen Kuhn wrote on X on October 6. The second most, Broncos CB Riley Moss … at 262.
“Every team that faces the Broncos’ defense has the same game plan and it’s just ‘beat Riley Moss like a snare drum,’ ” NFL Reporter Christian D’Andrea wrote on X on October 5.
“It has been a mixed bag of results when teams decide to attack Broncos DB Riley Moss,” The Philadelphia Inquirer’s Devin Jackson wrote on his official X account before the Broncos played the Eagles. “He’s allowed just 1 TD as nearest defender in coverage this season, has given up some downfield catches, in and out breakers in man coverage, but he also has a couple PBUs. Could see a decent amount of DeVonta Smith targets this weekend.”
