David Montgomery’s injury return is exactly what Lions need for NFL Playoffs

After injuring his MCL in the regular season, David Montgomery may be back for the Lions in the playoffs

The Detroit Lions’ win over the Minnesota Vikings in the final game of the 2024 NFL regular season clinched the NFC North, as well as the No. 1 seed in the NFC playoffs.

More importantly for the Lions, it locked up the lone bye week in the NFC, which comes at a critical time for Detroit.

The Lions have been beleaguered by injuries this season, but help may be on the way for their offense. Speaking with the media on Tuesday, Detroit head coach Dan Campbell indicated that he “expects” running back David Montgomery to be back for the team’s Divisional Round game:

Montgomery suffered an MCL injury in Detroit’s Week 15 loss to the Buffalo Bills, and the team originally believed that he would require surgery to repair the injury, which would end his season. But Montgomery sought out several expert opinions on his injury and eventually chose to pursue rehab for the MCL injury, rather than a surgery, with an eye on returning to the team for the playoffs.

Now that goal is in sight.

Montgomery’s return would not only bolster the Detroit offense, but give offensive coordinator Ben Johnson one of the league’s most formidable “thunder and lightning” backfields for the postseason run. Along with Jahmyr Gibbs — who set a new franchise record for touchdowns in a season with his four-TD performance against the Vikings in the season finale — Montgomery gives the Lions two stellar options in the backfield. For his part Montgomery accounted for 775 rushing yards and 12 touchdowns, along with 736 receiving yards and three more scores.

The Lions will open their playoff run in the Divisional Round when they host the lowest seed remaining, which could be the very same Vikings they saw in Week 18.