Lions running back David Montgomery wins well-deserved award for Week 1

After winning the coin toss in overtime, the Detroit Lions imposed their will on the Los Angeles Rams in Week 1 and scored the game-winning touchdown. Five of the eight plays on that game-winning drive, which covered 45 of the 70 yards, were runs by David Montgomery. A 21-yard run on Montgomery's first play of the drive set the tone for what was to come, and it showed the uninitiated just how valuable he is.

A must-see segment during NFL Network's “Good Morning Football” on Tuesdays during the season is Kyle Brandt's “Angry Runs,” which celebrates the old-fashioned aggressiveness of those who carry the football each week. The Lions have won the coveted “scepter” a few times in recent years (D'Andre Swift in Week 5 of 2021, Jahmyr Gibbs in Week 8 of last year).

Competing against segment king Najee Harris and the sure-to-be-week-deciding play by Seahawks running back Kenneth Walker, Montgomery was the third nominee in Week 1's “Angry Runs” segment.

Since the NFL doesn't allow full video embeds from their YouTube channel, here's the link to Brandt's “Angry Runs” presentation for Week 1. Here's what he said when he arrived in Montgomery.

“Detroit says, yeah, these overtime rules are kind of confusing. Let me explain these rules. Here's what happens in overtime: You lose the coin toss, you fools, then we punch you in the face nine times and the game is over. Those are the overtime rules. Any questions?”

Brandt then compared them to the Detroit Pistons' “Bad Boys” of the day, selecting Penei Sewell as Rick Mahorn and Aidan Hutchinson as Bill Laimbeer as they showed their reactions to Montgomery's game-winning hit.

Co-host Peter Schrager was the only co-host to nominate Montgomery and praised Hutchinson and Sewell for their reactions.

Brandt named Montgomery the Week 1 Angry Runs winner for his overall work on the game-winning drive that scored more than a single run.

“There's one monument that's most familiar to all tourists, visitors and residents of Detroit, and that's a fist,” Brandt said. “And that's what they put up in Week 1. That thing is going to Detroit. David Montgomery, welcome to 'Scepterville.'”

The touchdown run was the culmination of the Lions' efforts to impose their will on the Rams' defensive line during the game-winning drive, so if any run can be singled out as the “angriest,” it has to be this one. Either way, the reins are coming to Detroit, and if history shows anything, the Lions' social media team will have a cool response to Brandt.