A former Detroit Lions edge rusher is in some hot water with the league for his hit on quarterback Jared Goff last week.
Dallas Cowboys edge rusher James Houston, once a breakout star with the Lions before fizzling out last year, was handed a costly penalty in last week’s game for a late hit on Goff. The penalty helped fuel a big victory for the Lions, and now has led to some extra punishment for Houston.
NFL Announces James Houston’s Punishment
The NFL announced on Saturday that Houston was fined $5,722 for the fourth-quarter hit on Goff. The play came after a 29-yard pass to wide receiver Jameson Williams, adding another 13-yard penalty to put the Lions on the 3-yard line. They scored on the next play on a run from Jahmyr Gibbs, giving the Lions a 37-27 lead.
The Lions would maintain the lead as they traded scores with the Cowboys for the remaining minutes of the fourth quarter, scoring a victory that gave a big boost to their playoff hopes.
The win gave a big boost to Detroit’s playoff hopes, moving them up to the No. 8 spot and increasing their odds of making the playoffs to 39%, via The Athletic’s playoff calculator. The Lions have the chance to make an even bigger jump this week, but it comes against the NFC’s top team. If they can beat former Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford and the Los Angeles Rams, the Lions will see their playoff odds increase to 60%.
James Houston’s Rocky Tenure in Detroit
Houston was once a breakout star with the Lions, joining the team as a sixth-round pick and recording 8.0 sacks in just seven games in his rookie season. But Houston struggled to keep his place in the lineup after that, suffering an injury that kept him to just two games in his second season.
Houston was cut loose by the Lions last year and signed a two-year, $2.75 million contract with the Cowboys this offseason. Nolan Bianchi of the Detroit News noted that Houston failed to show improvement in other areas of his game, leaving him as a one-dimensional pass rusher.
âIn training camp before this season, the Lions continued to try to improve other parts of Houstonâs game but eventually gave up on the experiment, allowing him to just focus on rushing the passer,â Bianchi wrote. âHe has 13 pressures and just one sack in 2024, even with there being a clear vacancy on the edge following several key injuries.â
Lions head coach Dan Campbell said after the team released Houston in November that it simply didn’t work out.
âIt just didnât. We had James up for a number of games, came back off of injury, got back, and it just never quite worked out,â Campbell said, via the Detroit News.
He has performed well since joining the Cowboys, recording 5.5 sacks and being called a breakout star by Bleacher Reportâs Brad Gagnon in October.
âBy no means has the 26-year-old journeyman replaced Micah Parsons, but heâs got 3.5 sacks in his last four games and his impact has gone beyond that on the edge in Dallas,â Gagnon wrote on October 8.
Like Heavy Sports’s content? Be sure to follow us.
This article was originally published on Heavy Sports
The post Ex-Lions Edge Rusher Handed NFL Punishment for Jared Goff Hit appeared first on Heavy Sports.