GLENDALE, ARIZ. MONDAY, OCTOBER 12, 2026
There are records, and then there are the ones with Barry Sanders' name on them. Jahmyr Gibbs took one of those on Sunday. The Lions' star running back piled up 151 rushing yards and two touchdowns on 25 carries — plus five catches for 56 yards — in a 45-21 demolition of the Cardinals, and in doing so passed Sanders for the most touchdowns by any NFL player before the age of 25. Fifty-eight career scores, and he's still writing the early chapters.
01 The Company He Keeps
The numbers from Sunday read like a Hall of Fame ballot. Gibbs became the first player in Lions franchise history to post 75+ scrimmage yards and a touchdown in each of the first five games of a season. He's the sixth player in NFL history to total 740+ scrimmage yards and nine or more touchdowns through five games — a list that includes Jim Brown (twice), Eric Dickerson, Emmitt Smith and Priest Holmes. Through five games he's at 504 rushing yards and seven rushing scores with 243 receiving yards and two more touchdowns, joining Thurman Thomas, Tiki Barber and Christian McCaffrey as the only players ever with 500+ rushing and 240+ receiving yards through five games.
It was his 12th career 100-yard rushing game and his 11th with 150+ scrimmage yards and a score. Fresh off his record-setting contract extension, Gibbs keeps showing Detroit — and the league — that he's the most dynamic back in football, week after week.
02 A Complete Team Win
Gibbs didn't do it alone. Jared Goff threw for 271 yards and three touchdowns on 19-of-30 passing and added his first rushing score since 2023 on a second-half sneak. The defense, stung by criticism after the Week 4 loss at Carolina, answered: DJ Wonnum had two sacks, rookie corner Keith Abney II grabbed his first NFL interception, and Roger McCreary's lockdown coverage stood out all night. The Cardinals (1-4), playing without the now-traded Marvin Harrison Jr., never threatened after halftime.
The win pulls Detroit to 3-2 heading into the bye — a well-timed break for a team that's been leaning hard on its stars. When the Lions return, it's a divisional showdown: Green Bay comes to Ford Field on October 25.
25 carries, 151 yards, 2 TDs; 5 catches, 56 yards — Lions 45, Cardinals 21. 58 career TDs before age 25 — most in NFL history, passing Barry Sanders (who congratulated him personally). 6th player ever with 740+ scrimmage yards and 9+ TDs through 5 games (Brown, Dickerson, Smith, Holmes). 504 rush yards, 7 rush TDs, 243 receiving yards, 2 receiving TDs through 5 games.
Passing Barry Sanders in anything, at anything, before your 25th birthday — that's not a milestone, that's a statement of intent. Gibbs isn't just the best back in the league right now; he's building a résumé that will be argued about for decades. The Lions paid him like a franchise cornerstone, and he's making it look like a bargain.
