The Detroit Lions endured a disappointing 30–17 defeat to the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday night, but one of the biggest frustrations among fans was the puzzling lack of involvement for running back David Montgomery.

Montgomery was featured in one of Detroit’s most creative plays — a trick-pass touchdown to Jared Goff that was nullified by an illegal formation penalty — yet outside of that, his impact was minimal, finishing with only four carries for 24 yards. Two days later, head coach Dan Campbell told Nolan Bianchi of The Detroit News that he intends to correct that issue, promising to give Montgomery “a bigger piece of the pie in the running game” moving forward.

David Montgomery Poised for Bigger Role After Limited Workload vs. Chiefs

Montgomery’s quiet outing came as a surprise. The 28-year-old had recorded double-digit carries in four of his five previous games entering Sunday and tallied nine in the lone exception — a September 28 win over the Cleveland Browns.

Even more puzzling was how little he saw the field. According to Justin Rogers of the Detroit Football Network, Montgomery was out-snapped 37–17 by teammate Jahmyr Gibbs, despite averaging six yards per carry compared to Gibbs’s 3.8.

Considering the Chiefs came in allowing 119.2 rushing yards per game (14th in the NFL) and were on a short week following their loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars, it seemed the perfect matchup for Detroit to lean on Montgomery’s bruising running style. However, that plan was quickly abandoned after the Lions fell behind 20–10 on Patrick Mahomes’ touchdown pass to Hollywood Brown to open the third quarter, forcing them to play from behind.

Still, Detroit tends to thrive when both Gibbs and Montgomery are heavily involved. Since the duo joined forces in 2023, the Lions are 21–6 in games where Montgomery logs 10 or more carries. They’re also 15–4 when both backs reach double digits in attempts, underscoring their combined value to the team’s offensive rhythm.

This may simply be a case of new offensive coordinator John Morton still finding his footing with play-calling duties. Regardless, Campbell’s remarks indicate he plans to take a more active role in shaping the strategy ahead of Monday’s matchup with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers — and Montgomery should expect a far larger workload than he saw in Kansas City.