As his responsibilities grow, Jahmyr Gibbs continues to show he can shoulder the load for Detroit.

Across their last five outings, the Lions have been held under 320 total yards of offense three times—and they’ve lost each of those games. Outside of their Week 10 burst against a struggling Washington Commanders defense, Detroit’s offense has looked sluggish, raising a genuine red flag whether the coaching staff wants to acknowledge it or not.

Gibbs hasn’t entirely escaped the offense’s rough stretch—he’s had a few quiet games himself—but overall he has been one of the most dependable pieces in Detroit’s attack. With David Montgomery taking a lesser role, Gibbs has stepped forward as the clear No. 1 running back, for better or worse.

Entering Week 12, Gibbs ranks inside the top ten leaguewide in rushing yards (732), yards from scrimmage (1,066), rushing scores (eight), and total touchdowns (10). If the offense around him were functioning at a higher level, those numbers might be even more impressive.

Dependable and dynamic: Gibbs has delivered on both fronts

Even though sloppy execution has been a bigger problem for Detroit than turnovers this season, Gibbs has elevated his ball security to an elite level. After three fumbles across his first two NFL seasons, he has tightened things up significantly.

He has touched the ball 183 times this year—between rushing attempts and targets. As Ian Hartitz of Fantasy Life noted (while also pointing out that “drops” are tracked differently depending on the source, with Pro Football Reference listing Gibbs with a single drop), no NFL player has more combined touches without a fumble or drop.

Hartitz highlighted the following players who have yet to put the ball on the ground this season:

Jahmyr Gibbs (183)

Quinshon Judkins (177)

Rachaad White (129)

Zach Charbonnet (115)

RJ Harvey (93)

Bhayshul Tuten (71)

Brian Robinson (65)

Chris Rodriguez (61)

Hartitz even joked in the comments that he may have cursed the whole group by pointing this out. So if Gibbs puts the ball on the turf in Week 12 against the Giants, Lions fans will know exactly who to blame.

Detroit envisioned Gibbs taking on a larger role long before the season started—and through 10 games, that plan has paid off. Any fear that more touches might hurt his ball security has been entirely dismissed.