Lions' Montgomery and Gibbs want to be best backfield duo of all-time; here's how they stack up in the Super Bowl era

Allen Park — Earlier this season, in a postgame locker room conversation with Detroit Lions running back David Montgomery, he relayed a lofty goal for himself and teammate Jahmyr Gibbs: When everything is said and done, he wants them to be viewed as the greatest running back duo of all time.

I opined later that week that the pair were arguably already the best, present day, but questioned whether they’d be together long enough to enter the larger conversation. A day later, the Lions extended Montgomery, creating a runway for him and Gibbs to play together in Detroit another three seasons beyond this one.

Through their first 20 games as teammates, Montgomery and Gibbs became the first backfield mates to each produce 1,500 yards from scrimmage and 15 touchdowns in that timeframe. To be more specific with those numbers, they’ve churned out 3,104 rushing yards (5.1 yards per carry), 3,863 yards from scrimmage and a staggering 39 touchdowns.

If we go a step further, projecting out the remainder of the 2024 campaign at their current pace, that would be 4,391 rushing yards, 5,517 yards from scrimmage and 56 scores across two seasons.

Whoa.