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The Lions weren’t able to get a win on Thanksgiving, but they did get running back LeGarrette Blount‘s best performance of the year in the 23-16 loss to the Bears.

Blount took on the lead role in the backfield with Kerryon Johnson out of the lineup and ran for 88 yards and two touchdowns on 19 carries in his most productive outing of the season. Blount had averaged less than a yard per carry over the previous four games and said that the extended playing time led to the improved results.

“As a running back, I think every running back in this league is going to want the rock over the course of a game,” Blount said, via the Detroit News. “You want to get lathered up, you want to see how they’re playing and how they’re fitting the runs and how they’re playing against certain runs. Whenever you get a chance, an opportunity to get a few in a row, and see how it’s going, it helps a lot.”

Blount will likely be at the forefront of the Lions gameplan again this week. Johnson is still out with a knee injury as Detroit prepares to face a Rams defense that’s allowing over five yards per carry this season.

Given how good the Rams offense is, Blount said that “you definitely want to stay on the field as long as possible” and the run game will likely be Detroit’s best bet to make that happen on Sunday.