Game 11 @ home against the Houston Texans

Too much.

The now 4-7 Detroit Lions lost to the Houston Texans 31-34 Thanksgiving afternoon in overtime. Too much happened in this game to blog it all in one sitting... so I'll post a link to an NFL article on some of it and go after a few key points.

http://www.nfl.com/gamecenter/2012112200/2012/REG12/texans@lions#tab=recap&menu=highlights&recap=fullstory

Matthew Stafford was 31 of 61 for 441 yards and 2 TDs with no INTs. Great fantasy numbers, not as great winning numbers. Oh he played well at times and spread the ball around pretty good. He made some smart decisions to avoid sacks. I probably wouldn't even mention his game at all except I know he could do better, especially at the end to put the game away.

Titus Young may have watched his teammates play from his home as he wasn't allowed to practice this week nor play in the game. If he did he got to see Broyles get 6 catches for 126 yards and generally play very well. If this punishment doesn't fix his issues then I got to believe we won't be seeing too much of him in a Lions jersey any more.

Joique Bell ran for 47 yards on 5 plays, got a TD, and outplayed Mikel Leshoure (who had 32 yards on 12 plays and 1 TD). Mikel's numbers are more in line with what I expected from him every game, so perhaps Bell will now be moved up the depth chart to starter. Kevin Smith failed to make the best of his opportunities today and that makes Bell the best RB on the team (in my opinion).

When all's said and done, there were just too many mistakes, too much gone wrong, for the Lions to pull off a win. There were a number of plays that single handedly could've won the game for the Lions, such as the Flag on the Lions challenge flag, the strip of the ball from Pettigrew, the failed Pick 6 by KVB, and the missed field goal by Jason Hanson... but there were multiple other less noticeable plays that affected the final outcome as well. More wrong routes, more bad run fits, various untimely penalties, and on the list goes. Don't get me wrong, there were a ton of good and even great plays throughout the game, it's just that there was too much that went wrong to make them matter.