2017, Week 5, Carolina Panthers vs the Detroit Lions @ Home

Lopsided.

The 3-2 Detroit Lions lose to the 4-1 Carolina Panthers 24-27 in a lopsided game that was no where near as close as the final score. If you gave out game balls to the losing team the only two guys who would deserve them would be TE Daniel Fells and K Matt Prater, in my opinion. None of the other players stood out and for that matter, neither did any of the coaches. There was so much that went wrong during this game that there isn't much in the line of positives to write about. Very lopsided indeed.

Matthew Stafford was 23 of 35 (65.71%) for 229 yards and 2 TDs with no interceptions though he did fumble twice (one recovered by Robinson of the Lions) and Stafford was sacked 6 times. Stafford detractors will be saying that he needs to be more aware of the rush, that he needs to just get rid of the ball instead of taking the sack, and so on. Stafford defenders will be saying that the offensive line needs to pass block better, that the receivers (be they WR, TE or RB) need to get at least some separation to get open, and that the play calling was not conducive to winning the game. I would say that both sides would be right. I understand that Stafford is playing tough, standing tall and trying to give his receivers as much time as he can to get open, desparately trying to win the game. But, he (and his coaching staff) need to admit the OL is not capable of blocking regularly for either the pass or the run and do whatever can be done to mitigate the problem. Be it more roll outs, throwing the ball away instead of taking the sack, re-designing the playbook, or just benching guys for lack of production. Something, anything, as Stafford is getting whomped, he's limping, bleeding, and at times, rushing his throws while at other times taking too long to get rid of the ball. The running backs make a great play then fail the next 6 times (or whatever number it is). The blocking is even more lopsided. In the end Fells caught both touchdowns in what many will call garbage time and Ebron had only 1 catch and many drops, again. Ebron is also not playing like a first round pick. I could go on and on and on about the offense, but, let's look at the other side for a moment.

Cam Newton was 26 of 33 (78.79% which is amazing) for 355 yards 3 touchdowns and no interceptions one fumble (recovered by them) and sacked 3 times. The time of possession was around 35 minutes (to the Lions 25) and the only good stat for the Lions defense is they held the Panthers to just 28 yards rushing (Lions offense had 50 yards rushing). At one point the Panthers had scored 24 unanswered points leaving the Lions to score their only 2 passing touchdowns in the 4th quarter in a failed attempt to come back. The Panthers backup tightend had 5 catches for 175 yards, nearly a team record. The defense will get a pass because they played so well the first 4 games of the season, but really, they don't deserve a pass, they need to find what went wrong and get it fixed or the season will be over before the bye week. Then again, maybe that's just me being upset about the loss and how lopsided the score was until the final minutes.

Now I'm not saying there wasn't a good play here, or a great play there, by the Lions, but there was so many bad plays it kind of ruins the good ones. It is most certainly time for the Lions coaches to figure themselves and their team out, and find ways to have more of the good plays and far fewer of the bad ones... on both sides of the ball. It's time for players to step up or sit down, and no, I'm not actually talking about the quarterback. Even though he does need to be coached about some of the things he is (or is not) doing too. Make Ebron a healthy scratch in favor of playing Fells, that might get his attention. Shuffle the OL if you have to, or find plays they can actually block for, or coach them into doing better, or gee, I just don't know, but any QB who has to play behind this OL is going to need a whole lot of ice if he can even walk after the game no matter who is taking the snaps. Maybe it's the OL coach? Not sure. The WR coach has some work to do too, the WRs are not getting open. Not even getting a step of separation most of the time. Or is it the playbook? The play calling? Not sure on this either, but I do know that something must be done. At the same time the defense who was playing very well needs to get back to doing that, as this game exposed them badly and it can't be something they fall into when you need them to keep the team in the game. No, they shouldn't have to do that by themselves, I just covered that, but until such time as the O does come around the D needs to compensate.

In the end, the game was a Panthers win from the 2nd quarter on, it was completely lopsided despite the final score, and hope for future wins was severely diminished after watching the game. Only Fells and Prater should sleep well and feel good about their game after this.

Next week the Lions play the Saints in New Orleans. If they play like they did today they will lose by 3 or more scores. The bye week is the week after but I suggest they shouldn't wait for that week to fix things, they need to work on it now. I'm sure they are actually, I'm just not sure if they are capable. Probably they are, but forgive me if I have some doubts.