Week 13, 2019 Detroit Lions vs Chicago Bears @ Home

Adjustments.

The 3-8-1 Detroit Lions lost once again to the 6-6 Chicago Bears on Thanksgiving day by a score of 20-24. For the 12th time out of 12 times this year the Lions had the lead at one point in the game (in this case, the entire first half). For the 8th time this year the Lions blew the lead and then lost the game. I hadn't kept track how many times the lead change happened after half time like it did in this game, but to me that means the opposing team is making half time adjustments and the Lions can't counter.

The Lions were forced to play their 3rd string QB, David Blough, due to injury. Blough went 22 of 38 (57.89%) for 280 yards with 2 TDs and 1 INT (last play by the offense as they were driving for the winning TD). Bo Scarbrough rushed for 83 yards on 21 carries, whole the rest of the RBs (and 1 yard by the QB) went another 22 more yards for a total team rushing stat of 105 yards. Why it wasn't half again more then that I don't know, but normally you would if you don't outsmart yourself, which seems to be a common theme these days.

The Lions defense allowed Mitchell Trubisky to go 29 of 38 (76.32%) for 338 yards and 3 TDs and 1 INT (only the 4th one this year by the Lions). The Lions defense also allowed the Bears to rush for 88 yards. The defense also only managed 1 sack by Flowers this game, I'm sure they make adjustments during the game but I'm not seeing results, of any kind really. To have the lead in every single game of the season only to lose 8 times (and tie once) is a testament to how poor the defense is playing.

I did some research on the job that Quinn has done, finding that there are no undrafted free agents that the Lions had choose on the 2019 roster from any year other then 2019. I also found that every single player on the roster was either found and signed by Quinn or was originally signed by Mayhew and has had a contract extension by Quinn since he started as GM 4 years ago. I didn't count how many other free agents that Quinn had signed over the past 4 years and are no longer on the team, but needless to say, it's a lot. So the entire roster is all Quinn. Now a large number of the players are young, and they may be able to turn things around with experience, or it's possible the coaching staff is incapable of coaching the players up. It's possible they aren't being used correctly, it's also possible that they are. I can't know, since no one is really saying much about it, yet. Still, most GMs get 5 years to prove themselves and most coaches get 3 years, both of which amounts to the end of next season (the 2020 season). So while it's possible that this will be the last year of this regime, it's probably slightly more likely that they will have next year to prove they are capable of doing the job despite it being 3-8-1 right now.

The Lions play the (currently) 8-3 Minnesota Vikings away in 10 days, I don't anticipate it going the Lions way simply because the team has not proven that they can get a lead and maintain it to the end of the game. I also don't anticipate the coaching staff to make enough adjustments to how they do things despite the few extra days they will have to prepare for it. Depending on how the other teams do today and Sunday (and Monday) we may be finding out the Lions will be looking at drafting in the top 5 in 2020 (they are at 7 right now I do believe). If Quinn does remain the GM and if the coaching staff remains at least partially intact (got to get rid of a scapegoat somewhere, probably the DC)... I pray they select a great player in the first round, a difference maker, one that can make plays to turn an entire game around all by themselves. That probably means someone on D and probably someone on the DL at that, though I can't rule out DB or LB. They need someone who is disruptive on defense, and they must get it right along with the rest of the draft and even the undrafted players after the draft. Someone they can use to make adjustments in game, every week, in order to secure wins. I hate talking draft in November, but that's where we are, so let's make it the last time we have to do so for many years.

Week 12, 2019 Detroit Lions @ Washington Redskins

Too many mistakes, still.

The 3-7-1 Detroit Lions lost to the 2-9 Washington Redskins 16-19. There was just too many mistakes, still.

Jeff Driskel was 20 of 33 (60.6%) for 207 yards with 1 TD and 3 INTs. Bo Scarbrough had 98 yards on 18 carries and 1 fumble that was lost to the Redskins. Kicker Prater missed his first field goal attempt, but made the other three. Since it ended up being a 3 point game some will blame Prater even though it happened in the first quarter.

The Detroit Defense allowed Dwayne Haskins to only go 13 of 29 (44.83%) for 156 yards 0 TDs and 1 INT. They also allowed them to get a mere 86 yards rushing with no TDs. Special teams had a kick off return for a TD though. The rest were field goals, all made.

Considering how little the Redskins actually produced in total, the only thing to blame, once again, is the Lions themselves. They've played in 11 games so far and had the lead at least once in all 11 games. Yet they can not pad the lead nor stop the opponents when needed. It's pretty much the same thing every week, like a broken record. I do not know the exact reason why the Lions team is broken, but I suspect that fixing it will require some coaching changes. Maybe. Maybe it's truly a health issue. Maybe the depth just can't play mistake free football. Either way, the front office and the coaching staff has to accept the blame for the record, such as it is.

Next week the Lions play at home against the Chicago Bears. While the Lions should win that game, they probably will make too many mistakes in order to win. Why should they suddenly play mistake free in week 13 when they haven't for the 11 games prior.

Week 11, 2019 Detroit Lions vs Dallas Cowboys @ Home

Next Year.

The 3-6-1 Detroit Lions lost to the 6-4 Dallas Cowboys 27 to 35 effectively taking the Lions out of playoff contention this season for all intents and purposes even if not yet mathematically (one more loss will do that).

Jeff Driskel was 15 of 26 (57.692%) for 209 yards 2 TDs and no INTs. The runners managed to rush for 121 yards and 2 TDs, including the newest RB, Bo Scarbrough, a player I had been hoping the Lions would've drafted the year Dallas drafted him in the 7th round.

The Lions defense however allowed Dak Prescott to go 29 of 46 (63.04%) for 444 yards and 3 TDs with no INTs. The Lions defense also allowed 75 yards rushing and another TD for Elliott.

There is still no word on when (or even if) Matthew Stafford will be back to work, but then again, unless he can play defense as well as QB then there is really no reason to rush him back on the field.

What I don't really understand though, is the Lions defense last year (the 2nd half of the year) and this year are so completely different, and yet most of the players are the same. Coleman instead of Lawson, Flowers instead of Ansah, plus a few others added through the draft and free agency, all of which should (on paper) have been upgrades, and yet the D is worse then last year. Last year though there was a lot (as in A LOT) more blitzing where as this year it happens seldom (though often effective when used). I don't know the exact usage difference but I seem to recall that Davis did a lot of blitzing be they delayed or designed, and this year it seems to rarely happen.

I doubt the front office is in danger of losing their jobs, and thus the coaching staff is probably safe for one more year, but I have to believe they must start showing improvement before too much longer or we'll be rebuilding from the ground up once again, and four times in two decades is not something I'm looking forward to.

At the present time, with 6 games to go for most teams, the Lions are looking at picking 10th overall in the first round. The Lions also have just under $20 million in salary cap space available that if unused this year will roll over into next year. There is just no reason for the team not to do what needs doing and begin to have success. Maybe too late this year, but unless something major occurs I don't see why there should be any reason for next year not to be highly successful.

Egads, I just said something similar to "just wait until next year"... how the Lions make me do that so often is another fact I wish didn't happen. Half way through November and we're once again looking at the off season moves and draft. Shame really.

Week 10, 2019 Detroit Lions @ Chicago Bears

Very underwhelming.

The 3-5-1 Detroit Lions lose to the 4-5 Chicago Bears with a score of 13-20. Matthew Stafford sat this one out with a back injury so getting his first start as a Lion was Jeff Driskel. That worked out just about as well as you would expect, very underwhelming.

Jeff Driskel was 27 of 46 (58.7%) for 269 yards and 1 TD along with 1 INT (straight to the opponent). Now it was nice to watch a QB who can run a 4.59 40 yard dash, making him just a tiny bit slower then the RBs, but I'm hopeful Stafford gets well soon, like now. Driskel had 5 carries for the team leading 37 rushing yards. McKissic had 10 carries for 36 rushing yards. Ty Johnson had 5 carries for 16 yards before he went under the concussion protocol (so out of the game in the first quarter). Total rushing yards for the Lions was 98 yards and no TDs. Very underwhelming.

The Lions defense actually had some improvement in their rushing D allowing only 81 yards but they allowed Mitchell Trubisky to go 16 of 23 (69.57%) for 173 yards and 3 TDs with no INTs passing. The complete lack of blitzes by the Lions defense is beginning to drive me crazy, but I digress. The defense for the Lions was able to get some stops, and some three and outs, but not one turnover, again. Before this game the Lions defense was ranked one of the three worst in the NFL. Very underwhelming.

The Lions next game is at home at 1pm next Sunday against the 5-3 Dallas Cowboys (they are playing the Minnesota Vikings Sunday night). There are currently 9 NFC teams with a record above .500, the odds of the Lions knocking 4 of those teams out of the wildcard race is approaching single digits. In fact, it won't be long and we might be talking about who the Lions will draft with a top 10 pick once again. Since I still don't want to talk about the draft in November just yet, I'll just keep on hoping for that miracle.

Oh what the heck, let's show one draft paragraph now, just in case. Currently the draft order is as follows:

1 Cincinnati 0-9 .000
2 Washington 1-8 .111
3 NY Giants 2-8 .200
4 Miami 2-7 .222
5 NY Jets 2-7 .222
6 Atlanta 2-7 .222
7 Cleveland 3-6 .333
8 Tampa Bay 3-6 .333
9 Denver 3-6 .333
10 Arizona 3-6-1 .350
11 Detroit 3-5-1 .389
12 LA Chargers 4-6 .400

Sad, isn't it? Yep, very underwhelming.

Week 9, 2019 Detroit Lions @ Oakland Raiders

Too Many Mistakes (again)

The 3-4-1 Detroit Lions made too many mistakes (again) and lost to the 4-4 Oakland Raiders with a score of 24-31. In a weekend that saw all the division rivals also lose their matches, the Lions couldn't help themselves with a win to gain on all 3 of the NFC North teams.

Matthew Stafford was 26 of 41 (63.41%) for 406 yards, 3 TDs and 1 (costly) INT (in the end zone early in the game) and one fumble. The ground game managed to rush for 90 yards between 5 individuals and got no TDs.

The defense allowed Derek Carr to go 20 of 31 (64.52%) for 290 yards 2 TDs and no INT. The Lions defense also allowed the Raiders to rush for 171 yards and 2 more TDs.

There were penalties for too many men on the field by the Lions. False starts. Holding and interference calls. So many it's hard to remember them all. The fumble was during a hand off from Stafford to McKissic, who appeared to me to be looking where to go instead of focusing on securing the football, but the QB always gets the stat on handoffs and maybe it was his fault, but whoever did it it still counts as a mistake by the Lions. The INT by Stafford was a jump ball to Golladay who usually does come down with those but this time he was outside and the ball was just a bit inside, of course Golladay landed out of bounds so me thinks he was too far outside to begin with, which means the ball was more or less on target... but I don't want to appear to be excusing Stafford's play, as there were plenty of other throws that were not quite where they needed to be (and even more that were spot on). Regardless of who is to blame, Stafford made too many mistakes... the OL made too many mistakes... the entire defense made too many mistakes... but the officials only made a couple which was a nice change.

There is no way I could pick one thing that made it so the Lions lost this game, other then to say the obvious, too many mistakes (again). Seems to be a theme this year. Anyway, the Lions had a perfect opportunity to gain ground in the division but didn't lose any ground instead with the rest of the division also losing, still when you got 4 games to make up you can't afford to make these mistakes... especially with half the season already gone.

The Lions now travel to Chicago to play the 3-5 Bears. The Lions can no longer afford to lose any game (in my opinion) so they better figure out how to focus and make fewer mistakes from here on out, or the season will be lost in November (again).