Week 15, 2019 Detroit Lions vs Tampa Bay Buccaneers @ Home

Observation.

The 3-10-1 Detroit Lions lose to the 7-7 Tampa Bay Buccaneers 17-38 in a game that saw nearly half the Lion's starters not play on offense and defense due to injury. Not that that is an excuse, more of an observation really.

Third string QB David Blough went 24 of 43 (55.81%) for 260 yards no TDs and 2 INTs (he only had like 56 yards in the first half). Somebody name Wes Hills played starting RB (up from the practice squad) and he had 10 carries for 21 yards and 2 TDs. The entire stat for rushing only added up to 45 yards and the QB Blough had 19 of them. Ty Johnson lost a fumble to go with that. Talk about domination by the Bucs. This makes two weeks in a row in which the offense was just about as bad as the defense. Of course not everyone will agree with me on this, it's just my observation of the way things went.

The Lions defense allowed Jameis Winston to go 28 of 42 (66.667%) for 458 yards and 2 TDs with 1 INT. The Lions allowed only 49 yards rushing, so they finally managed to control a team's running game, more or less. The defense is in dire need of a superstar to go with Slay and Flowers. My hope is that they find that player in day one of the 2020 draft.

Next week the Lions go to Denver to play the 5-9 Broncos. With all the Lions players on IR or playing hurt and considering how many 3rd,4th or even 5th string players are starting, it's very unlikely the Lions will win that game, but it's not impossible.

Fans of the NFL Draft and the Lions are okay with the losses at this point, since each makes it more likely the Lions get a higher draft pick, yet at the same time I've been observing more and more concern as to whether Quinn should be the one doing the drafting. Same observation goes for the coaching staff, more and more I see fans wanting to replace everyone on the coaching staff except maybe the OC Bevell. I don't think that's the way to go, but I'm also not in Allen Park so I don't know for sure if there is more to it then the product on the field or not. Assuming there are no other reasons for firing the coaching staff, then it's likely they get one more season to prove they deserve the job. The only way that happens is if Quinn remains in charge, so that would mean one more Quinn draft as well. If next year isn't a good year for the Lions it would likely mean a complete sweep of the front office and coaching staff, assuming it doesn't happen before then. For now, the Lions remain the 5th worst team in the NFL and would be drafting 5th overall if the season ended today.