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).

Week 8, 2019 Detroit Lions vs NY Giants @ Home

All Game.

The 3-3-1 Detroit Lions managed to beat the 2-6 New York Giants at home with a 31-26 score. Had the defense not scored a TD on a fumble recovery early in the game the Lions may not have won today. Injuries to the DBs forced the Lions to put in their 3rd stringers as starters for the 2nd half, which is not surprising, since the Lions just traded Safety/CB Diggs to Seattle this past week. Overall though, the Lions were up and down all game and eeked out a win.

Matthew Stafford was 25 of 32 (78.125%) for 342 yards 3 TDs and 1 INT. The run game, led by one Tra Carson (who had 34 yards on 12 carries) totaled 59 rushing yards with 5 different runners. KJ might not be all that, but he's going to be missed (he's on IR now). The defense for the Lions managed to allow the rookie QB Daniel Jones complete 28 of 41 (68.29%) for 322 yards and 4 TDs with no INT (but one backwards throw that is recorded as a fumble). The run defense was slightly improved, only allowing 80 yards (64 to Barkley) but they also allowed Barkley to catch 8 passes for 79 yards, only being topped by Golden Tate who had 85 yards. Many of those throws were to wide open receivers, so it's quite amazing the Lions won at all... yet the Lions scored first (ala defense) and never once lost the lead all game.

The officiating was at times a little bit frustrating, but no where near as bad as the past few games. The Lions themselves also made many errors, but once again, not quite as bad as the past three games. Perhaps this will generate a little bit of confidence that might carry over into next week's game against the Oakland Raiders for the first of two away games. To win the Raiders and Bears games away the Lions will need to clean up their errors and play well, all game. The up and down alternating good and bad plays have to get turned around, and quickly.

The Lions are now in 3rd in the division, as the Bears lost today by 1 point (failing to hit a field goal as time expired). After the Raiders the Lions play the Bears twice in 18 days (due to the Thanksgiving day game)... all the next 5 games are critical... they must be wins if the Lions want any hope of making the playoffs. Not sure yet if they can pull that off. The Lions confidence might have improved, but mine has not. Not when you keep making mistakes every game all game.

Week 7, 2019 Minnesota Vikings vs Detroit Lions @ Home

Hoping.

The 2-3-1 Detroit Lions lost to the 5-2 Minnesota Vikings 30-42 at Ford Field today. Unlike the Monday night game against the Lions, the officiating this game was much less controversial. However, injuries played a huge part in the loss. Not to say if the injuries hadn't happened the Lions would have won, but I do believe the score would have been much closer. The Lions still managed to do things wrong aiding the other team to win, as they have done every game this season so far (not that all were loses). I wonder if the coaches and players can ever get their act together for a complete game, here's hoping.

Matthew Stafford was 30 of 45 (66.667%) for 364 yards 4 TDs and 1 INT. The offense always gained 81 yards on the ground. Meanwhile the defense allowed Kirk Cousins to go 24 of 34 (70.59%) for 337 yards 4 TDs and no interceptions. The Lions defense also allowed the Vikings offense to rush for 166 yards. This was mostly a game of defense, or the lack thereof, and the Vikings defense outplayed the Lions defense. Prior to the game a couple of the Lions defensive starters were inactive and during the game more then half the starters ended up out for at least part if not the larger portion of the game. I'm hoping they can all get healed up this week for the next game.

Next week the Lions play the 2-5 New York Giants at home. There can be no excuse for them to not win this game. Should they lose I predict the Lions will be drafting in the top 5 again next April. Here's hoping that is not the case. The Lions absolutely must go on a lengthy win streak if they want to have any hope of a post season this year at all. I'm much less confident of that happening then I was just a couple of weeks ago.

Week 5 = Bye, Week 6 2019 Detroit Lions @ Green Bay Packers

Incorrect.

The 2-2-1 Detroit Lions were beat by the NFL refs, err, I mean the 5-1 Green Bay Packers by a score of 23-22. Now it's true the Lions settled over and over for field goals instead of getting touchdowns. It's also true they led the game from the opening series all the way until the final 2 seconds, and the only reason the Packers were able to win was due to some great play by the Packers and even better penalties (or lack thereof) that kept the Packers in the game. The announcers know it, my local news guy knows it, my friends and family know it, and all Lions fans know it. Only some Packers fans will deny it, and that's fine, that's what fans do. The NFL will get all kinds of complaints, they will apologize to the Lions, and the Lions will still be 2-2-1 and not get the calls the next time they play. What should happen is that official should be fired. Tomorrow. Never to call an NFL game again. But I'm sure that won't happen either, as there are no consequences for repeatedly getting the calls wrong in the NFL. Nothing happens when the officials are incorrect.

Matthew Stafford was 18 of 32 (56.25%) for 265 yards with no touchdowns or interceptions. The offense gained 56 rushing, which is horrible while the defense allowed 170 yards rushing and allowed Aaron Rodgers to go 24 of 39 (61.54%) for 283 yards 2 touchdowns and 1 interception. Yet it was the two hands to the face calls against Trey Flowers (his hands were never once in the dudes face, but the dude did have his hands in Flowers face the second time) and the no call for pass interference when the Lions were driving to regain a two score lead that really affected the game the most... though there were other calls that were a bit one sided, not called or made up completely that also contributed. Now why the Lions didn't challenge the no call on pass interference I don't know, that is a coaching mistake. In the end, the Lions went toe to toe against a good team, would've won, but did not. As incorrect as that may be.

Next week the Lions go against the refs, err, the Minnesota Vikings at home, I'm just going to predict a loss right now, since the Lions are probably really upset and it's only take one thing going wrong that shouldn't to get them into the doldrums and blow the game. Unless, that is, they are more resilient then I give them credit for, which would make me incorrect.

Once more, I'll just say, the NFL really should remove that official from the league to show their are consequences for throwing a game... even if the only reason he blew it was due to needing glasses, which I doubt is the case, but you never know. I do know he was incorrect, more then once, and it did in fact matter this game.