Post by D6 on Nov 25, 2019 1:09:20 GMT -5
Thoughts in ****
www.mlive.com/lions/2019/11/observations-lions-suffer-embarrassing-loss-against-one-win-washington.html
Observations: Lions suffer embarrassing loss against one-win Washington
Detroit traveled to Washington on Sunday for a matchup of last-place teams.
Observations: Lions suffer embarrassing loss against one-win Washington
Updated 7:42 PM;Today 4:25 PM
LANDOVER, Md. -- They missed a field goal. They allowed a kick return for a touchdown. They turned over the ball, and then did it again on their very next play.
It’s exactly the sort of thing you’d expect from a one-win team like Washington. Problem is, that was your Detroit Lions.
And it all happened in the first 20 minutes of a 19-16 loss against Washington.
Yes, a loss.
Against Washington (2-9).
You know, the team that hadn’t held a halftime lead since Oct. 13. But, hey, the Lions (3-7-1) are in town! So they led 13-3. Washington, by the way, hadn’t scored more than seven points before halftime since its opener and was averaging an NFL-worst 12.points per game. But, hey, the Lions are in town! So of course they needed only two quarters to eclipse that.That’s a really bad team that had won once all year, and just last week was chanting “Sell The Team!” at owner Dan Snyder standing on the sideline. And the Lions were losing to them by double digits after 30 minutes.
Now the Lions have lost four in a row and seven of their last eight heading into a Thanksgiving game against Chicago, the season already long off the rails. Now the only questions are how ugly will this get, and how ugly does it have to get for Detroit to consider serious changes at the top of the organization.
Jobs could be on the line in the final five weeks of the season. And considering this is a team that thought it was ready to compete, and instead is buried six feet under before Thanksgiving, they very well should be.
The Lions did scratch their way back in the second half, with young Bo Scarbrough leading the way with 43 yards on three carries right out of the break. That set up a 49-yard field goal from Matt Prater.
Jeff Driskel added a 12-yard touchdown pass to Logan Thomas early in the fourth quarter to tie up the game at 13-all, then had a shot to push Detroit ahead on the subsequent series when he found Thomas on a big third-down play in the red zone. But Driskel overthrew Marvin Jones on third down in the corner of the end zone, and Detroit settled for another Prater field goal that gave them a 16-13 lead.It would not stand.
Washington’s Dustin Hopkins pounded a line-drive field goal through from 42 yards to tie the game with 1:54 left. Driskel nearly gave the ball right back when he missed Danny Amendola with a football that sailed through the arms of a defensive back, then did throw an interception on the very next play to Quinton Dunbar near midfield with 50 seconds left.
Hopkins hit the winner from 39 yards, and just like that, Detroit had lost to one of the worst teams in professional football. If you can actually call this game professional. It was sloppily played by both teams, a race to who would commit the last mistake. Jeff Driskel did it with a costly pick.
Then he threw another just for good measure.
**** The Lions losing the game didn't surprise me. What was surprising and unacceptable is how the Lions lost this game. Injuries were very costly. But even with all of the injuries, this should have been a win. Unlike with Jim Caldwell, Matt Patricia's Lions teams lose close game much more often than they win. With Caldwell's teams, most of the time they would find a way to win even if the Lions team had major flaws. With Patricia's teams, the Lions usually do just enough to lose.
The 4 things that disturbed me the most in this game are as follows:
1. The Kickoff Return for a TD. It turned out to be the Redskins only TD of the game. Just enough!
2. The numerous penalties the Lions committed in the 2nd half. This after not committing any in the 1st Half.
3. The communication / assignment mistakes on the Offensive Line. This probably was the # 1 reason the Lions lost the game, based on available players for this game. It's one thing if rookies and 2nd year players are on the field on the Offensive Line. In the Lions case, other than extra O-Lineman Tyrell Crosby on a small number of plays ( it didn't look like Crosby msde any of the major mental errors in this game ), the Offensive Lineman with the LEAST amount of experience/ exposure was Joe Dahl ( 4th season ). Being that communication / assignment issues were problematic in many other games this season, the problems go well beyond a different Center ( Graham Glasgow ) playing the position today.
4. The foundation of the Defensive Scheme is highly flawed. This scheme enabled Dwayne Haskins time to throw far too frequently. This wasn't the case in the vast majority of other Redskins games this season, regardless who was playing QB for them. Using a 3 man pass rush on the 3rd Down play that in essence ended the game is playing football Russian Roulette. Haskins had accuracy problems most of the game. Patricia seemed to depend on this again. Bad decision. You have to force the issue. ****
Let’s just get to the observations, shall we?
-- While some have begun to wonder whether defensive coordinator Paul Pasqualoni will be back next year, I think the club is just as likely to can special teams coordinator John Bonamego. The special teams have been a tire fire almost from the jump. They’ve been better of late, but were costly once again in Washington. They allowed Steven Sims to bring the opening kick to the 44-yard line, then were gashed for a touchdown on the next one. Mike Ford had a shot at Sims too, but, you know, just missed him. That’s happened a lot this year, and it put Detroit in an early hole against a truly awful Washington team. Matt Prater later missed a field goal, and Marvin Hall -- starting at punt returner for Jamal Agnew (ankle) -- inexplicably caught a punt while straddling the goal line and was tackled at the 2-yard line. Woof. Washington is so bad offensively that all you had to do was avoid mistakes that shorten the field, and Detroit couldn’t even do that.-
**** Special Teams, other than Punt / Punt Coverage were a huge factor in the loss. Marvin Hall made a horrible football decision fielding the Punt near the end zone. The injury to Jamal Agnew caught up to the Lions on that play. John Bonamego didn't effective communicate to Hall not to field the punt close to the end zone. It's on the coach. ****
- It turns out all the Lions needed to cure their woeful defense was a date with woeful-er Washington. That is the worst team I’ve seen all year, and its offense was especially bad. Dwayne Haskins had wide-open receivers all over the place and just couldn’t hit them. That includes missing two guys for sure touchdowns, and also an open Kelvin Harmon deep downfield in the fourth quarter -- even though Detroit was in a prevent defense. Having said that, give some credit where it’s due. Detroit’s defense got the job done, and in a season where they’ve played some of the worst defense in team history -- they were tracking for a franchise-high yardage total coming into the weekend -- hey, you’ll take whatever you can get. Jarrad Davis was especially good for a third straight week, offering hope he’s maybe on the rise after an up-and-down start to his career. He finished with a team-high eight tackles, one sack, two tackles for loss and two quarterback hits. Washington did not score an offensive touchdown -- yet won anyway.-
**** The Lions Defense played much better but much of it was because of Dwayne Haskins inaccuracy on many, many throws. When it mattered the most though, the Lions couldn't prevent FGs on consecutive drives.
Jarrad Davis had enough good performance. There's a very realistic possibility though that Davis made a coverage assignment mistake ( Adrian Peterson reception after a play action fake ) on the 1st play of the drive that ended with the Redskins tying the game 16-16 on a FG. Davis missed at least one tackle ( around tbe line of scrimmage ) but overall played winning football. Amani Oruwayire and Tavon Wilson arguably were the Lions best Defensive players in the game. Romeo Okwara and A'Shawn Robinson also had good performances. ****
- Is Logan Thomas already Detroit’s TE2? He’s certainly trending that way. He’s been used like it for weeks, actually outplaying Jesse James last week. He was the target in the end zone when Detroit had a got-to-have-it situation late against Oakland (which he couldn’t snag), and then caught a nice 12-yard touchdown pass for the only touchdown on Sunday. He later added a big third-down catch that led to a field goal. That’s 10 points he had a hand in, on a day when points were at a serious premium. Thomas is a nice player, and as a former quarterback, I think there’s still some untapped upside too. It makes me wonder about Jesse James’ future with the team too.
Remember Jesse James? Wouldn’t hold it against you if you didn’t, considering he caught eight passes in the first 10 games of the season. But he was one of Detroit’s big free-agent signings this year. He just got $22.6 million over four years, actually. That’s a lot of cheddar for a guy to catch a pass every game or two, and not offer much in the blocking game either. It would actually cost more money next year to cut James ($8.3 million) than to play him ($5.3 million), so maybe this is a decision still a year away. But Thomas already looks like he’s passed him behind T.J. Hockenson at the position.-
**** In fairness to Jesse James, this was arguably his best run blocking game of the season. He also caught a 3rd Down reception that moved the chains. Marvin Jones also deserves credit on the play for creating a 'legal pick'. That was the Lions only TD Drive of the game. ****
- Bo Scarbrough was one of the rare bright spots on another dreary day for these hapless Lions, especially at the start of the second half. He touched the ball on the first three plays of the drive, and ran over Washington for 43 yards to spark a series that wound up in the end zone for a game-tying touchdown. The operative words being “run over.” This guy runs tough, man. It’s difficult to understand why it took him four teams and 19 months to get a shot in an NFL uniform. And in a season that has already spoiled before Thanksgiving, Scarbrough’s unexpected rise is something worth monitoring down the stretch as Detroit figures out how to piece together a competent running game in 2020. He finished with 98 yards on 18 carries against Washington, and Detroit had 175 yards as a team. Hey, competency! (In the running game, at least, and perhaps only there.)
****Other than the fumble ( he came close to fumbling at least twice vs. Dallas , Bo Scarbrough was a bright spot on Offense. He did a good job picking up blitzes. On the other hand, Ty Johnson was beaten by speed and bad technique on a play that resulted in a sack. ****
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- Driskel, on the other hand, had some real struggles in his third start for the injured Matthew Stafford. He nearly threw an interception in a tie game in the final minute, then did on the very next throw. He put that thing right in Dunbar’s lap, too, gift wrapped and everything. Then he tacked on another for good measure to end it. He finished 20 of 33 passing for 207 yards, one touchdown and three costly interceptions against one of the worst defenses in the league. He also ran for 63 yards, which continues to be an asset.-
**** The first interception looked like it was an underthrown pass to Marvin Hall. Bad decision on the near interception but what looked like a communication mistake by Kenny Wiggins was the major cause of the pressure. Bad read on the interception that led to the a eventual game winning FG.
The greatest flaw in Jeff Driskel's game continues to be his lack of anticipation where his receivers will be. His passes are easier to defend when he waits to throw the ball instead of anticipating the route.****
- The Lions were playing bad football at full strength, so it only stands to reason they’re playing bad football down a bunch of guys. Trey Flowers didn’t play, which forced Romeo Okwara into the starting lineup. Rashaan Melvin was out too after hurting his ribs at practice on Friday, so rookie Amani Oruwariye got his first career start at cornerback. Matthew Stafford hasn’t practiced in a couple weeks, and at this rate, there’s no real reason we see him again in 2019. No sense subjecting him to this. Anyway, Jeff Driskel got a third straight start at quarterback. And he did so behind a reshuffled offensive line, with Frank Ragnow -- Detroit’s best offensive lineman of the season -- missing the game with a brain injury. Graham Glasgow started at center and Kenny Wiggins took his place at right guard.
**** The Lions haven't been at full strength all season. Having said that, I'm not excusing this loss and the overall 4 game losing streak. ****
-- In his first career start, Amani Oruwariye intercepted his first career pass. It was a terrific play along the sideline, and came at a big moment too, with Washington marching into Lions territory while Detroit was clinging to a 16-13 lead with 10:15 to go. Throw in his pass breakup in the end zone, and that’s not a bad debut in the starting lineup for the fifth-round pick. He’s spent most of his rookie season learning behind Darius Slay and Melvin, but the Lions love his size and ball skills. It’s not a stretch to think he could push for a full-time starting job in Year 2.-
**** As down as I am regarding Matt Patricia as Lions Head Coach, he deserves credit for going with Amani Oruwariye over Mike Ford, in place of the injured Rashaan Melvin. The decision by Patricia surprised me. ****
- Frank Ragnow missed the game because of a brain injury, which forced Graham Glasgow to slide back to center -- where he played all last season -- and Kenny Wiggins into the lineup at right guard. But if you think that killed Detroit’s peculiar guard rotation, think again! The seldom-used Oday Aboushi, active for his second game all season, got some snaps for Joe Dahl at left guard because, well, I don’t know why.
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**** Rotating Kenny Wiggins into the previous 9 out of 10 games at Guard hasn't paid dividends. Wiggins appeared to have made at least two mental / assignment mistakes. Including, on thr near interception on the 2nd down play right before the actual interception on the next play.
The overall play of the starting Tackles was noticeably better today than the play of the Interior O-Lineman. The holding penalty by Rick Wagner on a 4th QTR run ( around 23 yards by Bo Scarbrough ) wouldn't have happened if Dahl didn't get pushed into the backfield. Dahl had problems against power too frequently in this game, run and pass.****
- Just to be clear, there was an ESPN report before the game that Matthew Stafford could be shut down at some point, although he still wants to play. There’s nothing new about this. Stafford has been saying for weeks he wants to play as soon as he’s medically cleared, while Matt Patricia has said the club will talk about whether it should shut down the quarterback if he’s still missing time later in the year. With the way the Lions played in this game, there’s no sense in putting Stafford out there to get the crap kicked out of him for, what, exactly? To win a fourth game? A fifth? I don’t see the upside. Everything is about 2020 at this point, and Stafford’s health is No. 1 on that list.-
****Agreed*****
- Rookie tight end Isaac Nauta was called up from the practice squad over the weekend, then got the start at fullback. And wouldn’t you know it, he plowed a nice hole for an 8-yard pickup by Bo Scarbrough on his first NFL offensive play. Welcome to the show, kid.
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**** This game was a mixed bag for Isaac Nauta as a run blocker. ****
- The Lions have still led in every game this season. Can’t wait for that banner to be raised at Ford Field.
**** I'm anticipating the Lions won't have the lead in all of the remaining games. ****
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This new thread is a continuation of the following thread:
Lions at Redskins preview: Game # 11 ( 2019 )
detroit-lions-forum.proboards.com/thread/489/lions-redskins-preview-game-2019