Post by D6 on Dec 15, 2019 23:52:17 GMT -5
www.mlive.com/lions/2019/12/observations-lions-lose-seventh-straight-game-in-ugly-fashion.html
Thoughts in ****
Observations: Lions lose seventh straight game in ugly fashion
Updated 5:54 PM;Today 4:26 PM
Detroit Lions vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers - December 15, 2019
By Kyle Meinke | kmeinke@mlive.com
DETROIT -- My mother always said if you don’t have something nice to say, don’t say anything at all. So let’s give it a try.
The Lions tightened their grip on a top-five draft pick on Sunday with a 38-17 loss against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Ford Field. And, um ... like ...
... yeah, that’s all we got.
The Lions (3-10-1) were run out of their own building in yet another bloodbath, especially during a first quarter that saw them get outgained 236-1. No, that is not a typo. David Blough, earning a third straight start at quarterback, completed 1 of 4 passes for 2 yards in the frame, and net minus-5 yards on five dropbacks overall.
That means Detroit lost a yard every time it attempted to pass. That’s hard to do.
The Bucs had 314 yards and 21 points before the Lions earned a first down without a penalty. That’s also hard to do.
Tampa completed six early passes of at least 20 yards while building a commanding 21-0 lead. Breshad Perriman opened the scoring by beating Rashaan Melvin for a 34-yard strike.
Detroit had the Bucs pinned at their own 1-yard line on the following series, and even had them in a third-and-long too. But Scotty Miller caught an 11-yard pass to extend the drive. Then Chris Godwin got loose behind the defense for a 51-yard bomb. One play later, Miller hauled in a 33-yard TD.
That’s five plays, 99 yards and a 14-0 lead.
Considering the Lions gained just 56 yards in the entire half, the lead was more than enough cushion to ride out a late Lions rally.
Blough bombed long second-half completions to Danny Amendola and Kenny Golladay that set up a pair of touchdown runs by Wes Hills, who was making his NFL debut in Detroit’s depleted backfield. That drew the Lions to within 24-17.
But Blough was picked by Sean Murphy-Bunting, who returned the ball 70 yards for a 31-17 lead with 5:23 left that dashed Detroit’s comeback attempt before it ever really got going.
The Lions have now lost seven straight games and 10 of their last 11. Their last victory came against the New York Giants on Oct. 27. And they have to win at least one of their two remaining games -- in Denver and back home against Green Bay -- to avoid their worst record since 2010.
They entered the day sitting on the fifth pick in the NFL draft, and won’t move because of losses by Washington and Miami, although they moved within another game of the victorious New York Giants. With a pair of losses to finish the season, they could move as high as the top three.
**** The Lions were horrible on Offense in the first half and had two major coverage mistakes that cost the team two TDs.
To the credit of the Lions, despite the multitude of injuries, the team fought back. To the point that the Lions had the ball at about the Bucs 32 yard line in the with less than 6 minutes to go. A sack by Ndamukong Suh as a result of a bull rush after David Blough stepped up in the pocket and the interception return for a TD that followed on the next play changed the entire complexion of the game. It's probably for the best, as the Lions now have a realistic chance at the # 2 pick in the draft. If the Lions lose the remaining two games and assuming there are no ties, at the very least the Lions will have the # 4 pick in the draft. The Giants and Redskins face each other next week in suburban Washington DC.
The first TD ( Breshad Perriman ) very likely wasn't Rashaan Melvin's fault. It looked like a Safety either Will Harris or Tracy Walker should have remained deep instead of playing an intermediate route. The same route! On the Scotty Miller TD ( which ended his day because of a Hamstring injury ), Will Harris should have remained deep. This play came soon after Tavon Wilson was temporarily knocked out of the game because of an injury. Bruce Arians senses weaknesses and pounces. One reason why B.A. is an elite NFL HC. The trade of Quandre Diggs certainly was costly in this game from the standpoint of the Lions losing the game. ****
More instant observations from another Lions loss:
-- The role of injuries in the Lions’ demise can’t be ignored. They still haven’t won in six games without Matthew Stafford, although they’re also playing without Kerryon Johnson, Marvin Jones, T.J. Hockenson, Rick Wagner, Joe Dahl, Nick Bawden, Tra Carson, Bo Scarbrough, Jarrad Davis, Christian Jones and A’Shawn Robinson, among others. Then they lost guys like Mike Daniels, J.D. McKissic, Darius Slay and Devon Kennard for stretches against Tampa. Obviously, that’s a problem. Then again, Tampa lost receivers Chris Godwin and Scotty Miller to injury, and were already playing without Mike Evans. That left them with just Breshad Perriman and a bunch of tight ends. And they threw up 38 points. So, yeah, injuries are a part of the game. The difference is Detroit isn’t good enough or deep enough to compete.
**** The Bucs got hit hard with injury. Yet, other than Mike Evans and LT Donovan Smith, they had practically all of their pieces on Offense when building a 14-0 lead. Chris Godwin didn't get injured until the 2nd half. W/o Godwin and Scotty Miller, the Bucs Offense struggled. Especially, since the Lions did a very good job vs. the run. It wasn't until after the interception for a TD and the Bucs stopping the Lions on downs on the Lions next possession ( the officials should have called off setting penalties on the 4th Down play ) that the Lions Defense broke in the 2nd half. The game for all intents and purposes with over by then. Considering the two interceptions in the 2nd half that Blough through, the Lions Defense did what it could ( despite its injuries ) to keep the Lions in the game. ****
-- Andrew Adams picked off more passes in Lions training camp than any other player. There is no official count, but I’d bet my cat on it. That dude had his mitts on a football every other day. And he was rewarded for it by getting cut. Tampa scooped him up, and wouldn’t you know it, Adams picked off Blough to open the second half. Salt, meet wound.
**** David Blough overthrew Danny Amendola on that 3rd Down play. To Andrew Adams' credit, he was in good position for the interception. The issue on that play was Blough's accuracy, which has been a problem in all 3 of his starts. Blough was off target an open Kenny Golladay on a 3rd Down out pattern in the 1st half that would have given the Lions a 1st Down. ****
-- Mike Daniels said more than a dozen teams called him within an hour of his departure at the outset of camp in Green Bay. The Lions landed him with a $8.1 million deal that they nearly fully guaranteed. That’s looking like a huge mistake now. Daniels has finished just four games all year, and Sunday wasn’t one of them. He left the game in the first half with an arm injury and did not return. He has 10 tackles and one sack in parts of eight games this season. Just not what the Lions were expecting when they shelled out that kind of cash for the former Pro Bowl defensive tackle.
**** The injury to Mike Daniels was very costly in this game. Except when Devon Kennard, who later on suffered a hamstring injury that ended his day, was at DT, the Lions failed to generate pressure from the DTs. He just can't stay healthy. Different injuries. ****
-- Devon Kennard is the last man standing at linebacker, where Jarrad Davis was placed on injured reserve and Christian Jones was deactivated with a shoulder injury. And the lack of depth and experience and general NFL-caliber talent was evident, as Detroit was buried 6 feet under Ford Field during a disasterous first half. Kennard did his part though, sacking Jameis Winston in the first half. He now has reached seven sacks in back-to-back seasons, becoming the first Lions linebacker to do that since Mike Cofer in 1989-90.
**** Devon Kennard also played the run well. Along with Trey Flowers, he was probably the Lions best all around player on Defense in this game. ****
-- Tavai got the nod for Davis in the middle of the defense, and made a big play early by picking off Jameis Winston on the first series of the game. It was his first career interception.
**** Great play by Jahlani Tavai. He dropped into the zone and made a very good play on the ball. The Lions Offense lost yards on the possession that followed. Then the scoring avalanche began for the Bucs. Tavai had some issues in coverage after that. His play against the run was a plus. ****
-- The Lions were shredded by Jameis Winston, especially in a first quarter that saw him throw for 221 yards. That’s the most yards in a first quarter since Peyton Manning threw for 247 yards against the Packers all the way back in 2004. Winston cooled a bit in the second half, but still finished 28 of 42 passing for a career-high 458 yards and four touchdowns.
**** Busted coverages, effective natural picks, and a pass rush that wasn't good enough all contributed to the problems the Lions had in coverage in the first half. ****
-- It is impossible to understate the degree to witch the Lions are a disaster. Dumpster fire, garbage fire, you name it, they’re it. But give credit to Danny Amendola for still playing his tail off. That dude has won a lot of games in his career. He thought he was going to win a lot of games here for his old coach. Now he’s catching footballs from David Blough. He could pack it in, but he’s playing with more fire than ever. After a horrific first quarter that saw the Lions gain 1 yard and earn exactly zero first downs that weren’t by penalty, Amendola finally moved the chains with a 12-yard catch in the second quarter -- and then chucked the ball at least 20 rows deep into the stands out of frustration. That guy? He cares. Then he made one of the best plays of the day, knifing through the air -- and through defensive pass interference -- to catch a 56-yard pass that set up Detroit’s first touchdown of the day.
****Props to Danny Amendola as a receiver and his effort. Unfortunately, his size caught up to him as a blocker in this game. ****
-- Kerryon Johnson is out. So is his replacement (Tra Carson), and now his replacement’s replacement (Bo Scarbrough). So Wes Hills got the call up from the practice squad, then started in his NFL debut. And hey, the kid scored Detroit’s first two touchdowns of the day -- both on goal-line plunges -- to draw Detroit within 24-17 early in the first quarter. That’s sort of reminiscent of Scarbrough, who went from the P-squad to the starting lineup last month, then scored his first career touchdown on his third career carry. But Hills wasn’t nearly as effective overall, managing just 21 yards on 10 carries.
**** The TDs were both in the 2nd half, with the 2nd one at the beginning of the 4th QTR. It was a mixed bag for Wes Hills as a rusher in the game but he was better in the 2nd half. He has no chance on a couple of runs in this game when hit in the backfield. Including on the Lions first play from scrimmage in the game. It looked like Logan Thomas made an assignment mistake on the play. Amendola was overrun by a DB on a Hills run in the 2nd half, resulting in a loss. Hills did a good job with pass protection, at least from a physical standpoint. ****
-- David Blough was awful in the first quarter once again, this time completing 1 of 4 passes for 2 yards, and netting minus-5 overall. Yikes. The undrafted rookie did rally in the second half, hitting Danny Amendola and Kenny Golladay with bombs to set up a pair of Wes Hills touchdowns that drew Detroit to within 24-17. There are some skills there, especially with his mobility. But he’s forced to learn on the fly, and that’s to everyone’s detriment, especially his own. He threw two more picks against Tampa, including a pick-six in a seven-point game late in the fourth quarter. Blough now has five picks in three games. His final line against Tampa: 24 of 43 passing for 260 yards, no touchdowns and the two picks. His passer rating was just 54.4.
**** David Blough is best when getting free from contain and then throwing deep. His accuracy, height, and ordinary at best arm strength all are limitations that will be a challenge for him to overcome. If Blough's accuracy doesn't improve, he's not going to be in the NFL as a QB long term. ****
-- Rashaan Melvin started over rookie Amani Oruwariye at cornerback, for some reason. Then he gave up Tampa’s first touchdown, a 34-yard bomb to Breshad Perriman. The son of former Lions wideout Brett Perriman, Breshad finished with three touchdowns against pop’s old team.
**** Again, the blame on the play should be on one of the Safeties.
As for Amani Oruwariye, this wasn't a good performance. Probably, his worst in a regular season game. How much of it was his fault compared to scheme is a key question. ****]
-- Ford Field was about 30% full at kickoff, by far a season low, and never got more than about 70% full for the day. That’s the worst crowd this team has drawn in a long time. And much like in other games, some of the loudest cheers were for the opponent, and in this case, specifically Ndamukong Suh, when his name was called after an early tackle and then a sack of David Blough. Suh finished with three tackles, one of which was for loss, and two quarterback hits.
**** The combination of the Lions season and the Bucs not having a large fan base both contributed to the size of the crowd. If the Packers have something to play for in the season finale in Detroit, plenty of Cheeseheads will almost certainly be at the game. It might sound like Lambeau East. ****
-- Little Caesars Arena is discontinuing Kid Rock’s restaurant after the singer recently made disparaging and controversial remarks about Oprah. But the Lions continue to embrace the brash Romeo native, including using his music as the team ran out of the tunnel to open the game.
**** I have no idea what Kid Rock said about Oprah. But I prefer him any day of the week to Oprah. ****
…………
This new thread is a continuation of the following thread:
Lions vs. Bucs preview: Game # 14 ( 2019 )
detroit-lions-forum.proboards.com/thread/524/lions-bucs-preview-game-2019