Post by D6 on Dec 19, 2022 2:42:09 GMT -5
Thoughts in ****
Instant observations: Lions use stunning 51-yard TD pass to keep playoff hopes alive
Instant observations: Lions use stunning 51-yard TD pass to keep playoff hopes alive
Updated: Dec. 18, 2022, 5:40 p.m.|Published: Dec. 18, 2022, 4:15 p.m.
By Kyle Meinke | kmeinke@mlive.com
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- A season with almost no margin for error came down to a fourth down with absolutely no margin for error.
And Brock Wright delivered.
The Detroit Lions’ undrafted tight end is known far more for his blocking than his pass-catching, and sold the block hard before leaking into the flat. The New York Jets bit hard on the action, and Wright found himself all alone as he turned upfield for a 51-yard touchdown catch in the final minute of a 20-17 stunner on Sunday at MetLife Stadium.
**** Great play call and execution!****
New York did come back the other way to make things interesting in the final seconds, with quarterback Zach Wilson racing around the field before finding Elijah Moore with a 20-yard pass just before the clock expired. New York called timeout with 1 second left, and had one last look at a 58-yard field goal.
That’s the sort of field goal that has bounced through against this team for years, including just last season against Baltimore. But this one fell short, and Detroit headed for the showers with its sixth win in seven weeks.
**** Tremendous ending to a classic game!****
With that, the greatest comeback story in the league will go on for at least another week. After losing a league-worst six times in their first seven games, the Lions (7-7) have now pulled even with Seattle (7-7) just behind the Giants (7-5-1) and Commanders (7-5-1) for the final spot in the NFC playoff field. The Giants and Commanders play each other on Sunday Night Football.
Detroit travels to Carolina next Saturday for a Christmas Eve Game against the Panthers, then hosts Chicago before heading to Green Bay for the season finale. It might have to win every game to make the postseason, but just might be favored in every game too.
**** The Lions probably need to win all 3 remaining games or at least go 2-0-1. With Jacksonville beating Dallas 40-34 in OT in another classic game, the NFC East race will likely be decided before the starting of Week # 18, the final week of the regular season. The Giants play in Philadelphia that weekend. Dallas is at Washington. The Eagles and Cowboys will probably have nothing to play for in terms of playoff seeding. With Dallas almost certainly going to be playing in the 1st Round of the playoffs, they easily could sit most key starters and many more. The Eagles will very likely have a 1st Round Bye. There's a better chance that they will play some of their key starters, at least for part of the game against the Giants. The Lions are probably going to need help before week # 18. ****
The Lions have become one of the darlings of the NFL this season, although they sure didn’t make it easy on themselves in New York. They raced to an early 7-0 lead thanks to a punt return for a touchdown by Kalif Raymond, but failed to build on that lead while blowing a cavalcade of opportunities.
**** Great response by the Lions after getting stopped in 4th and Goal at the 1. The Lions Defense forced the Jets to Punt near the back of their End Zone. Kalif Raymond took advantage of the opportunity of a low punt. The good blocking was capped off by James Houston's block inside the Jets 10 yard line. With Raymond hurdling Houston, on his way to the end zone. ****
They came up short on fourth-and-inches at the goal line when rookie tight end James Mitchell missed a block. Jameson Williams was running wide open toward the end zone for another long touchdown pass over the middle -- much like the one he scored on last week -- but Jared Goff underthrew him so badly that the defense was able to catch up and bat away the ball. Then just before halftime, Jamaal Williams finally pounded the ball across the goal line on an 11-yard touchdown run. But the play was called back because of a holding penalty against guard Evan Brown.
Two plays later, D’Andre Swift made most of that back and set up third-and-short near the goal line, but Brown was flagged for holding again. Detroit was forced to settle for a field goal.
**** The Lions lack of execution in the red zone, including the Holding Penalties on Running plays by Evan Brown, easily could have cost the Lions the game. Having said that, the Jets Defense is one of the best in the NFL, even without DT Quinnen Williams. Major props to the Jets for the way they battled to the end.
As much as I appreciate the progress and play of Aidan Hutchinson, it's evident that Jets CB Sauce Gardner deserves the Defensive Rookie of the Year award. The Lions didn't target him even once in coverage during the game! Even when the Jets and Patriots had Darrelle Revis, the Lions attempted passes to Calvin Johnson (not many though) against Revis. I can't recall a Lions game prior to this one when the Lions never attempted a pass to a receiver being covered by a starting CB, who played the entire game on Defense, or close to it. ****
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It never did find the end zone again -- not until they were facing fourth-and-short late in the fourth quarter. Wright did a great job selling the block, before leaking out for a short pass from Goff. The play design fooled the Jets so badly that there were no defenders around Wright as he ran half the length of the field for the go-ahead touchdown.
**** I recall the Bucs calling a successful similar play at the Silverdome against the Lions in the 1990 season opener, in which the Bucs pulled off an upset win. ****
Wright is a former undrafted free agent who has stepped into a larger role since the trade of T.J. Hockenson at the deadline. Head coach Dan Campbell said he believed the Lions could be even better without Hockenson because of the players who were ready to step up, and Wright was foremost among them.
And with their season on the brink, Wright delivered.
**** On the first play of what became the eventual game winning drive for the Lions, Brock Wright should have caught a pass in zone coverage, that would have been a first down. Wright more than made up for that prior play.****
Let’s get to some observations:
-- While the offense struggled to find the end zone, Kalif Raymond got there on his first touch on special teams, returning a punt 47 yards for a touchdown. As far as comeback stories go, his is pretty good. Raymond played his college ball at Holy Cross before cracking the league with Denver. Things didn’t work out there, so he moved on to the Jets in 2017. He botched two punts in his first game before fumbling another in his second game, and never played another snap for New York. He’s since become one of the most consistent punt returners in the league in Detroit, and has come up with some great catches off the bench too, including a couple of chain-movers on third down in recent weeks. He added another five catches for 53 yards against New York, although no play was bigger than that first punt return. That gave Detroit an early 7-0 lead, and proved even bigger once Detroit struggled to find the end zone until the final seconds.
**** When it comes to securing a Punt that Kalif Raymond intents to catch, he's been terrific in his two seasons with the Lions. Jamal Agnew was a more dynamic Punt Returner for the Lions. Raymond is much more reliable.
The 3rd Down and 7 reception by Kalif Raymond that set up 4th and 1, and the eventual game winning TD reception by Brock Wright, was a huge play in terms of the outcome of the game.****
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-- Ben Johnson said Jared Goff would have to develop chemistry with Jameson Williams before really unlocking Williams’ potential. Now we’re seeing what he meant. Williams blew past the defense against Minnesota, although Goff underthrew him so badly that Williams had to hang back to catch the football. And it didn’t matter, because he was so wide open. But in New York, it did matter. Williams blew past the defense again on his way to the end zone over the middle, but Goff underthrew the pass so badly that Williams had to wait up for it. That allowed the Jets to recover, and break up the pass. Detroit settled for a field goal, a huge difference in a game so close. It’s also something worth considering in the long-term quarterback conversation. Yes, Goff has played well enough this season to draw consideration for the gig. But the long ball has never been his strength, while they just burned draft picks to move up for a wicked-fast receiver best known for the long ball. Does Jared Goff’s strengths and weaknesses align with where this offense wants to go long term? It’s a question worth asking, especially with the Rams’ undoing giving Detroit another shot at a top-five draft pick.
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**** It's a legitimate question the Lions brass will need to address in the off-season. Overall, the physical limitations of Jared Goff, including his limited mobility, make the margin of error with Goff noticeably less than with Patrick Mahomes and Josh Allen, for example.****
-- James Houston has done it again, racking up a sack for the fourth straight game to start his career. He’s just the third player to achieve the feat since sacks became an official statistic in 1982, joining Terrell Suggs (2003) and Santana Dotson (1992). He now has five sacks this season, which trails only Aidan Hutchinson among all rookies despite not making his NFL debut until Thanksgiving. Houston was raw coming out of Jackson State, but the Lions were crazy about his unique pass-rushing style too. His bend is elite. Of course, you need to be able to do more than bend the edge to play at this level, and Houston became the only member of Detroit’s draft class to get cut coming out of training camp. Now, he’s one of the hottest pass rushers in the league. For more on Houston’s remarkable rise from obscurity, check out last week’s episode of the Dungeon of Doom podcast.
****James Houston is making everyone on the Lions Defense more effective in their play. Houston is becoming what Julian Okwara has shown flashes of but hasn't been healthy and consistent enough during his first 3 seasons with the Lions.****
-- Romeo Okwara added two sacks too, his first since dropping Lamar Jackson on Sept. 26, 2021. Then he blew out his Achilles a week later in Chicago, and didn’t play again until last week. On Sunday, he dropped Zach Wilson to blow up a series late in the second quarter before getting to him again on the final series of the game. With Charles Harris on injured reserve, Detroit’s pass rush has actually picked up momentum in recent weeks thanks to the arrival of James Houston and the continued progression of Aidan Hutchinson. If Okwara can join the party too, it would go a long way toward solidifying the Lions defense for the stretch run.
**** Roman Okwara did a great job on the sacks and on some other plays. This, by playing complimentary football, plus his effort was apparent.****
-- The defense held New York to 50 rushing yards on 22 carries, effectively forcing Zach Wilson to beat them through the air. Given the way Zach Wilson was playing, that seemed like a smart strategy. Easy to see why the Jets targeted him with the No. 2 overall pick last year, because the kid had a rocket attached to his right arm, and he’s mobile too. But then you watch him try to play football at the NFL level, and you understand why he was benched, too. He doesn’t even look in control, just throwing up balls for grabs. Look no further than the start of the third quarter, when Wilson floated one of the worst passes you’ll see all season up the left sideline. Jerry Jacobs picked it off easily before racing back the other way, setting up a field goal that broke a 10-all halftime tie. Moments later, Wilson skied another lollypop before getting hit. New York came down with it, but it was another roll of the dice. Backed up in their own territory, that’s just bad decision-making. No wonder Wilson is on thin ice in this town. And that’s saying nothing of his bizarre statements to the media, including saying he’s not part of the offensive problem in New York. Wilson finished 18 of 35 passing for 317 yards, two touchdowns and one interception.
**** The Jets are 7=1 when they rush for at least 90 yards and 0-6 in the games they haven't rushed for 90 yards. The Lions run Defense has been a team strength the last 3 games, including this one, and going back to the win at the Giants at MetLife Stadium.
The Lions losing contain on Zach Wilson on the 33 yard pass to Garrett Wilson changed the complexion of the game tremendously. It opened the door for the following play, another one the Lions didn't have contain. That contributed greatly to 40 yard TD pass to TE C.J. Uzomah, that tied the score following the successful PAT for the Jets. These types of plays are a major reason why I was concerned about the Lions facing Zach Wilson in this game. Wilson clearly has many facets of QB play the Jets need him to improve on. But the raw ability of Wilson is apparent. Whether he will pan out with the Jets as their long term starter at QB remains to be seen. ****
-- Guard Evan Brown made his return to the field after missing three games with an ankle injury, although it was one to forget. Brown was flagged for a holding penalty that wiped out an 11-yard touchdown run by Jamaal Williams. Then when D’Andre Swift made up almost all of that yardage to set up third-and-short near the goal line, Brown was flagged for holding once again -- and holding against a cornerback at that. There’s nothing about that sequence that was good, and the Lions had to settle for a go-ahead field goal that made it 10-7. That snapped an incredible streak of 19 straight touchdowns in goal-to-go situations.
**** This helps illustrate the rust often associated with a player, when coming off an injury that keeps a player out at least a few weeks. Thankfully, the Lions overcame the penalties as evidenced by the final score. To Evan Brown's credit, he did make many effective run and pass blocks in the game.****
-- Frank Ragnow was also flagged twice for holding, one of which came on a free play because New York jumped early on third down late in the game. So instead a fresh set of downs, the Lions had to tee up another third-down play. Goff never came close to connecting on a pass over the middle, and Detroit was forced to settle for a field-goal attempt -- which Michael Badgley didn’t come close to converting with 7:53 left.
**** This was the 2nd Holding penalty by Frank Ragnow in this game. The other also on a running play.
It looked like D'Andre Swift settled down between Defenders on the 3rd and 5 passing play, following the offsetting penalties. With, Jared Goff anticipating that Swift would continue running. Goff was under interior pressure when making that throw.
I thought it was a mistake for Dan Campbell to have the Lions attempt a 54 yard FG in that situation. I would have preferred a pooch Punt, with going for the 1st Down on 4th and 5 my second choice. The FG attempt was at the bottom of my preference list on that play. This decision could have cost the Lions the game. ****
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-- Safety DeShon Elliott left the game with a shoulder injury late in the third quarter, a big hit for the Lions defense. Elliott has really turned his season around, going from getting benched in New England to one of the best safeties in the league over the last month. He had a team-high six tackles at the time of his injury, one of which was for loss at New York’s own goal line. C.J. Moore, a special teams ace best known for moving the sticks on that big fake punt last week, took Elliott’s place alongside Kerby Joseph at safety.
**** Hopefully, the injury to DeShon Elliott isn't serious. The Lions next two opponents, the Panthers and Bears, are run oriented teams. ****
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This new thread is a continuation of the following thread:
Lions at Jets preview: Game # 14 ( 2022 )
detroit-lions-forum.proboards.com/thread/1629/lions-jets-preview-game-2022