Post by D6 on Oct 26, 2020 1:54:46 GMT -5
www.mlive.com/lions/2020/10/quick-observations-lions-storm-back-for-wild-win-that-keeps-their-playoff-hopes-alive.html
Thoughts in ****
Quick observations: Lions storm back for buzzer-beating win that keeps t...
The Lions hit the road once again looking for a sweep on their two-game road trip.
Quick observations: Lions storm back for buzzer-beating win that keeps their playoff hopes alive
Updated Oct 25, 2020; Posted Oct 25, 2020
Week 7: Detroit Lions at Atlanta Falcons
By Kyle Meinke | kmeinke@mlive.com
ATLANTA -- Here we go again.
Go ahead, admit it. You thought it, didn’t you? And who could blame you after Detroit pushed ahead late in the fourth quarter of Sunday’s game against Atlanta, then watched the Falcons drive the football right back down their throats. Todd Gurley finished it off with a 10-yard touchdown run, and Atlanta converted the 2-point conversion for a 22-16 lead with 1:03 left.
And let’s be honest, with the way the Lions have finished games under Matt Patricia, it felt like this thing was over.
**** It felt like the game was over until the ball Todd Gurley was carrying crossed the goal line to give the Falcons with 1:04 remaining in the 4th QTR .The mistake by Gurley opened the door for the opportunity for the Lions to win the game. It was a major uphill battle for the Lions after Gurley scored the go ahead TD. But at least there was some flicker of light.
This game reminded me of a number of Lions games the team won in dramatic comeback fashion under Matthew Stafford from the 2009 to 2016 season. This was the first win along these lines in the Matt Patricia era. For me, this game makes up for the loss to the Bears in the season opener in terms of balancing the W-L ledger. Though it's fair to say that the Bears game has more weight because it was a divisional game.
****
Then Matthew Stafford hit four of his next five passes, including a 29-yard missile to Kenny Golladay that gave Detroit one shot from Atlanta’s 11-yard line with 2 seconds left. Stafford was under serious durress too, but rolled left to avoid the pressure and then found T.J. Hockenson sliding through the end zone for a touchdown that tied up the game 22-all.
**** Tremendous job by Matthew Stafford buying time for T.J. Hockenson to get open. ****
They still needed the point-after try to win the game, and after Danny Amendola ripped off his helmet in celebration, and drawing a mandatory unsportsmanlike conduct penalty for it, that attempt came from 48 yards. No gimme for Matt Prater, who had just missed from 47 yards late in the fourth quarter.
But this time Prater split the uprights, and ran off the field before the officials even announced why there was more yellow laundry on the field. No matter. It was an illegal formation by Atlanta, and Detroit had a 23-22 victory and its first winning streak since the opening month of last season.
**** Matt Prater bailed out Danny Amendola, who also had a critical 3rd Down drop in the 2nd QTR around midfield, when the Lions led 7-0 and dominating the game.Amendola did come through a couple of times in the game, including earlier on the eventual game winning drive. Yet, for a player as experienced as Amendola is, he shockingly had two enormous miscues. The removal of his helmet following the Hockenson TD reception never should have happened, regardless of the incredible Lions moment. ****
OK, so a two-game winning streak against a pair of one-win teams is nothing to write home about. Still, the Lions (3-3) have won three of their last four games, and have now climbed back to .500 as they fly home for a game against the Indianapolis Colts. If nothing else, they are about to play some relevant football in November.
**** This Falcons team is much more talented than a 1 win team. This was a Lions win against a team that easily could be 4-3. ****
They entered the day just 1.5 games out of the final wild-card spot in the NFC, and with a slew of winnable games remaining over the next month-and-a-half, remain very much alive despite how ugly things have sometimes been.
**** The Lions need to have a strong November, as the December schedule for the Lions is against 4 teams currently with a combined 20-5 record. ****
Here are some more instant observations from the wild win:
-- T.J. Hockenson’s game-winning touchdown catch was nice, and the throw was even better, but neither happen without the continued exploits of Kenny Golladay. The Lions were still at their own 40-yard line with 20 seconds left when Golladay caught that 29-yard pass in heavy traffic. If he doesn’t come up with the football, Detroit is probably staring down the barrel of a couple Hail Marys. Instead, the Lions had just enough time to spike the football -- 2 seconds to be exact -- and then get off one final play. Give Stafford and Hockenson immense credit for their freelancing touchdown, but none of it happens if Golladay isn’t playing for Detroit. So, I don’t know, maybe Detroit should consider paying the man already?
**** Kenny Golladay made a great catch despite what looked like obvious pass interference not called on S Keanu Neal. I'm not sure why the ball was spotted at the Falcons 11 yd line, instead of the Falcons 8 yd line. Galladay made an earlier 2nd half catch in between two defenders that was even more impressive. He somehow held on to the ball despite being drilled by Neal ( clean hit ). Galladay is someone the Lions must retain over the next few seasons. He's definitely a Pro Bowl Caliber WR. A differential weapon!
I thought the sideline pass that Galladay was ruled out of bounds to begin the eventual winning drive should have been reviewed by the NFL. It looked like Galladay might have caught the ball inbounds. ****
****
Yes, I know Matt Patricia wants to win with dominating defense and a ball-control offense. But for all the gains we’ve seen in Detroit’s running game, this is still very much a team built around the pass. And we already saw what this offense looks like without him in the first two games of the season. Hint: It wasn’t pretty. Since his return, he’s been doing stuff like in the clip below -- which came on a third-and-13 no less, and led to a field goal that closed Detroit to within 14-13 in the third quarter. Then Golladay added that huge 29-yard catch over the middle, and finished with six catches for 114 yards overall. Detroit should have pen and paper waiting for him at his locker after the game. Just get it done.
**** The 3rd and 13 play was the one I was referring to as the even more impressive catch from a difficulty standpoint. ****
-- Give Romeo Okwara a lot of credit. The defensive end has quietly played well this season, and came up with two more huge sacks in his one. The last one was especially big, a sack-strip that gave the Lions the ball right back after Matt Prater had missed a go-ahead field goal late in the fourth quarter. Prater wound up making the mulligan on the ensuing drive. Detroit’s pass rush hasn’t been very good this season, but Okwara has been getting hot and now has five sacks in six games.
**** The Lions pass rush was the Lions greatest problem area in this game. This, even factoring in Romeo Okwara having the two sacks and Trey Flowers having a key pressure on the 3rd Down and 12 play that led to a 7 yd completion to Calvin Ridley. The Falcons then went for the 1st Down on 4th and 5. Trey Flowers dropped back into coverage and made a deflection that caused an incomplete pass. ****
-- The Lions went for it on fourth-and-2 from Atlanta’s 3-yard line in the second quarter, a refreshingly bold decision from a coach who has caught flak for playing too safe over the years (and deservedly so). But the playcall itself was a bit of an oddity, with Adrian Peterson getting the call over D’Andre Swift. That’s tough to figure out. Swift ran better last week, and ran better this week too. Sure enough, Peterson came up short, and the Falcons proceeded to drive 98 yards the other way for a touchdown that gave them their first lead, 14-7, just 29 seconds before halftime.
**** A solid case can be made that D'Andre Swift should be the Lions primary short yardage situation RB because defenders have to be much more aware that Swift is very capable of bouncing the run outside. It's easier to key on Adrian Peterson because he has limited outside running ability at this stage of his career. ****
Swift, the 35th overall pick in the draft, is the future of the Lions' backfield. He’s also been good enough to be the present. He’s been especially good inside the 5-yard line, scoring twice on four attempts. So why do the Lions keep turning to a 35-year-old instead? Stop screwing around and feed him the football.
**** D'Andre Swift has tremendous instincts inside the 5 yd line. ****
Swift did add a touchdown later on, his third straight game finding the end zone. The last Lions rookie to do that: Mikel Leshoure in 2012, almost a decade ago.
**** I hope D'Andre Swift is much more fortunate regarding injuries than Mikel Leshoure, as well as Jahvid Best, Kevin Smith, Kevin Jones, and James Stewart. ****
-- Trey Flowers didn’t start and had a reduced workload, perhaps due to the wrist injury that limited him in practice last week. But that didn’t stop him from making one of the biggest plays in the game for Detroit. Atlanta was going for it on fourth-and-short while nursing a one-point lead in the fourth quarter, and Cory Undlin dialed up a zone blitz that got to Matt Ryan quick. The veteran QB had to unload the ball, and just didn’t expect to see Flowers dropping into zone coverage in the flat. Flowers batted away the football for a big-time stop.
**** It was a great play by Trey Flowers. But Matt Patricia and Cory Undlin both deserve huge props for the Defensive Play Call.
-- The Lions started the same offensive line for a third straight week: Taylor Decker, Jonah Jackson, Frank Ragnow, Halapoulivaati Vaitai and Tyrell Crosby. And why not? Those guys have been playing really well, and played really well again in Atlanta.
**** Except on a couple of blitzes that resulted in sacks ( one could well have been because of D'Andre Swift not executing on the blitz pickup ), the protection was good enough on the overwhelming majority of other plays ( maybe all other plays ) for a pass to be completed. The run blocking wasn't as good but there were plenty of positives in that facet of play. ****
-- How good has punter Jack Fox been? Consider this: Sam Martin used to be the only player in Lions history to hit multiple 67-yard punts in his career. Now Jack Fox has done it in just six games, adding another 67-yarder in Atlanta. That punt went so far that Lions cover guys bought returner Brandon Powell faking the fair catch signal, and had no idea ball would bounce near goal line. The ball bounded into the end for a touchback, which is too bad considering how good of a punt it was. Fox averaged 59 yards on three attempts for the day, which, yeah, is pretty good.
**** Jack Fox is a much more consistent version of the strong legged Sam Martin. ****
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-- Don Muhlbach played in his 250th career game, moving him into a tie with Eddie Murray (yes, that Eddie Murray) for 47th on the NFL’s all-time list.
**** Congrats to Don Muhlbach on another milestone accomplishment! ****
-- Atlanta allowed a small, socially distanced crowd to watch the game. The announced attendance was 7,796.
**** More and more teams are able to let a limited number of fans attend NFL games. So far, the Lions don't have that opportunity at Ford Field. ****
.....
This new thread is a continuation of the following thread:
Lions at. Falcons preview: Game # 6 ( 2020 )
detroit-lions-forum.proboards.com/thread/793/lions-falcons-preview-game-2020
