3 Lions Stars of the game: Adrian Peterson scores a pair of TDs

The Detroit Lions lost at the hands of the Houston Texans, but this week’s 3 stars did their best to keep them in the game.

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With the Detroit Lions suffering yet another 41-25 blowout loss, this time at the hands of the Houston Texans, this season is about done as much a leftover turkey.

The offense was able to gain some traction early on, but the same story/ different game drove them down in a deep grave. Between the ill-timed turnovers and the frustrating conservative plays, it left everyone in the building and at home scratching their heads and wondering what exactly are they trying to accomplish.

Between Deshaun Watson and Will Fuller, the defense could not slow the Texans high powered passing offense and look totally unprepared. With the broken coverages and assignment misreads, they were able to punch the ball down the field with no issues. When you leave the best receiver on the field wide open, you know today is just not your day.

This may be the final nail in the coffin for this regime, and it’s not just a matter of if, but a matter of when they move on from these individuals who are driving the team.

There isn’t much good to take away from this game, but a few players did their best to keep the Lions in the game.

Here are this week’s LionsWire 3 stars of the week.

1st Star: Adrian Peterson

Peterson has been given a lot of grief for a while now this season due to his ineffectiveness and the emergence of D’Andre Swift, but today he was able to shoulder some of the burdens. He started the game slowly, but the Lions went to him as their power back, scoring two touchdowns in the first half and finishing the day with 55 yards with 3.7 yards per attempt.

Regrettably, the Lions were unable to take full advantage of a disastrous Texans run defense, but Peterson did his best to keep the Lions within striking distance. The Lions leaned on Peterson with five straight runs to get them in Houston territory to start off the second half but only saw three points out of the drive. Swift looks to be on the mend, so it will be interesting to see how the Lions will use Peterson going forward, especially if the Lions decide to go a different direction.

2nd Star: Kerryon Johnson

Johnson has been sitting patiently to get his chances this season, and this was by far his best game of the season, bringing into question why he isn’t getting more opportunities. While splitting snaps between Peterson and Jonathan Williams, he was able to contribute on the ground and in the air with 98 total scrimmage yards and continued to show off his pass blocking ability.

Johnson was able to fully take the next man up mentality, especially with the sheer amount of injuries surrounding the team. Even though Johnson coughed up the ball, Stafford continued to look his way to get the ball in his hands. Hopefully, the Lions liked what they saw for Johnson and continue to go his way. With the season going the way it is, why not see what the young man can do the rest of the way.

3rd Star: T.J. Hockenson

After being announced as the leading Pro Bowl vote-getter among tight ends, Hockenson continued to make his case why he should make his first Pro Bowl. With Danny Amendola missing his second straight game, Stafford found his favorite target five times for 89 yards and had his longest catch and this beautiful trick play.

Not only was his catching ability on display today, but he also had a perfect block that sealed the gap for Peterson to score on his second touchdown. It would be nice to see Hockenson find the endzone more often, but one has to be happy with how much progress the second-year tight end has made and looks to a building block for this organization.

Star standings after Week 12:

  • D’Andre Swift: 90 points
  • Kenny Golladay: 60 points
  • Jack Fox: 60 points
  • Adrian Peterson: 60 points
  • Matt Prater: 50 Points
  • T.J. Hockenson: 50 points
  • Jamie Collins Jr.: 40 points
  • Trey Flowers: 30 points
  • Matthew Stafford: 30 points
  • Marvin Jones Jr.: 30 points
  • Brayden Coombs: 30 points
  • Amani Oruwariye: 30 points
  • Tracy Walker: 20 points
  • Kerryon Johnson: 20 points
  • Jonah Jackson: 10 points
  • Romeo Okwara: 10 points
  • Desmond Trufant: 10 points
  • Everson Griffen: 10 points
  • John Penisini: 10 points

The Lions look to be in the middle of the crossroads and have some major decisions on the horizon. Going into this week, there was almost zero hope and excitement for the Lions against the Texans, and that is not a good thing to have, especially with the number of questions that need answering.

With a long week ahead for the Lions, they will have an ample amount of time to prepare for their division game against the Chicago Bears on the road. Now, who knows how this team will look by then, but hopefully, they come more prepared than they have been the last few weeks.