I’m now a quarter of the way through my 2019 Detroit Lions rewatch project. Going back to review every snap of every game with both the broadcast and All-22 feeds from NFL Game Pass, I’m hoping to get a clearer picture of who did what for Detroit in the 2019 season.
The individual game breakdowns are here:
Through the first four games, here’s what I’ve learned. These are general observations spanning the four games, not necessarily indicative of what happened in one individual game performance.
Matthew Stafford
The QB has been mostly good, occasionally great and sporadically off target. Stafford is consistently at his best in the fourth quarter. There is a tangible difference in urgency with Stafford in these games when he’s playing with a lead versus needing to make a play in the clutch, and he’s much more consistently effective in the latter.
Offensive line
Outside of two notable plays, Taylor Decker has been solid at left tackle, particularly given the context of playing with a back injury that sidelined him in Week 2. Outside of facing Chris Jones of the Chiefs, center Frank Ragnow has been the Lions’ best player on offense.
I now have a better understanding of why coach Matt Patricia is a believer in the rotation at guard. It worked, by and large. I’ve been more impressed with Kenny Wiggins than I remember back in real-time, and less so with Graham Glasgow–especially in the passing game. Wiggins has shown more mobility and quickness to engage at second-level targets through the first four weeks, too. Joe Dahl is wildly inconsistent but tended to play better with Wiggins on the field, though that could definitely be a coincidence.
Rick Wagner’s play at right tackle has declined every week. Teams are figuring out how to attack him and he hasn’t been able to respond well. Tyrell Crosby’s game replacing Decker at left tackle was an unmitigated disaster.
Running game
Kerryon Johnson had the best rushing game of his career in Week 4, aggressively slicing through the Eagles. But in Week 1 he couldn’t find the holes and ran tentatively. It’s a microcosm of why the Lions still value him so much but also spent considerable resources to draft D’Andre Swift.
The sprinkling of J.D. McKissic on gadget plays has been refreshing. Ty Johnson got more work than I recalled and proved he could handle himself in the passing game. Nick Bawden at fullback has by and large been a massive disappointment as a lead blocker.
Receivers/TEs
Marvin Jones is the straw that stirs the drink thus far. When Stafford needs a hit, he invariably looks to No. 11. He’s outplayed his statistical impact. The opposite is true of Kenny Golladay. The TD receptions have been great, but his complete inability to separate from CBs that proved over the course of the season to be largely dreadful is very disturbing. He did play his best against the Chiefs in Week 4 and working the middle of the field more, which is encouraging.
T.J. Hockenson came out with a bang in Week 1 and also was a major receiving asset in Week 4. In between he was invisible as a target. His blocking is high-effort but low effectiveness. Defenses do definitely react to his presence though.
Outside of an impressive Week 2 against the Chargers, Jesse James has been brutal. He’s not an assertive or strong blocker and has no vitality whatsoever as a receiver.
Marvin Hall had a nice game in Week 4 replacing Danny Amendola’s snaps as the No. 3 receiver. His speed lifted the safety off helping on Jones/Golladay. Amendola and Stafford were developing better chemistry through the first three games before Amendola got hurt. Amendola’s blocking tenacity stood out more than it did back during the season to me.
Defensive line
A’Shawn Robinson has been the most consistent of the rotating cast along the defensive front. He played very well against the Chargers. There is a definite point of diminishing returns with his snap count, something that’s also readily evident with Damon Harrison.
“Snacks” has not played well in any game. When the Lions use a straight 3-man DL, Harrison is adequate. In the 4-man or 2-man fronts, he’s woefully miscast and asked to do too much.
Trey Flowers is progressing by the week. There is little complexity to his game but he’s very good at what he does, working the outside in with power and then quickness. He was very good against the mobile QBs on the docket at playing contain and stifling keeper opportunities. What really stood out was his ability to contain rush Wentz and Mahomes, getting pressure while also not ceding a clear escape path.
The rest of the line has been largely irrelevant. I know Mike Daniels, Kevin Strong and Romeo Okwara have played a lot but they’re all losing more reps than they’re winning. Okwara had two great series vs. the Eagles in Week 3 as a saving grace.
LBs
One of my strongest takeaways is how much better Christian Jones played than I noticed in the fall. He’s been very effective and versatile. Like Flowers, a lot of what he does really well doesn’t show in the stat sheet through these four games. It’s now much easier to digest why the Lions gave him a contract extension midseason.
Devon Kennard has no creativity. He’s a very smart player though and that football IQ keeps showing up. Really the entire defensive front 6/7 shows a low level of schematic creativity and the in-play dynamics keep getting more vanilla by the week. Kennard’s run defense, outside of a couple of bad reps, has been strong.
Jarrad Davis missed the first two games. That allowed for trial by fire for Jahlani Tavai, who acquitted himself nicely as a pass rusher but thus far looks limited to being in the box and needs to work on shedding blocks. Davis probably should have kept sitting based on how he’s played thus far. He’s had a bullseye on his No. 40 jersey in coverage in both games, and rightfully so from an enemy perspective.
Secondary
I’ve been very excited to study Tracy Walker more and the excitement was justified. He’s been the best player on the defense outside of Flowers, notably when he’s playing as an extra LB or marking a flexed TE in man coverage. His coverage work against Kelce in Week 4 was very impressive.
It has not been a good start for Darius Slay. Philip Rivers picked on the Pro Bowl CB mercilessly and it worked. Slay did get his “Big Play” in the end to salvage an otherwise awful first two games by his standards. He was clearly bothered by injury in Week 3 and sat out Week 4.
Justin Coleman has played well all-around. His run support has been dynamic if not always effective. Rashaan Melvin looked good in Week 1 but has fallen off in coverage. Like Coleman, he’s much more integrally active in run defense than expected.
It’s hard to recall Tavon Wilson doing much in any of the games other than finishing off a lot of clean-up tackles. Quandre Diggs has wildly missed a couple of crucial tackles, but thus far his coverage range and diagnostic skills remain strong. Will Harris was woefully in over his head as the single-high safety against the Chiefs in his first extended duty. His lack of instincts, or perhaps confidence in his reads, was egregious. Prior to that, he’d performed capably in spot duty for a rookie.
Special teams
So many errors punctuate the first quarter of the season. Outside of Sam Martin being exceptional on directional punts and kickoffs, and the punt/kick coverage units led by Jalen Reeves-Maybin and Dee Virgin, it’s been a nightmare. Matt Prater has been shaky. Don Muhlbach hasn’t been perfect with his snaps. Blocking has been inadequate on placekicks and punts.
Jamal Agnew is in the midst of a maddening early campaign. He’s the direct culprit for why the Lions did not win in Week 1 and Agnew got bailed out from another massive, game-altering error in Week 2 thanks to a Chargers penalty. Yet they don’t beat the Eagles in Week 3 without his opening kickoff TD.
Coaching
As the offense gets more comfortable under new coordinator Darrell Bevell, it’s getting exciting. Bevell’s plan of attack is growing more suited to Stafford and Kerryon Johnson by the week. It’s creative, it’s balanced and it’s doing a great job keeping the opposing defenses off-balance overall.
The defense is going in the opposite direction. One of my biggest takeaways is that the success the team had in dropping eight into coverage against the Eagles in Week 3 was a devastating false-positive outcome. It worked for a half against Mahomes and the Chiefs but they figured it out. While I haven’t rewatched beyond these games yet, I absolutely see the snowball rolling down the mountain of futility that’s coming.