Detroit Lions pivotal plays of the game: Turnovers and penalties bury Lions

The Detroit Lions drop their fourth loss against the Indianapolis Colts at their own hands with turnovers and penalties.

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The Detroit Lions were handed their fourth loss of the season after dropping an ugly one against the Indianapolis Colts, with a final score of 41-21.

The Lions looked completely out of sync the entire game. The offense couldn’t sustain drives and the defense couldn’t get off the field. The run defense looked good early but took a step back late allowing 119 yards. On the offensive side of the ball, they completely abandoned the run after finding little success, gaining only 29 yards the entire game. They also allowed five sacks.

It was hard to say when the rails completely fell off in this game, but there are quite a few ill-timed penalties and turnovers that led to the Lions’ demise this week.

Let’s start with the first penalty that set them back. With the game was tied 7-7, the Lions were about to force the Colts to punt after a Danny Shelton sack. The Lions were called for an unnecessary roughness penalty on Shelton. The penalty gave the Colts an automatic first down, and two plays later, the Colts scored a touchdown.

The second penalty came against Tony McRae after he made contact with the returner, who had signaled for a fair catch. It looked like he was pushed into the returner, but the refs upheld the penalty. Instead of the Colts starting at their own 37, the penalty pushed them to the Lions 48 yard line. The Colts took advantage of the extra yards and went on to score pushing their lead to 20-7.

A Matt Prater missed field goal kept it a 13 point difference at the half.

After coming out in the third quarter and bringing the game to one score, the Lions were able to muster much-needed stops on defense, and the offense was looking like they were finding their stride.

Then the Lions gave up their first fumble of the season.

On the Lions’ third drive of the second half, they were deep in the Colts zone, threatening to score to try to take the lead, when the Colts star linebacker Darius Leonard found a hole and ripped the ball out of Stafford’s grip, forcing the turnover.

The fumble was starting to be a distant memory when the Lions forced the Colts into a 3rd and 14 to go situation. Philip Rivers heaves a deep pass in Justin Coleman’s direction, but Coleman was called for passer interference. A few plays later, the Colts scored again — then added a two-point conversion — driving the score up 28-14.

To put the final dagger in the heart, the Lions’ next drive ended as quick as it began after Stafford threw one the easiest interceptions Kenny Moore will ever see. Moore took it to the endzone and at that point, the game was signed, sealed, and delivered for the Colts.

From start to finish, the Lions offense was in all sorts of disarray. Stafford was under constant pressure, and the rushing attack was halted in their place. The defense looked like the group at the beginning of the season and had no answer for the Colts offense.

The Lions will head to Minnesota next week to face their division rivals, who are riding high after they upset the Packers 28-22. If the Lions want any hope to stay relevant this season, they need to find a way to chisel out a win against the Vikings.