The Carolina Panthers will host the Detroit Lions on Sunday and should have a realistic chance to snap their five-game losing streak, even with a few key players out.
To learn more about this week’s opponents, we spoke with Jeff Risdon, managing editor of Lions Wire.
Matt Stafford led another game-winning drive against Washington last week. How much longer do you think he can keep playing at this level?
Stafford continues to be one of the NFL’s best at pulling off comeback wins and executing in the clutch. His overall level of play isn’t quite as sharp as his peak, but No. 9 remains an above-average starting quarterback with arguably the best arm in the league. He does need more help from his supporting cast than he often gets, however.
His thumb injury is a concern. The last time he played through an injury to his throwing hand was 2016, and the sprained finger that year clearly impacted his ability to zip the ball. The injuries are piling up with Stafford even though he’s still just 32.
The Lions are 13-27-1 with Matt Patricia as their head coach. How much of that record falls on Patricia as opposed to the rosters he’s had?
It’s tough to separate the two, in part because Patricia is largely responsible for assembling the rosters to his liking. He and GM Bob Quinn are a package deal of ex-Patriots and they’ve deliberately created the team to what it is right now. Having said that, Patricia has been a big disappointment with his coaching. All the blown leads and the bland scheming are on him.
Some Panthers fans were hoping CB Jeff Okudah would fall to them at No. 7. How has he looked so far?
Okudah has been up-and-down, as you would expect of a rookie cornerback. He has been tentative in man coverage too often and he doesn’t have the makeup speed to pull that off in the NFL. He is improving by the week, but still prone to some coverage hiccups. One area where he has thrived is run defense. He’s easily the best-tackling and most fundamentally sound and aggressive run defenders of a cornerback the Lions have had in eons already.
What about rookie RB D’Andre Swift?
Swift had his breakout game in Week 10 in the win over Washington. The Lions finally trusted him with the bulk of the carries instead of Swift sitting behind Adrian Peterson and he delivered with a huge game (16 carries, 81 yards). He gets north/south right away pretty well and Swift runs through bad tackles nicely. His receiving ability is all-or-nothing; he’s caught 31 passes and two TDs but also has dropped two other would-be TDs and his pass protection is terrible, to be kind.
Can you name an under-the-radar player we might not know about that could make an impact?
T.J. Hockenson isn’t exactly under-the-radar as a 2019 first-round pick, but he’s emerged as the Lions No. 1 receiver. He’s been outstanding in the red zone, an area where the Lions have struggled over the last few seasons. Digging deeper, DE Romeo Okwara is having a very good season at creating pressure. He doesn’t finish all that well (6 sacks) but he’s currently ranked fourth by PFF in pressure rate.
Predictions for Sunday?
As long as Stafford plays, the Lions should feel confident in this game. As confident as a 4-5 team that consistently blows leads can, anyway. I suspect the Panthers offense will find success with crossing routes and cutback runs, even sans McCaffrey. But the Lions should be able to outscore Carolina thanks in part to some exceptional special teams play in Detroit.
Lions 24, Panthers 21.
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