The Detroit Lions were favored to beat the Tennessee Titans in Week 8 by the team’s largest margin since 1996. The 11.5-point line proved to be woefully inadequate.
The mighty Lions roared past the hapless Titans, 52-14, in a game that wasn’t competitive after the middle of the second quarter. After a strong start by the Tennessee offense caught the Detroit defense sleepwalking a little in the earlygoing, the Lions completely dominated all phases of the game. A 14-14 tie early in the second quarter morphed into a 35-14 rout at halftime.
Two quick Kalif Raymond touchdowns after the half, one on a punt return and another on a reception from Jared Goff, quickly opened up the margin even more. Garbage time saw the Lions tack on a Jake Bates 51-yard field goal to complete the scoring.
The Lions scored 52 points despite gaining just 225 net yards of offense; Detroit ran just 47 offensive plays. They didn’t need more, thanks to four defensive takeaways and three long special teams returns continually set up the Lions offense with short fields. Tennessee’s defense was competitive early but couldn’t keep up with the Lions’ bevy of offensive weapons and great field position.
With the win, the Lions improve to 6-1. Tennessee drops to 1-6.