The Silver (and Blue) Lining: 3 positive takeaways from the Lions loss to Dallas

The Detroit Lions losing streak continues but it’s not all negative. Here are three positive takeaways from the latest game.

It’s only fitting that the second Silver (and Blue) Lining comes on the heels of another Detroit Lions loss, par for the course, I suppose. Nonetheless, in what turned out to be an entertaining game to watch, it’s never fun to be on the losing side.

Here are three positive takeaways from the Lions 35-27 loss against the Dallas Cowboys to ease the pain.

The offense can put up points

In what has become the norm for this season, the Lions put up a lot of points, only to fall short.

Jeff Driskel looked much more comfortable taking snaps under center this week, contributing two passing touchdowns along with one on the ground, on his way to winning the Lions Wire Week 11 player fo the game award.

The Lions are averaging 24.4 points per game this season, with a total of 244 points. To add some perspective to the scoring totals, the Lions are the sixth-highest scoring team in the league and the only one with a losing record.

Overall, the offensive play calling is working, albeit sometimes head-scratching. The Lions have had a rotation of running backs throughout the season, Matthew Stafford is currently out, Danny Amendola and TJ Hockenson have missed games, and the Lions offense has shown the versatility of a team that should be a perennial playoff contender. Not to mention that wide receivers Kenny Golladay and Marvin Jones are tied with a league-leading eight touchdowns — each!

Defensive line held up against Ezekiel Elliott

The Cowboys star running back, Ezekiel Elliott could not get the motor going in Detroit. The blueprint was to stop Elliott first, and Dak Prescott second — but the Lions defense never switched out of that first gear.

Elliot finished the day with only 45 yards on the ground on 16 carries, for an average of only 2.8 yards per carry. Since Mike Daniels has returned, the Lions defensive line has been able to find some success stopping the run against both the Chicago Bears and Cowboys. If the defensive line can stay healthy, their opponents will continue to struggle on the ground.

Oh, you didn’t Bo? Scarbrough looked good in debut

On Saturday, the Lions promoted Bo Scarbrough to the active roster to try to get something going on the ground. Scarbrough not only started the game in the backfield for the Lions, but he also led the team in yards with 55.

On the Lions’ first offensive drive, Scarbrough scored his first career touchdown with a five-yard run, right up the middle. The former Cowboys seventh-round draft pick showed that he posses something that the Lions desperately need — power running.

The ability to lower the shoulder pads and break tackles is something the Lions have missed since Kerryon Johnson was put on injured reserve. Scarbrough will look to improve on his 14 carries for 55 yards in week 12 against a Washington Redskins defense that has allowed an average of 136 rushing yards per game.

Dak Prescott’s postgame comments expose Matt Patricia’s defensive plan

Prescott was praising his OL but his words highlight the epic failure of Matt Patricia’s defensive plan and execution

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In his postgame press conference following Dallas’ win over the Detroit Lions in Ford Field, Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott drove a dagger right into the heart of Lions coach Matt Patricia. Prescott’s opening statement gave a lot of credit to his offensive line, but it also illustrates the epic failure that is the Detroit Lions pass rush in 2019.

“Our offensive line did a great job giving me some time,” Prescott said. “I had time to go through the progressions once, and a couple of times to go through them again to find the open guy.”

The Lions sacked Prescott just once. He completed 29 of his 46 pass attempts for 444 yards and three TDs, racking up a QB Rating of 116.6 against Patricia’s defense.

Believe it or not, that’s actually an improvement in the Lions pass defense. Prescott’s 444 yards and three TDs without a turnover wound up producing the lowest QB Rating the Detroit defense has allowed since Week 6.

The Lions don’t have a single interception since that game in Week 6, when Justin Coleman picked off Aaron Rodgers. A lot of that stems from the complete failure to generate pressure on the quarterback. Sunday’s loss to Dallas was no exception.

Prescott was officially hit on six of his 47 dropbacks, per the NFL’s initial gamebook. That’s the latest chapter in the horror story that has been the complete and utter failure of Patricia’s defense to prevent the opposing quarterback from picking apart the secondary and linebackers in coverage because there is no pressure from the front. Detroit remains dead last in blitz percentage, too.

Prescott was praising his offensive linemen and wasn’t intentionally dissing the Lions, but his words only go to serve as a further indictment of Patricia’s failure as a defensive mastermind.

 

Lions Week 11 player of the game: Jeff Driskel

In his second start for the Detroit Lions, quarterback Jeff Driskel has earned himself Lions Wire player of the game honors in the Lions 35-27 loss to the Dallas Cowboys.

In his second start for the Detroit Lions, quarterback Jeff Driskel has earned himself Lions Wire player of the game honors in the Lions 35-27 loss to the Dallas Cowboys.

Despite the final outcome, there were a few honorable mentions with recently called-up running back Bo Scarbrough putting up 55 yards and a score in his NFL debut, and J.D. McKissic making several plays to help the Lions move the chains, in what really turned out to be a high volume game in terms of scoring.

Driskel was under pressure all game and got sacked three times, however, he had no turnovers. Driskel showed poise while being under fire from the Cowboys defensive line and put together another nice day on the ground with 51 yards on eight rushes — including a two-yard touchdown in the second quarter (video below).

In the air, Driskel completed 15 of 26 passing attempts for 209 yards and two more touchdowns, giving him three touchdowns in total for the game. He connected with Kenny Golladay late in the fourth quarter on a deep 39 yard completion.

Congratulations to Driskel on earning the player of the game in only his second start for the Lions!

Studs and duds from the Lions’ 35-27 loss to the Cowboys

Who played well and who did not in the Lions’ loss to the Cowboys

“Well, at least they made a game out of it” is quickly becoming the title of the 2019 Lions season.

The Lions played basically the same exact game they have nine other times this season and the outcome was the same as it has been six of the last seven; another loss. This slide has taken its toll on everyone, and it’s a big bag of yuck right now. Fans – justifiably, aren’t interested in watching the same thing week by week, and it’s already time to start looking towards the NFL draft, something fans of this team know all too well.

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Here are the studs and dud of the loss.

Stud: Bo Scarbrough

At this point in the season, with the Lions season slipping away week by week, all you can do is look for small victories or reasons to smile. Bo Scarbrough getting his first work in the NFL and scoring on his 3rd touch was the highlight of the loss.

Scarbrough has had horrific luck with injuries throughout his life dating back to his high school days, which was the main reason he was available to sign with the Lions deep into the season. He finished with 12 rushes for 55 yards and a touchdown. Had the Lions not been playing from behind so much, could have had much more.

Dud: Justin Coleman

Coleman – like the rest of the defense – has hit a wall the past few weeks. Whether it was Randall Cobb, Michael Gallup or Tony Pollard out of the backfield, Coleman couldn’t handle it. He fell down on one long pass and was turned around on the very next play. When he was creating turnovers early on in the season, it was easier to forgive his mistakes in coverage. Now that he’s not creating those, it’s becoming tougher to justify his price tag.

Stud: Jeff Driskel

If this Lions defense – high priced and highly drafted across the board – could stop anyone, we would be talking more about how good Jeff Driskel has looked in relief of Matthew Stafford these past few weeks.

Driskel’s numbers aren’t eye-popping, but he’s taken care of the football and led some solid drives over the past two starts. His pocket presence leaves a lot to be desired, much like every backup quarterback in the league, but his mobility and football IQ has been on display. He finished with 260 total yards and two touchdowns with zero turnovers. It’s another solid performance from the backup. He’s not been the reason behind the two losses.

Dud: Matt Patricia

While shockingly the Lions stopped the run better than anyone could’ve expected, the rest of the gameplan on defense was in shambles…as it has been since Week 4. And there’s no one else to blame higher than Patricia. This is his defense. He and Bob Quinn built it. And it’s bad.

You can blame injuries, but they’ve been just about league average overall. You can blame Paul Pasqualoni, but it’s clear he’s just the guy taking orders from the head coach. After the opening drive-forced fumble and subsequent three-and-out, the Cowboys drives look like this: field goal, touchdown, punt, touchdown, touchdown, field goal, touchdown, punt. They *averaged* 61 yards per drive. Dak Prescott threw for 444 yards.

This is on the head coach. And it’s getting worse by the week.

Stud: Darius Slay

People are going to remember his two near interceptions and point to this as a rare letdown from Slay, but he had three PBU’s and, if not for a great play by Tavon Austin, could’ve had his second interception of the year. He and Trey Flowers are the only two players on defense that are having a good year.

Dud: Home “support”

First off, I don’t blame anyone for not showing up to Lions games anymore. I’ve been as critical of this team and coaching staff as anyone, and if fans don’t want to spend their hard-earned money watching this team give up back-breaking drives at an alarming clip or see countless penalties and moronic lapses in judgment every other play then I don’t blame them. Go see a movie with your family, shovel your driveway, read a book or enjoy a great album. Frankly, it’s outrageous that many fans came out today anyway. They don’t deserve the support.

But, it doesn’t change the fact that this basically wasn’t a home game for the players. There were more “let’s go Cowboys” chants than I’d like to admit and every touchdown the Cowboys scored just made them louder.

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Again, I don’t blame the fans one iota. It’s on the players and coaching staff to win games so that people want to watch their team. And the Lions aren’t fun to watch anymore. They were earlier in the season, sure! But week by week, the same problems arise and nothing is being fixed. I don’t know where the team goes from here, but something needs to change.

Lions fight hard, stay close but fall to Cowboys

Detroit is too good to be bad but not good enough to be good in 2019. 

Stop me if you’re heard this one before. The Detroit Lions grab a lead early, play just well enough to stick close to the opponent, but cannot make enough plays on their own or prevent the opponent from making them, and ultimately lose a close game.

That’s what happened in Ford Field in Week 11. Detroit fell at home to the Cowboys, 35-27, with a strong partisan tint for the visitors in the stands.

It’s what happens most every week to Matt Patricia’s Lions. Detroit is 3-6-1. They’ve held a lead in every single game. Only one, a loss to Minnesota, saw them fall by more than one possession.

This one was especially painful. There were opportunities for the Lions to make the plays that would have secured a victory. Mike Daniels just missing a sack. Darius Slay just missing an interception (twice). Jamal Agnew just missing one more cut into wide open space on a punt return. Jeff Driskel just missing the vision to see a running path to a first down.

The Lions couldn’t execute the plays that were there to be made. Dallas missed several too, but not when they needed them most. Ezekiel Elliott’s fantastic catch-and-run on a well-defended screen to score a touchdown is one example. Randall Cobb hanging on to a TD reception, even after Will Harris went helmet-to-helmet on him, is another. The Cowboys simply made more plays.

That’s why Dallas is well in the NFC playoff mix and the Lions are going to need some help to get out of the NFC North cellar. Detroit is too good to be bad but not good enough to be good.

Wide receivers have been a silver lining for the Lions

Detroit Lions wide receivers have the most receiving yards over the last four weeks of any NFL team by a wide margin

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The wins have been tough to come by for the Detroit Lions lately. Don’t blame the wide receivers.

Detroit’s wideouts have been doing an amazing job all season. However, it’s in the last month where Kenny Golladay, Marvin Jones and company have really thrived.

In fact, no group of wide receivers has caught passes for more yards over the last four games than the Lions wideouts. Detroit is the only team to have its receivers top 1,000 yards.

The Lions are way out in front of the pack. Second-place Kansas City is over 160 yards behind, while the Giants are in fifth place with 335 fewer receiving yards by wideouts.

Graphic courtesy NFL Inside Edge

Jones, Golladay and Danny Amendola have each racked up at least one game over 100 receiving yards and another game with at least 90. Marvin Hall is the only other Lions WR to even see a target in that time, with two receptions for 96 yards since Week 7.

The Silver (and Blue) Lining: 3 positive takeaways from a loss in Chicago

Introducing the Silver (and Blue) Lining, where we at Lions Wire identify three positive takeaways from the Detroit Lions most recent game.

A Week 10 battle in the Windy City saw the Detroit Lions fall to the Chicago Bears, returning to the Motor City with a 3-5-1 record.

As Lions fans, we tend to get down on our team a lot easier than a lot of other teams do — we are starving for success in Detroit, I get it — but there are positives you can take away from every game.

Thus I bring you, the first-ever Silver, with a hint of Honolulu Blue, Lining.

Jeff Driskel looked good

This bullet point was pegged even before we found out that Driskel was only made aware of him being called on to start at quarterback the morning before the game. Once word came out on the short notice, I wanted to put an exclamation point on the heading.

A few bad passes and an interception wasn’t enough to sour the day Driskel had. I kept wondering why they wouldn’t let him loose and throw the ball downfield and see what the Lions had with their backup. For much of the game, it appeared as if Driskel was told to play it safe, rather than try to move the ball downfield and air it out. On one of the plays where Driskel took a shot, he connected with Kenny Golladay for a 48-yard touchdown.

Driskel can also move, the Lions ran several read options in which he was able to scramble and he moved the ball very well. When the game ended, Jeff Driskel was the top rusher of the day for the Lions, with 37 yards.

With Matthew Stafford listed as day-to-day, Driskel could see the field more this season and if he gets reps, the Lions have a very formidable backup quarterback, not to mention he has Stafford to give him advice.

The defensive line played well

The Detroit Lions defensive line tallied five sacks in the game, on a day where Mike Daniels made his return to the active roster. Trey Flowers led the way for the Lions on defense, and showed the reasons why he was brought to Detroit.

Bears running back David Montgomery rushed for 67 yards, but was held to 3.5 yards per carry. If the Lions defensive line can continue this type of play, this should help the struggling secondary turn things around.

Marvin Jones continues his tremendous season

Five catches for 77 yards on six targets is how Jones finished the day. Are those the flashy numbers? No. Are they are solid numbers? Yes. Just like most of his catches have been this season, they came with a moving of the chains for the Lions offense.

Jones, has just one dropped pass this season to go along with 47 receptions and 612 yards with an average yard per reception of 13.0 and six trips to the end zone. If Driskel continues to play this season and needs a security blanket — 13 yards per catch will keep you nice and cozy.

PFF Week 10 TOTW: Taylor Decker is NFL’s best LT in consecutive weeks

Pro Football Focus released their Week 10 Team of the Week and the Detroit Lions Taylor Decker repeats as the top left tackle in NFL.

The Detroit Lions were without Matthew Stafford in Week 10, turning to Jeff Driskel in Chicago. One of the main reasons Driskel had time to put together a solid outing was because of the performance of left tackle Taylor Decker.

Decker had a terrific outing in pass protection and gave the young quarterback plenty of opportunities to sit comfortably in the pocket and examine the field.

Decker’s performance didn’t go unnoticed and Pro Football Focus (PFF) named him as the week’s top left tackle in the NFL, placing him on their Week 10 Team of the Week. This is the second week in a row that Decker has been recognized by PFF on their TOTW.

“Decker earned a 74.3 overall grade and an 82.9 pass-blocking grade against Chicago on Sunday,” PFF’s Austin Gayle said, “allowing zero total pressures across 59 pass-blocking snaps in the process.”

Zero total pressures are a surefire way to help settle a young quarterback and Decker did all he could.

While Decker was the Lions’ highest-graded player on offense by PFF, Jarrad Davis was the team’s highest-graded defender.

Davis accomplished this by producing one of the best games of his career, on his lowest snap counts of the season. It appeared the Lions took some responsibilities off Davis’ plate — rookie Jahlani Tavai was relaying the defensive calls at times — and let him focus on just playing football and it paid dividends.

Lions week 10 snap counts: Jarrad Davis thrives on lower snap counts

Detroit Lions Week 10 snap counts observations include Jarrad Davis’ having his best game of the year in a game where he saw his lowest snap counts of the season.

When examining the Detroit Lions (3-5-1) snap counts from Week 10, one glaring thing stood out: Jarrad Davis’ had his best game of the year in a game where he saw his lowest snap counts of the season.

That and more takeaways from this week’s snap counts below:

No Matthew Stafford means it’s Jeff Driskel time

Jeff Driskel — 83, 100-percent

With Stafford’s status moving forward very much in question, we may see a lot more of Driskel in the near future.

Guard rotation declines, Tyrell Crosby steps up

LT Taylor Decker — 83, 100-percent
LG Joe Dahl — 75, 90-percent
C Frank Ragnow — 83, 100-percent
RG Graham Glasgow — 79, 95-percent
RT Rick Wagner — 28, 34-percent
RT Tyrell Crosby — 56, 67-percent
OG Kenny Wiggins — 15, 18-percent

Wiggins saw one series filling in for Glasgow and one for Dahl, down from the two series he had seen in previous weeks.

Crosby took over for Wagner when he left the game due to a concussion and Crosby will likely hold down this position as Wagner moves through the NFL protocol.

The Lions continued to use six offensive linemen sets — four times in this game — beginning with Crosby in his typical role. But when Crosby was needed to take over at right tackle, Wiggins took over this role for the final three snaps.

Ty Johnson’s exit forces J.D. McKissic into the spotlight

J.D. McKissic — 58, 70-percent
Paul Perkins — 15, 18-percent
Ty Johnson — 12, 14-percent
Nick Bawden — 11, 13-percent

Depending on the severity of Johnson’s concussion, we could see a roster move at the position sometime this week. Regardless of what happens, McKissic has proven himself as Driskel’s preferred safety valve — he saw seven targets in the passing game — and will likely be holding down an extensive role moving forward.

Three receiver sets see the majority of the snaps

Kenny Golladay — 78, 94-percent
Marvin Jones Jr. — 76, 92-percent
Danny Amendola — 56, 67-percent
Marvin Hall — 11, 13-percent

Golladay and Jones rarely left the field, while Amendola has now put together four games in a row of over 60-percent of offensive snaps.

Hall’s numbers were down a bit from normal, but with Driskel at the helm — and coaches keeping things simple for him in his first start — it’s not overly surprising. As Driskel gets more comfortable in this offense, expect him to take more deep shots downfield — he has the arm strength to do it — and that means more opportunities for Hall.

Tight end snaps declining

T.J. Hockenson — 48, 58-percent
Jesse James — 28, 34-percent
Logan Thomas — 18, 22-percent

With the Bears’ weakness covering the tight end, these numbers were surprisingly low. Over the last month, Hockenson has seen about two-thirds of snaps, while James has leveled off at around one-third.

Lions DL snaps down due to injury

A’Shawn Robinson — 29, 51-percent
Damon Harrison — 25, 44-percent
Mike Daniels — 21, 37-percent
John Atkins — 20, 35-percent
Kevin Strong — 12, 21-percent

Every player on this list either (save Atkins) entered the game with an injury, suffered an injury during the game, or both. Expect these numbers to increase with their health.

Flowers snaps rise, Kennard’s decline

Trey Flowers — 50, 88-percent
Devon Kennard — 39, 68-percent

With no Romeo Okwara available and injuries on the interior, Flowers saw a significant increase to snap count — his highest of the season.

Kennard has seen his snap percentage drop from the 90-percentile to the 80-percentile, but this week was a season-low. The Lions use a heavy rotation at linebacker in this game and Kennard’s usage reflected that.

Jarrad Davis sees lowest snaps of season, thrives

Jarrad Davis — 44, 77-percent
Christian Jones — 41, 72-percent
Jahlani Tavai — 38, 67-percent

Davis, like Kennard, saw his lowest snap percentage of the season, but Davis responded with his best game of the year. Maybe the light bulb turned on for Davis in this one, but with less responsibility on his plate — Tavai was calling plays at different points during this game —  he responded in a positive way.

Jones snaps stayed close to his average snap total, while Tavai’s streak of seeing over 50-percent of defensive snaps is now at five games in a row. Tavai’s increase in responsibilities and consistent snap counts suggest a larger role for him in the near future.

3 and 4 corner sets rise

Rashaan Melvin — 57, 100-percent
Darius Slay — 55, 96-percent
Justin Coleman — 46, 81-percent
Mike Ford — 15, 26-percent

Slay and Melvin were back to their starting cornerback roles, while Coleman settled back into his typical nickel corner role. Coleman was replaced on the field at times by Ford in an apparent effort to exploit a speed-on-speed matchup.

3 safety sets return to average

Will Harris — 57, 100-percent
Tavon Wilson — 56, 98-percent
C.J. Moore — 22, 39-percent

Despite Tracy Walker missing another game, the Lions returned to their standard three safety rotation usage, with undrafted rookie Moore taking on his highest defensive snap counts of the season.

Moore also led the team in special teams snaps. As usual, he and Dee Virgin are one-two in third-phase snaps.

Special teams

C.J. Moore — 27
Dee Virgin — 26
Jalen Reeves-Maybin — 23
Steve Longa — 23
Nick Bawden — 22
Logan Thomas — 22
Mike Ford — 20
Will Harris — 19
Jamal Agnew — 17
Paul Perkins — 16
Christian Jones — 11
Amani Oruwariye — 9
Tavon  Wilson — 9
Jesse James — 6
Jahlani Tavai — 5
Justin Coleman — 5
Jarrad Davis — 4
Devon Kennard — 4
Trey Flowers — 4
Marvin Hall — 4