Detroit Lions fans are generally pretty hardened to bad football from the team. It’s not always easy to root for the Lions. But Sunday’s first half was especially trying.
The Lions were guilty of screwing up just about everything in the first two quarters against the Patriots. The list of sins against football by the Lions players and coaches is too lengthy to list here, but among the prominent examples of really bad Detroit football from the half:
- QB Jared Goff forcing a throw to a double-covered T.J. Hockenson for an interception.
- LB Derrick Barnes wiping out an Isaiah Buggs sack by being guilty of an obvious and completely unnecessary illegal contact penalty.
- Coach Dan Campbell going for it on 4th down on the first drive with an obvious run play against a stacked box. RG Logan Stenberg blocked the wrong assignment on the play.
- Campbell eschewing a potential 51-yard FG attempt on a later fourth-down. Goff was under heavy pressure and fumbled the ball away, recovered by the Patriots for a touchdown return.
- Ongoing pass coverage miscues that allowed rookie QB Bailey Zappe to complete 8-of-10 passes.
- Patriots EDGE Matt Judon bagged too-easy sacks on both LT Taylor Decker and RT Penei Sewell, the latter leading to the Patriots TD return.
Detroit’s bright spots were few and far between. Craig Reynolds had a nice 19-yard run. Safety DeShon Elliott picked off Zappe on a pass that Patriots WR Nelson Agholor effectively tossed right to him. Alim McNeill had a great third-down run stuff to force a Patriots field goal attempt.
New England didn’t take full advantage of one of the most disjointed halves of Lions football in some time, leading just 16-0. In theory, that would give Campbell’s Lions a fighting chance to come back in the second half. For that theory to become reality, nearly every player and coach on the Lions will need to perform much better in the second half.