Third quarter
Poor offensive series for the Lions out of the half. Stafford is inaccurate and makes two bad decisions but the Eagles can’t catch them. Sam Martin bails out the offense with a phenomenal sideline punt. Eagles punter Cam Johnston answers with an even better one, pinning the Lions inside their own 1. Slay left on the series with an injury, replaced by Mike Ford.
Rick Wagner is having a rough time in pass protection. The Eagles have figured out to attack him inside-out and he’s struggling. Stafford misses a couple of throws as a result.
Bad tackling gives the Eagles a touchdown. Quandre Diggs, who missed a TFL opportunity on the prior drive, bounces off Agholor. Justin Coleman whiffs on the follow-up and Agholor struts into the end zone. Philly closes to 20-17 as a result. Lions pass rush is nonexistent in the second half so far.
Nick Bawden jumps over a defender to pick up a first down on a pass to the flat. Stafford keeps looking for Golladay but he’s not getting any room at all in man coverage.
Fourth quarter
This gets off with a bang. First play of the quarter sees Stafford feather a pass to the corner that Jones snags at full extension. Perfect throw and an even better catch by No. 11, who the Eagles have been unable to reliably cover all day. Lions go up 27-17.
I was wondering why the Eagles didn’t play Dallas Goedert more at TE. The answer becomes clear when Christian Jones easily beats him with a nondescript pass move to sack Wentz. On the next snap, Lions rush just three (Jones, Harrison, Robinson) and all three get touches on Wentz before he goes down. It’s a coverage sack but also nicely schemed for a 3-man rush. They nearly get Wentz for a third play in a row on the next snap with Okwara playing on the nose. This defensive series was Matt Patricia’s dream outcome.
Christian Jones has been great near the line of scrimmage but gets badly exposed in coverage by Sanders on the next Eagles drive. He just can’t turn and run. The safety help from Diggs is late. Lions run fits from the LBs, primarily Tavai but also Kennard as the JACK, are terrible here. Okwara and Davis both commit dumb, avoidable penalties to help extend an Eagles TD drive and it’s 27-24 Lions. As impressive as the prior series was defensively, this was rough to watch.
Stafford throws a perfect strike to Jones on 2nd-and-9 on the ensuing series to bleed more clock. Rolling to his right and backward, Stafford slings it where only a sliding jones can catch it. It’s not a play that makes highlight reels but it’s absolutely gorgeous and not a throw many others can pull off.
The very next play is a great call on a misdirection toss to Ty Johnson, but Golladay whiffs on his block. If Johnson gets that block he’s running for at least 10 yards by breaking inside but it only gains two. Another clutch throw from Stafford to Amendola keeps the drive alive on 3rd-and-11, under five minutes to play.
I absolutely abhor the deep handoff to a static RB. It was a staple of the Jim Bob Cooter offense in Detroit and it never worked. The Lions try it here with Stafford giving the ball to Kerryon Johnson, who is standing still, 6-7 yards deep. Against a loaded box. It’s a white flag and a complete waste of opportunity. Lions forced to punt, and deservedly so with the suddenly passive playcalling.
An inspired defensive series featuring a great downfield PD from Coleman and a swarming 4th down stop on a Wentz scramble sets the Lions up inside the Eagles 30 with just over two minutes to play. But the offense again goes passive and is obviously playing for a field goal. They do try a shot to Golladay but he can’t make the contested catch.
Said field goal attempt gets blocked. Logan Thomas was on the left edge and had to block two Eagles. He didn’t touch either of them. Tyrell Crosby was to his inside and he didn’t block anyone either. Great call by the Eagles, terrible assignment recognition by the Lions special teams. An illegal block on the return keeps the damage from being catastrophic.
Coleman continues a very solid second half with a great open-field tackle to create a third down. Darren Sproles gets called for offensive pass interference against Tavon Wilson to negate the conversion. The call was technically correct but getting it on the road is a huge surprise for the Lions.
Wentz makes his best throw of the game on the 4th-down effort. He hits J.J. Arcega-Whiteside in both hands near the goal line over a leaping Diggs but the rookie WR drops it. It’s probably the best throw against the Lions in the first three weeks but it falls incomplete. Ballgame. Lions win 27-24.
Good games: Agnew, Marvin Jones, Dahl, Coleman, Okwara, Martin
Bad games: Golladay, Wagner, Diggs, Davis, Logan Thomas (special teams), Hockenson (as a blocker)
Stafford had another up-and-down game, though this one seemed more receiver-based than on the QB himself. Marvin Jones played great, Amendola did well but this was the worst game from Golladay I’ve seen since his rookie year. He offered nothing in this one. The tight ends presented little as receivers, too. Stafford was very good in clutch situations.
There is a tangible sense in watching the second half play out that Patricia is growing enamored with the 3-man rush and dropping eight into coverage. It works here in no small part because the Eagles WRs are not good and Wentz tends to overreact to pressure. I came away feeling like the win is almost a false-positive test for that defensive strategy, based on what’s coming later in the season. But the win here is very nice.