The Detroit Lions put on one of the most shameful football games you will ever witness, getting shutout for the first time since 2009 — dropping 20-0 to the Carolina Panthers — putting that last nail in the coffin of any hope for the future.
The Lions repeatedly kept shooting themselves in the foot, making the same mistakes game in and game out. The missed tackles, dropped passes, inexcusable penalties, and blown coverages dug the Lions in a deep grave.
The offense was mute from start to finish. Just 185 total offensive yards, (fewest since 2010), converted only 3 of 14 third downs, sacked five times, and embarrassed in time of procession 36:48 to 23:12.
With the offense pulling a vanishing act, the defense was asked to shoulder the onslaught, and unfortunately, they weren’t much better. Surely they were gassed defending 70 plays, but they were playing against a quarterback making his first start and a makeshift offensive line. That is unacceptable.
The Lions were manhandled from start to finish. They were unable to get anything going and could not stop anyone. Then they got desperate. They even tried some razzle-dazzle to generate, well, anything, but they were left with nothing but sorrow.
Let’s set up the play.
Stafford hands the ball off to Kerryon Johnson, who laterals it back to Stafford to try for the deep shot. The blocking was beautiful, allowing the right amount of time to find Marvin Jones in the endzone. 51-yards downfield, Jones snatched the ball from the defender in the endzone and finally put points on the board — or so they thought.
The Lions ran an amazing trick play….and it got called back for illegal formation 😂 pic.twitter.com/cfTBdE6C1E
— Isaac (@WorldofIsaac) November 22, 2020
The play was called back because Jones lined up illegally over the tight end negating what would’ve been a 51-yard touchdown, and basically sucking the life from the Lions for the rest of the game.
This game was very difficult to watch.
The performances were lackluster at best and brought into question the direction of this organization. Something needs to change, especially after this poor excuse for production and getting shutout by a team with issues of their own.
The Lions are given no favors with a short week — due to their Thanksgiving matchup against the Houston Texans —Â but it is hard to imagine they will be able to overcome any of the issues plaguing this team in such a short turn around.