Tag: 2020 regular season

Detroit Lions Week 14 inactives: D’Andre Swift is ACTIVE

The Detroit Lions have declared their game-day inactives for their Week 14 matchup with the Green Bay Packers.

The Detroit Lions have declared their game-day inactives for their Week 14 matchup with the Green Bay Packers.

After placing Everson Griffen on the COVID-19 list, the Lions roster was reduced to 52-players. But, in addition to elevating OT Dan Skipper and DE Kareem Martin, the Lions used an elevation replacement option to also elevate S Bobby Price, bringing the roster up to 55-players.

Additionally, because the Lions kept eight offensive linemen on their active game-day roster, they are now eligible to expand their roster from 46- to 48-players, meaning they need to declare seven of their 55-players inactive.

Here are those seven players.

Lions inactives list

  • WR Kenny Golladay (hip) — Ruled OUT
  • RT Tyrell Crosby (ankle) — Ruled OUT
  • CB Jeff Okudah (shoulder) — Ruled OUT
  • S C.J. Moore (ankle) — was questionable entering this game
  • QB David Blough
  • RB Jonathan Williams
  • DT Frank Herron

When Golladay was out last week the Lions turned to Mohamad Sanu as their starting WR-X position. Rookie Quintez Cephus has proven he deserves more looks and will likely push Sanu for time.

Crosby will be replaced at right tackle by Matt Nelson, and with the practice squad elevation of Dan Skipper on Saturday, he and Joe Dahl will be the only remaining options if the Lions suffer another injury at offensive tackle.

No Okudah means the Lions will enter today’s game with just four corners: Amani Oruwariye, Justin Coleman, and Darryl Roberts will start, while Mike Ford will most likely be in line for plenty of snaps as a fourth option.

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Moore was questionable entering this game and he will be replaced on special teams by Price — who as noted above, was elevated for this game.

With Stafford’s thumb not bothering him noticeably, and Chase Daniel healthy, the Lions did not need to keep Blough active on the roster this week.

With D’Andre Swift healthy, Williams was not needed, and the Lions will roll with three running backs: Swift, Adrian Peterson, and Kerryon Johnson

Similarly, with Ds’Shawn Hand healthy, the Lions had four interior defensive linemen healthy — Hand, John Penisini, Nick Williams, and Kevin Strong — and Herron was deemed inactive.

Packers’ inactive list

  • QB Jordan Love
  • CB Ka’dar Hollman
  • LB Jonathan Garvin
  • G Simon Stepaniak — ruled OUT
  • WR Malik Taylor
  • TE Jace Sternberger — ruled OUT

Experts give Lions little chance of upsetting the Packers in Week 14

The Detroit Lions face off against the Green Bay Packers at home this week and virtually no one is giving them a shot to pull off the upset.

In their second division battle in a row, the Detroit Lions (5-7) will look to play spoiler to the Green Bay Packers (9-3), who can clinch a playoff berth with a win this week.

The Packers have won their last three matchups with the Lions, including the Week 2 matchup earlier this season, where the Packers walloped the Lions 42-21. The Lions had no answers for Aaron Jones in that game, as he bullied his way to 236 all-purpose yards and three touchdowns.

Last week, the Lions rallied behind interim head coach Darell Bevell pulling off a come behind victory and handing the Bears their sixth straight loss. The offense looked more up-tempo and brought an aggressive style approach that had been missing for a while. Even with the limitations on defense, they still made the necessary stops and key adjustments that helped turn the tide last week.

The Packers walked away with a victory of their own last week, beating the Philadelphia Eagles 30-16 behind Aaron Rodger’s three-touchdown performance. With a secured playoff berth on the line, the Packers will be looking to put this one away early and turn their focus to the postseason.

With the type of seasons each team is having, it is no surprise the experts have almost unanimous in their selections this week. According to NFL Pickwatch, 98-percent of the experts are favoring the Packers in the Week 14 division battle.

The Lions have an uphill battle this week against a very tough opponent, but if they can turn this game into be a high-scoring affair, it could be a very intriguing matchup. It will be tough for the Lions, no doubt about that, but if they play disciplined football and follow the key areas in this week’s Honolulu Blueprint, they could pull off a major upset.

Lions Week 13 pivotal play of the game: Romeo Okwara strips win away from the Bears

The Detroit Lions steal one from the Chicago Bears winning 34-30 on the help of this week’s pivotal play from Romero Okwara.

The Detroit Lions managed to claw their way back and beat the Chicago Bears 34-30 for their first win against their division foe in five games and first in the post-Matt Patricia era.

The Lions looked like a completely different team than they had in quite some time, with the energy each player brought on and off the field. Interim coach Darrel Bevell wanted the players with a sense of purpose while having fun, and that is exactly what they brought to the table today even though they were playing behind the entire game.

Bevell opened the playbook this week and allowed Stafford to do what he does best; sling the ball down the field. He attempted eight passes for 20+ yards even though he only completed three of those passes, two of them went for touchdowns — and that was without two of his main weapons, Kenny Golladay and D’Andre Swift.

Even though the defense looked sluggish the first half with missed tackles and porous run defense, they buckled down when the game was on the line and came up big when it absolutely was a must. After allowing 23 points in the first half, they locked up the Bears and only gave up seven points for the rest of the game.

The Setup

In the fourth quarter, after giving up a long drive led to a touchdown to put the Bears up 30-20, Stafford then threw an ill-timed interception that stalled the drive. It did not look good for the Lions’ chances to break the Bears’ curse.

The defense managed to dig deep and force a 3-and-out on the next two Bears’ drives, giving the offense a chance to mount a comeback. The Lions finally got back on the scoreboard, marching 96 yards down the field on a Marvin Jones touchdown: 30-27.

With the Lions still down by three, they needed to come up with another stop. Instead, they got something better:

Romeo Okwara worked his way around Germain Ifedi enough to reach out with his freakishly long arms to rip the ball away from Mitchell Trubisky — and the Lions recovered.

With the excellent field position, the Lions went back to Adrian Peterson and he scored his second touchdown of the game, giving the Lions their first of this game: 34-30.

With plenty of time still left on the clock, the Bears were on the move to mount a comeback, and once again, the Lions’ defense was able to come up big. This time it was Kevin Strong’s turn, as he stonewalled David Montgomery on a fourth-down, securing the Lions victory.

Emotions are high for everyone, especially after seeing this team come out lifeless the last two weeks. The energy and tempo have been missing from this team for quite some time, and for once, the players looked to be enjoying themselves.

The new Bevell regime has started strong, and they will look to continue this high ride next week when they face off against another division nemesis, the Green Bay Packers. There are a few areas they need to clean up to get ready for that matchup but they need to take this time and celebrate this high-flying victory.

Detroit Lions Week 13 inactives: D’Andre Swift is INACTIVE

Identifying the inactive list for the Detroit Lions at Chicago Bears game in Week 13 of the 2020 season.

The Detroit Lions have declared their game-day inactives for their Week 13, matchup with the Chicago Bears.

The Lions elected to elevate rookie safety Bobby Price from the practice squad this week, meaning they enter today’s game with 54-players on their roster. Additionally, because they have kept eight offensive linemen on their active game-day roster, they are now eligible to expand their roster from 46- to 48-players, meaning they need to declare six players inactive.

Here are those six players.

Lions inactives list

  • WR Kenny Golladay (hip) — Ruled OUT
  • DL Da’Shawn Hand (groin) — Ruled OUT
  • CB Jeff Okudah (shoulder) — Ruled OUT
  • RB D’Andre Swift (illness)
  • EDGE Austin Bryant (thigh)
  • QB David Blough

With Golladay out and Marvin Hall released on Saturday, the Lions will like be turning to rookie Quintez Cephus to start at the WR-X position.

Hand being ruled out makes Nick Williams the clear starter next to rookie John Penisini, while recently signed Frank Herron and Kevin Strong will round out the interior defensive line.

No Okudah means the Lions will enter today’s game with just four corners: Amani Oruwariye and Justin Coleman will start, while Darryl Roberts and Mike Ford – who are now both healthy — will compete for the third and fourth roles.

Swift missed the last two games with a concussion, but cleared the league’s protocols, only to see an illness take him out of this week. Adrian Peterson will likely get the start, while Kerryon Johnson will lead the way in snaps.

Bryant was close to returning from his thigh injury that kept him out the last two weeks, but he is still not ready. His absence means the Lions may turn to Christian Jones and/or Jahlani Tavai to get them more help on the edge.

With Stafford’s thumb not bothering him noticeably, and Chase Daniel healthy, the Lions did not need to keep Blough active on the roster this week.

Bears’ inactive list

Experts give slim edge to the Bears over the Lions in Week 13

The Detroit Lions face off against the Chicago Bears in hopes of breaking their losing streak, but experts believe the home team prevails

The Detroit Lions (4-7) are on the road this week, hoping to notch out their first win in the post-Matt Patricia era, facing off against their division rival, the Chicago Bears (5-6) in Week 13.

The Bears have come out victorious in the last five games against the Lions, and the most recent being the opening game of the 2020 season. In that game, the Bears scored 21 unanswered points in a comeback win and D’Andre Swift had his welcome to the NFL moment.

Most of the time, people could have an idea of what to anticipate for a particular game, but for the Lions this week, it is full of unknowns. Will the team rally behind Bevell? Will we see a different sense of offensive tempo? Will the defense bring more pressure? The list goes on and on, but for this reason, this makes for an interesting game because we are not sure what is going to happen.

With Mitchell Trubisky’s history against the Lions, that usually brings the Bears a lot of hope, but the unknown element creeps up again. Was his success more due to Patricia’s defensive style, or was he bringing a new level against the Lions? With Cory Undlin running the defense now, it will be interesting to see what he brings to contain the Lion killer.

With the Lions already cleaning house, the Bears on the cusp of it, and the sheer amount of unknowns, experts are almost evenly split this week, but according to NFL Pickwatch, 56-percent of the experts give a slight edge to the home team.

Division games are difficult to predict because of the extra effort players bring, but the number of changes to the Lions, combined with the Bears suffering from a five-game losing streak, makes this game a hard one to predict.

If the Lions can follow the key concepts laid out in this week’s Honolulu Blueprint, they can overcome the recent coaching changes and break this losing streak against the Bears.

The Honolulu Blueprint: Keys to a Lions victory over the Bears

The Detroit Lions will look to hand the Chicago Bears a sixth straight loss and this week’s Honolulu Blueprint lays out key areas to win.

The Detroit Lions (4-7) are on the road this week to face their division rival Chicago Bears (5-6), where one game separates the two teams in the division cellar.

After the Lions Thanksgiving slaughter, principal owner Sheila Ford Hamp decided to clean house and fired both Matt Patricia and Bob Quinn. In their stead, Darrell Bevell was named the interim head coach, while the GM duties are made up of a slew of front office personnel.

It’s difficult to anticipate how different the Lions will look this week, but Bevell has said he wants the players to work hard but have fun in the process. On the flip side, mixed signals have gone out about the defense, but it’ll be interesting to see if the issues were mostly due to Patricia or these coordinators should share some of the blame.

The Bears were handed their own massacre on Monday Night Football against the Green Bay Packers, getting pummeled 41-25. Coach Matt Nagy was embarrassed by the performance and expected a whole lot more from the players.

The Bears started hot to begin the season, but they have fallen into the dark abyss, and have dropped their last five games — bringing into question if they are on the verge of purging their coach and GM as well.

It’ll be interesting to see how well the players have responded to the coaching situations this week, and with playoff hopes all but shot, for both teams, this game may determine the rest of their seasons.

Here are the key areas in this week’s Honolulu Blueprint the Lions need to focus on to secure victory.

3 Lions Stars of the game: Adrian Peterson scores a pair of TDs

The Detroit Lions lost at the hands of the Houston Texans, but this week’s 3 stars did their best to keep them in the game.

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With the Detroit Lions suffering yet another 41-25 blowout loss, this time at the hands of the Houston Texans, this season is about done as much a leftover turkey.

The offense was able to gain some traction early on, but the same story/ different game drove them down in a deep grave. Between the ill-timed turnovers and the frustrating conservative plays, it left everyone in the building and at home scratching their heads and wondering what exactly are they trying to accomplish.

Between Deshaun Watson and Will Fuller, the defense could not slow the Texans high powered passing offense and look totally unprepared. With the broken coverages and assignment misreads, they were able to punch the ball down the field with no issues. When you leave the best receiver on the field wide open, you know today is just not your day.

This may be the final nail in the coffin for this regime, and it’s not just a matter of if, but a matter of when they move on from these individuals who are driving the team.

There isn’t much good to take away from this game, but a few players did their best to keep the Lions in the game.

Here are this week’s LionsWire 3 stars of the week.

1st Star: Adrian Peterson

Peterson has been given a lot of grief for a while now this season due to his ineffectiveness and the emergence of D’Andre Swift, but today he was able to shoulder some of the burdens. He started the game slowly, but the Lions went to him as their power back, scoring two touchdowns in the first half and finishing the day with 55 yards with 3.7 yards per attempt.

Regrettably, the Lions were unable to take full advantage of a disastrous Texans run defense, but Peterson did his best to keep the Lions within striking distance. The Lions leaned on Peterson with five straight runs to get them in Houston territory to start off the second half but only saw three points out of the drive. Swift looks to be on the mend, so it will be interesting to see how the Lions will use Peterson going forward, especially if the Lions decide to go a different direction.

2nd Star: Kerryon Johnson

Johnson has been sitting patiently to get his chances this season, and this was by far his best game of the season, bringing into question why he isn’t getting more opportunities. While splitting snaps between Peterson and Jonathan Williams, he was able to contribute on the ground and in the air with 98 total scrimmage yards and continued to show off his pass blocking ability.

Johnson was able to fully take the next man up mentality, especially with the sheer amount of injuries surrounding the team. Even though Johnson coughed up the ball, Stafford continued to look his way to get the ball in his hands. Hopefully, the Lions liked what they saw for Johnson and continue to go his way. With the season going the way it is, why not see what the young man can do the rest of the way.

3rd Star: T.J. Hockenson

After being announced as the leading Pro Bowl vote-getter among tight ends, Hockenson continued to make his case why he should make his first Pro Bowl. With Danny Amendola missing his second straight game, Stafford found his favorite target five times for 89 yards and had his longest catch and this beautiful trick play.

Not only was his catching ability on display today, but he also had a perfect block that sealed the gap for Peterson to score on his second touchdown. It would be nice to see Hockenson find the endzone more often, but one has to be happy with how much progress the second-year tight end has made and looks to a building block for this organization.

Star standings after Week 12:

  • D’Andre Swift: 90 points
  • Kenny Golladay: 60 points
  • Jack Fox: 60 points
  • Adrian Peterson: 60 points
  • Matt Prater: 50 Points
  • T.J. Hockenson: 50 points
  • Jamie Collins Jr.: 40 points
  • Trey Flowers: 30 points
  • Matthew Stafford: 30 points
  • Marvin Jones Jr.: 30 points
  • Brayden Coombs: 30 points
  • Amani Oruwariye: 30 points
  • Tracy Walker: 20 points
  • Kerryon Johnson: 20 points
  • Jonah Jackson: 10 points
  • Romeo Okwara: 10 points
  • Desmond Trufant: 10 points
  • Everson Griffen: 10 points
  • John Penisini: 10 points

The Lions look to be in the middle of the crossroads and have some major decisions on the horizon. Going into this week, there was almost zero hope and excitement for the Lions against the Texans, and that is not a good thing to have, especially with the number of questions that need answering.

With a long week ahead for the Lions, they will have an ample amount of time to prepare for their division game against the Chicago Bears on the road. Now, who knows how this team will look by then, but hopefully, they come more prepared than they have been the last few weeks.

Lions pivotal play of the game: Fourth down fail leads to game dagger

The Detroit Lions drop their Thanksgiving game to the Houston Texans and this week pivotal play put the game out of reach for a comeback

With the Detroit Lions’ one, and only, nationally televised game of the season, they looked very mediocre in the process of losing 41-25 to the Houston Texans on Thanksgiving.

The Lions had no answers for Deshaun Watson today. He was able to pick apart the Lions defense, shredding them for 318 yards and four touchdowns as well as 24 yards rushing. The Texans only finished with 77 rushing yards total, but Will Fuller more than made up the difference with 171 yards and two touchdowns.

The Lions offense offered no favors with conservative play calls and back-to-back-to-back turnovers that led to 13 Texan points. The Lions were not able to fully take advantage of a Texans run defense that was allowing over 150 yards on the ground, but they did gain 109 yards on the ground — at the end of the day, it felt more empty than effective.

The Lions were down 23-14 at the end of the first half, still within arms reach of the Texans. When they came out of the half, they spent nearly eight minutes rushing the ball, yet only came away with three points — that is not a recipe worth keeping.

Unfortunately, that was not even the worst part of the second half. A play that completely summarizes the coach Matt Patricia era is something that will haunt your dreams at night.

With the Lions down 34-17 and forced to go for it on fourth down, they dialed up one of the worst plays imaginable — A fullback carry straight into the teeth of the defense.

With only needing a yard to go to keep the drive alive early in the fourth quarter, out of everything in the playbook, they drew up a carry to Jason Cabinda and netted no gain. Not an ideal time to give Cabinda his first carry of the season.

To add insult to injury, on the Texans’ first play ensuing the takeover on downs, Watson found Fuller wide open for a touchdown, putting the dagger in the Lions’ turkey and ending any chance of a potential comeback.

If you were shaking your head on this play, don’t worry, you are not alone.

The Lions have now blown a lead four times in the last five games, creating a lifeless atmosphere that brings into question, how long will this organization let this go?

The Lions have an extended break to face off against division opponent Chicago Bears on the road December 6th, and for all intents and purposes, this season is all but done for the Lions. The organization needs to take a long hard look in the mirror and need to either fish or cut bait because doing nothing is not doing them any favors.

Lions fans are frustrated, and rightfully so, but it appears they’re not alone:

Detroit Lions Week 12 inactives: D’Andre Swift is INACTIVE

The Detroit Lions have declared their Game Day inactives for their Week 12, Thanksgiving Day matchup with the Houston Texans.

The Detroit Lions have declared their game-day inactives for their Week 12, Thanksgiving Day matchup with the Houston Texans.

The Lions elected to elevate Dee Virgin and Frank Albert Huggins from the practice squad this week, meaning they enter today’s game with 55-players on their roster. Additionally, because they have kept eight offensive linemen on their active game-day roster, they are now eligible to expand their roster from 46- to 48-players, meaning they need to declare seven players inactive.

Here are those seven players.

Lions inactives list

Of the seven players listed above, six of them were declared OUT yesterday, with all eyes turning to Swift’s concussion entering today’s game. Unfortunately, Swift was unable to clear the league’s protocols in time.

This is the second week in a row that Swift, Golladay, Amendola, Hand, and Bryant will miss the game, leaving the Lions in a similar spot as last week, if not a little worse as Okudah and Ford are also out.

Here’s a look a who will replace each inactive player on today’s depth chart:

Inactive player Primary replacement Secondary replacement
D’Andre Swift, RB Adrian Peterson Kerryon Johnson
Kenny Golladay, WR Marvin Hall Quintez Cephus
Danny Amendola, Slot Jamal Agnew Quintez Cephus
Da’Shawn Hand, DL John Penisini Albert Huggins
Austin Bryant, EDGE Christian Jones Jahlani Tavai
Jeff Okudah, CB Dee Virgin C.J. Moore
Mike Ford, CB/Gunner Dee Virgin C.J. Moore

Texans’ inactive list

Lions pivotal play of the game: Marvin Jones takes away his own touchdown

The Detroit Lions got shutout against the Carolina Panthers and with an inexcusable penalty, Marvin Jones took away his own touchdown.

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 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 —  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.