Tag: Detroit Lions

Detroit Lions Week 14 injury report: Golladay still unable to practice, Swift returns

Updating the Detroit Detroit Lions (5-7) are hosting the Green Bay Packers (9-3) in Week 14, and like most weeks near the end of the season, Wednesday’s practice was a mixed bag of positive and negative results.

Starter Kenny Golladay and Jeff Okudah remained sidelined to open practice this week, while D’Andre Swift and Da’Shawn Hand were able to get in some work.

The Detroit Lions (5-7) are hosting the Green Bay Packers (9-3) in Week 14, and like most weeks near the end of the season, Wednesday’s practice was a mixed bag of positive and negative results.

Starter Kenny Golladay and Jeff Okudah remained sidelined to open practice this week, while D’Andre Swift and Da’Shawn Hand were able to get in some work.

Here’s a look at the Lions’ full injury report, with the updated changes in injury status listed in bold.

Injured reserve

Okwara began practicing last week and Flowers has been seen working with trainers on the sidelines of practice, which is typically an indicator a player is getting ready to return to practice. When asked about the possibility of Flowers returning in 2020, interim coach Darrell Bevell said, “He’s progressing that way, I think that’s his mindset, which is probably the most important thing, and we’re looking forward to that day.”

No Practice

Player Injury Monday Tuesday Wednesday Designation
Kenny Golladay Hip No Practice
Tyrell Crosby Ankle No Practice
Jeff Okudah Groin No Practice
C.J. Moore Ankle No Practice

Golladay continues to get positive reports from Bevell, yet he remains absent on the field.

Crosby injured his ankle, had to leave the Bears game early, and was unable to return. With Hal Vaitai on injured reserve, Crosby was replaced in the starting lineup by Matt Nelson, who appears to be in line to start this week if Crosby is unable to play. Offensive tackle Dan Skipper has been protected on the practice squad as insurance.

Okudah’s shoulder injury is no more, but now he is listed with a groin injury. Suffering a soft tissue injury while trying to recover from another separate injury is a common occurrence for young players.

Moore also injured his ankle in last Sunday’s game and was replaced in the lineup by Bobby Price on special teams. Price has also been protected on the practice squad this week.

Limited practice

Player Injury Wednesday Thursday Friday Designation
Matthew Stafford Thumb Limited Practice
D’Andre Swift Illness Limited Practice
Kerryon Johnson Knee Limited Practice
Da’Shawn Hand Groin Limited Practice
Austin Bryant Thigh Limited Practice

Stafford’s injury appears to be a non-issue. Move along.

At his morning press conference, Bevell suggested they would be taking it slow with Swift as he re-acclimates to practice. “When you take that much time off and you’re not out there running around full speed, (you) don’t want to give him full go and then have him have a soft tissue injury or anything.”

Bevell also suggested they would also take their time with Johnson, but he would go through his typical routines. “We’re still going to continue to treat him like we normally do. He’s a veteran player, so we’ll continue to monitor him during the week. On Wednesday, we’re usually a little bit lighter and then kind of ramp him up as the week goes. We’ll continue to do that, and there’s really no change in his status.”

Hand and Bryant have both missed the last several weeks and a limited practice for both is encouraging. Bryant got in a week’s worth of limited practices last week before being downgraded on Saturday and eventually out on Sunday. He seems further along than Hand who is just seeing the field for the first time today since injuring his groin.

Full Practice

Player Injury Monday Tuesday Wednesday Designation
No Players Full Practice

There are no players listed in this section at this current time.

Packers’ Report

This section will be updated once the Packers report their injuries.

Date and time for Titans vs. Lions Week 15 game revealed

The Titans-Lions game was originally marked as “to be determined.”

When the NFL released the 2020 schedule, the Tennessee Titans versus Detroit Lions Week 15 game was marked with a “to be determined,” and it was possible that the game could be played on December 19 or 20.

Well, the NFL has announced that the contest will be played on Sunday, December 20 at noon CST, and it will be televised on FOX.

The matchup with Detroit will be the last home game for the Titans during the regular season, as their final two contests against the Green Bay Packers and Houston Texans are both on the road.

Of course, the Titans are hoping to finish the season strong and maintain their spot atop the AFC South in order to host a home playoff game in the Wild Card Round — and the road to doing that goes through the Lions.

But first, the Titans have to take care of business in Duval against the Jacksonville Jaguars in Week 14.

[lawrence-related id=52202,52197,52194]

[listicle id=52159]

NFL Power Rankings Week 14: Lions get a bump after win over Bears

Examining where the Detroit Lions land in the Week 14 national power rankings after Darrell Bevell led them to a win over the Chicago Bears.

The Darrell Bevell era in Detroit got off to a solid start, as he led the Lions to a 34-30 victory over the Chicago Bears. His leadership has proven to be very anti-Matt Patricia and the team responded in a notable fashion.

The national experts are

Let’s take a closer look at what the national analysts thought of the Lions’ victory and what the experts are saying this week.

Touchdown Wire: 21 (Previous: 29)

“Interim head coach Darren Bevell got a chance to make his debut as the head man for the Detroit Lions. It was quite the memorable first outing… The win keeps the Lions’ slim playoff hopes alive, but they’ll probably need to win out and get a bit of luck over the final few weeks to sneak into the dance.” — Mark Schofield

USA Today: TBD (Previous 28)

Nate Davis did not publish a power ranking this week.

NFL: 26 (Previous: 29)

“Who knows what the future holds for Matthew Stafford and the Lions? For now, Detroit fans should enjoy their star quarterback, who passed for over 400 yards in leading the Lions to a 34-30 comeback victory over the Bears on Sunday. After the win, Stafford handed the game ball to interim coach Darrell Bevell, victorious in his first outing as Matt Patricia’s replacement. “My emotions right now, I can’t even think straight,” Bevell said. “I’m just trying to wrap my head around this whole thing, what just happened.” A feel-good moment for the Lions in a period in team history that hasn’t had enough of them.” — Dan Hanzus

ESPN: 25 (Previous: 27)

“Person with most at stake: Interim head coach Darrell Bevell. The true answer here is everyone: With a potential regime change coming, the coaches are performing for new jobs or to retain theirs, and the players are doing the same. But Bevell might have the most to gain or lose here. Bevell has been waiting for years for his chance to become a head coach, and if he can manage Detroit well down the stretch, that could help his candidacy with the Lions (at this point unlikely) or elsewhere, either this offseason or in the future.” — Michael Rothstein

CBS Sports: 27 (Previous 27)

“So the coaching change gave them a little juice after all. That was a nice comeback against the Bears.” — Pete Prisco

Sports Illustrated: 27 (Previous: 25)

“Darrell Bevell won his debut and is riding the wave of good fortune that comes with not being Matt Patricia in the Lions’ locker room. Good for him. It will be interesting to see if they can knock off another team or two before the full regime change at season’s end.” — Note: MMQB uses a rotating staff to make selections, so they will sometimes vary drastically from week to week.

Sporting News: 21 (Previous: 25)

“The Lions played a lot more inspired offensive football with Darrell Bevell and got a few defensive breaks to avenge a shocking Week 1 loss to the Bears.” — Vinnie Iyer

Detroit Lions open Week 14 as 7.5-point underdogs to the division-leading Green Bay Packers

Examing the betting line provided by BetMGM for the Detroit Lions vs Green Bay Packers Week 14 matchup.

The Detroit Lions (5-7) are coming off a come from behind win over the Chicago Bears, securing the first career victory for interim coach Darrell Bevell. And despite emotions driving their motivation and returning home to the cozy confines of Ford Field, they will be heavy underdogs to the division-leading Green Bay Packers (9-3) in Week 14.

The good folks over at BetMGM have set the betting line for this game as Packers by 7.5 points — which is not only a compliment to Green Bay but also a reality check reminder that the Lions are still a bit unpredictable.

BetMGM has various bet lines to wager on, but here’s a look at the basic concepts most would be interested in, including the Moneyline, points spread, over/under, and total Lions points scored.

Moneyline

Lions +290
Packers -350

Spread

Lions +7.5 -110
Packers -7.5 -110

Over/Under

Total points scored Over Under
55.5 -110 -110

Lions total points scored

Lions total points Over Under
19.5 -225 +170
22.5 -135 +105
25.5 +120 -155

There will also a considerable amount of player prop bets added throughout the week, including touchdowns scorers, the first player to score, quarterback passing props (yards, touchdowns, interceptions, attempts, completions, longest completion), running back props (rushing yards, attempts, rushing + receiving yards), and receiver props (receiving yards, receptions, longest reception).

Gannett may earn revenue from audience referrals to betting services. Newsrooms are independent of this relationship and there is no influence on news coverage.

Browns claim WR Marvin Hall off waivers from Lions

Browns claim WR Marvin Hall off waivers from Lions

On Tuesday afternoon, the Cleveland Browns bolstered the team’s wide receiver ranks by adding veteran Marvin Hall off waivers from the Detroit Lions.

The Browns will receive a roster exemption for Hall that will expire once he’s permitted to join the team in accordance with testing protocols. He won’t count against the active roster limit until that time.

Hall, 27, entered the NFL as an undrafted free agent in 2016, joining the Oakland Raiders, where he was waived before the start of the season. The former Washington Huskie is very well known for being a field stretcher, with a reported blazing fast 4.28 40 yard dash at his pro day.

He was able to flash that speed with the Falcons in 2017, catching this 40-yard touchdown from Matt Ryan in his debut for the team.

He didn’t see much action until 2020 when with the Detroit Lions, where he was able to have a breakout performance of 4 catches for 113 yards against the Indianapolis Colts.

As for his impact on the Browns, it could be one that translates quickly. Since losing wide receiver Odell Beckham in Week 5 against the Cincinnati Bengals, quarterback Baker Mayfield has completed seven passes for 25 yards or more in the five games after the injury.

Hall provides a true speed threat down the field for Mayfield, who has shown a willingness to throw to anyone across the field, with names like KhaDarel Hodge and Breshad Perriman finding success under the young signal-caller.

Similar to Perriman, who also was known for his speed coming out of college, Hall has had some issues catching the ball in 2020, dropping four passes, but it is worth noting that in his combined 25 games in 2018 and 2019, he did not record a drop on 30 targets.

Adding a player like Hall is just what the doctor ordered for head coach Kevin Stefanski, who can add Hall to his arsenal on offense, as well as open things up for the running game by taking the attention of safeties with his vertical threat.

While it is early, this looks like another solid bet by general manager Andrew Berry to bolster the roster as the team continues to move towards a playoff push.

[lawrence-related id=56166]

Week 13 snap counts: Lions roll out 4 down DL under Darrell Bevell

Breaking down the Detroit Lions snap counts after their Week 13 victory over the Chicago Bears.

There’s not a lot you can do to the physical makeup of a roster in a week, and for interim coach Darrell Bevell, he needed to rely on the scheme put in place by Matt Patrica — with a few twists mixed in.

On offense, there weren’t a lot of changes, which isn’t overly surprising considering he likely had some weekly influence on how much players played, but on defense, there was a noticeable change up front.

The most notable change was the use of the Lions’ base defense ends Romeo Okwara and Everson Griffen.

Over the last two weeks, the Lions relied on their linebackers to create pressure off the edge, but in this game, Bevell and defensive coordinator Cory Undlin went back to their strategy against Washington and used bigger bodies on the edge.

Okwara was on the field 96-percent of defensive snaps, while Griffen saw 65-percent of his own. Each player did rush from a standing position at times, but the idea of getting bigger up front suits this team’s strengths — especially when Trey Flowers, Austin Bryant, and Julian Okwara return.

That, and more in this week’s snap count review.

NFL Take Dump: Gregg Williams wasn’t tanking and the Browns are still frauds

Also: The Seahawks are letting Russell Wilson cook too much, the Jets didn’t blow that game on purpose and Detroit should not trade its QB.

All right, NFL. I’ve seen enough of the 2020 NFL regular season. Let’s end it and get on with the postseason.

I’m only half-joking. Thirteen weeks were enough for me. I can’t be the only one who feels this way.

I know Vikings and Giants fans would be cool with ending things now after their wins on Sunday put them in position to make the postseason. The Steelers wouldn’t have a problem either as they’d have home-field advantage throughout the postseason locked up. I don’t even think the Chiefs, who seem to be sleepwalking through the back half of their schedule, would mind all that much.

All I’m saying is, we know who’s good, we know who the frauds are. Do we really need another month to sort things out? With the COVID-19 dam seemingly ready to break, the sooner we get this over with, the better. End things now, take the next month to set up a bubble situation, and then let us watch Kansas City’s offense rip through the rest of the league.

Deal?

I probably don’t have any takers for that, but it’s cool. There are more takes where that came from. This is, after all, the NFL Monday Take Dump, where no take is too hot and all opinions are subject to change. Here are my four spiciest takes after a long day of watching football.

Darrell Bevell pulls off an anti-Matt Patricia victory in first game as interim coach

Welcome to the Darrell Bevell era in Detroit. The Lions still have their flaws, but the team is noticeably different than they were under the previous regime.

Welcome to the Darrell Bevell era in Detroit.

The Lions still have their flaws, especially on defense, but this team is noticeably different than they were under the previous regime. From the team’s approach leading up to the game to how they closed out the victory, this was the antithesis of most things former-Lions coach Matt Patricia has preached for three years.

When Bevell took over last weekend, he said he was going to change some things. While not all those changes were made public, there were notable changes in practice: ranging from music aimed at a younger generation to an adjustment of the player’s schedule — players reportedly complained to Bevell they were feeling run down under the Patricia schedule — and the energy level went up a notch.

Consistently, players were reported to be looser and more relaxed in the locker room and it matched Bevell’s approach of allowing them to have more fun during the week.

Once the game started, Bevell — who is still calling the plays — was aggressive on offense, opening the playbook up a bit more, especially the deep pass, as noted in Matthew Stafford’s pass distribution chart, courtesy of NFL Next Gen Stats:

The Lions managed sixty yards and two touchdowns on the ground, but they were by no means married to it as something they had to “establish”.

Additionally, the defense failed to stop the run today — another phrase we have heard every week for the last 1,000 days — and while that led to a double-digit deficit, the late-game playcalling didn’t force the team into a meltdown.

Make no mistake, the defense is still bad, there’s only so much you can change in a week, but the demeanor and attitude that surrounds this team has been altered.

In today’s post-game press conference, worn-out all-too-common phrases — like “We didn’t execute well enough. We’ve gotta coach better, I’ve gotta coach better. And we’ve gotta play better.” — were nowhere to be found. Instead, Bevell introduced thoughtful and raw insight.

Here’s a sampling of the best responses from Bevell’s post-game presser:

“We had a windshield and no rearview mirror.”

“They continued to play, you know, for 60 minutes.”

On his halftime speech: “Play just until there’s no time left on the clock, and continue to play with the joy and the enthusiasm that we wanted to play with and we’ll see what happens at the end.”

“That’s what I asked them to do, just keep playing and keep playing and good things would happen at the end, and it did.”

“My mentality was that, like if I’m going to lead these guys, I gotta have that same belief.”

“We kind of let him (Stafford) play today, and he just responded in a big way.”

“I think we just probably had a little bit more focus on them (big plays) this week, and Matthew (Stafford) responded in a good way.”

“Matthew Stafford presented (me with) the game ball in there (locker room). It was just — I mean I can’t even describe it, just amazing.”

[listicle id=55332]

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.

Lions Week 13 Studs and Duds: Darrell Bevell’s offense leads the way

Reviewing the Studs and Duds from the Detroit Lions Week 13 victory over the Chicago Bears.

The Detroit Lions, under the guidance of interim head coach Darrell Bevell, came back after trailing the Chicago Bears by 13 points in the fourth quarter to pull off a Week 13 win in the Windy City.

There were plenty of struggles on defense, but overall there were a lot of things for Lions fans to be optimistic about.

Stud: Darrell Bevell’s offense

There was a different kind of energy on the field — one that Lions fans haven’t seen in a long time.

Stafford walked out of the tunnel with a smile on his face, presumably knowing he’d have his best game of the season under interim head coach Darrell Bevell.

The offense looked much more comfortable under Bevell. Stafford was able to let loose and make some deep plays. The Lions used just about every weapon at their disposal to move the ball, and move it quickly.

The up-tempo feel to the offense was a breath of fresh air watching this team come back from a double-digit deficit.

Bevell may not be the head coach after this season, but at least he got the bad taste of Matt Patricia out of everyone’s mouths.

Dud: The defense

It’s clear that the Lions will have a lot of rebuilding to do on defense. The unit was so bad against Chicago that it was difficult to pinpoint individual players for the “duds” list.

Penalties were everywhere, with Romeo Okwara and Darryl Roberts assisting Chicago’s offense due to their errors in the first half. Everson Griffen had a neutral zone infraction turned a third-and-six to a convertible 3rd-and-one.

In coverage, everyone struggled. There were holes everywhere, allowing Mitchell Trubisky to look like a Pro Bowler while carving up the defense with passes to Allen Robinson.

And then there’s the run defense that allowed three touchdowns in the first half. The Lions’ front-seven simply could not do anything to contain David Montgomery or Cordarrele Patterson in the run game, allowing over 100 yards in the first half by the duo on their 18 carries.

Tackling proved to be an issue throughout the matchup as well. On one of David Montgomery’s touchdowns, two Lions defenders missed tackles on the young running back before Duron Harmon was able to get his hands on him. Unfortunately, Harmon wasn’t able to bring Montgomery down before he crossed into the end zone.

At the end of the game, the defense bent, and nearly broke, as they tried to prevent Trubisky from coming back in the final seconds. Allowing first down after first down and a horse collar penalty from Jayron Kearse, the defense was able to make a fourth-down stop to ice the game for Detroit.

The defense just didn’t play well, and MLive’s Kyle Meinke summed up their struggles best:

Stud: Matthew Stafford

Bevell’s playcalling has allowed Stafford to do what he does best — throw it deep. The quarterback was making tight-window throws and heaving some accurate deep passes, including one really impressive one to rookie Quintez Cephus — his first career touchdown.

His communication was on point with the young receiver, signaling for him to continue running his deep post and make the touchdown grab.

Stafford hasn’t looked this comfortable in the pocket in a long time, and it showed with the throws he made. He did have one brutal interception on a screen pass in the second half, but overall he balled out.

The quarterback played strong throughout the game and delivered a victory with a 402-yard and three-touchdown game.

Dud: Jonah Jackson

The rookie offensive lineman was bailed out three times in the first half, but that doesn’t excuse his blunders.

Jackson allowed a sack on Stafford by Khalil Mack that would have forced a punt if not for a penalty by Bears slot cornerback Buster Skrine that gave Detroit a first down. Later in the first half, Jackson had a holding penalty that was offset by a Chicago defensive penalty.

To finish off the first half, Jackson also committed a false start penalty. Luckily, Stafford was able to get a first down on the following play.

Stud: Adrian Peterson

The future Hall-of-Famer looked better than he has for most of the season and his late-game performance helped propel the Lions to victory.

His final stat line was 16 carries for 57 yards. He scored Detroit’s first and last touchdowns of the game. His goal line score at the end of the fourth quarter is what sealed the game for Detroit.

Dud: Marvin Jones

This may be an unpopular decision given that Jones finished with eight receptions for 118 yards and a score, but he had some glaring issues in this game. Despite making some solid first down receptions, Jones looked slow on several deep balls from Stafford and then later failed to hang on to a Hail Mary that could have gotten the Lions a walkoff touchdown for the first half. in the second half, he got his hand on another ball that he was unable to bring in.

Jones did help the Lions catch up late in the fourth quarter, but his struggles outweigh his successes in this one. If he was able to hang on to those balls and get separation from the defenders on those plays, the Lions would have been up by a few scores against Chicago.

Stud: Matt Nelson

Tyrell Crosby’s backup has not gotten enough credit throughout this season. When asked to fill in, the former collegiate defensive lineman held his own as Detroit’s right tackle while Crosby was sidelined with an ankle injury.

He didn’t have the best game, but he really put in his best effort against a scary Chicago front-seven.

Stud: Jamie Collins

Collins was a lone bright spot on the Lions defense. The veteran linebacker had two tackles-for-loss on run defense despite the unit struggling as a whole.

Stud: T.J. Hockenson

Despite gaining any yards after the catch on his seven receptions, the former first-round pick came through as one of Stafford’s top targets. The young tight end made some crucial and athletic catches on deep throws and finished the game with 84 yards.

Stud: Romeo Okwara

Okwara came out of the gates early, blocking the PAT after Chicago’s first touchdown. Though he was quiet for almost the whole game, he made his presence known late in the fourth quarter, forcing a fumble on Trubisky and giving the Lions the ball at the seven-yard line with less than two minutes to go in the game.