Tag: Houston Texans vs. Detroit Lions

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.

Matthew Stafford soundly rejects any notion he wants out of Detroit

Matthew Stafford soundly rejects any notion he wants out of Detroit

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Matthew Stafford has been through a lot of losing in his 12 seasons in Detroit. The team’s miserable stretch of late, losing two games to teams with lesser records in four days in fairly uncompetitive fashion, is one of the low points.

Yet Stafford continues to insist he’s all-in on being in Detroit and helping the Lions turn it around. In his postgame press conference Zoom, Stafford showed no inclination he is unhappy playing in Detroit or that he wants out from the losing culture around him.

“I love playing this game. I hate losing. I love the guys in the locker room. I love this organization. I love playing for it, so that’s not my style. I’m going to keep fighting, keep doing everything I can do to try and help us win.”

Stafford pointed the finger at himself for the loss.

“Obviously I wasn’t good enough today because we didn’t win the game so I
have to be better. I hate losing, frustrating, disappointing, all of that. But I’m going to continue to work and try and get better.”

The 32-year-old completed 28 of his 42 pass attempts, netting 295 yards. He threw one TD and one INT, an early pick-six to J.J. Watt. Stafford was also sacked four times in a game the Lions played without four offensive starters.

Stafford was asked specifically if he ever wondered what it would be like to play somewhere else. He shot that down emphatically.

“No, I just put my head down and go to work. It’s on us as players, we have to go out there and make plays. It doesn’t matter what uniform you’re wearing, the team that makes more plays is going to win the game. And we didn’t do that and haven’t done it consistently enough this year, we
understand that. We work every day to make sure that it is us who is making the plays to win the game. So we have to go out there and make the plays when they’re available.”

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:

Matt Patricia’s coaching malpractice on full display in Lions’ lifeless loss to Texans

The Lions showed the national audience just how low Matt Patricia’s coaching can sink them

Matt Patricia has been a poor NFL head coach for some time. Lions fans largely knew that already, but the annual Thanksgiving Day game exposed Patricia’s inept foibles to a much wider national audience.

On behalf of all of us who watch the Lions on a daily basis, let me apologize to everyone for ruining your appetite on Thanksgiving with some truly dreadful football. The nation now has clear evidence of Matt Patricia and his coaching malpractice.

Some of the coaching decisions made in this embarrassing loss defy any conventional football knowledge.

Take the Deshaun Watson-to-Will Fuller touchdown pass in the fourth quarter. The first one, I guess I have to specify as they connected for TDs on two consecutive Texans plays, but I digress…

Amani Oruwariye is lined up in press coverage on the outside on Fuller. Oruwariye is a good cover man, but he’s not the fastest guy. Fuller is indeed the fastest guy. Yet there is Oruwariye given no safety help over the top — but also not jamming or pressing despite the press alignment. The actual plan in coverage was to have Oruwariye turn and run with Fuller. Duron Harmon did veer that way as the single-high safety, but his other coverage responsibilities on the play prevented him from being a factor if Watson makes a good throw. And he did.

That’s not Oruwariye’s fault. That’s not Harmon’s fault. That’s coaching malpractice. They’re being set up to fail by a senseless scheme that doesn’t adapt to the opponent or tailor to the strengths of the players on the field.

Need another example of the Patricia coaching malpractice? Let’s review the Lions’ final drive of the first half.

After Houston scored, the Lions get the ball back on a touchback with 1:44 on the clock. The first play is a nondescript run call where Kerryon Johnson picked up four yards. That was enough to engage the offense into striving for points instead of just bleeding out the clock.

A defensive holding penalty advanced the ball and created a fresh set of downs. Johnson broke off a nice gain on a catch-and-run to get across midfield. With plenty of time and a full set of three timeouts, Patricia opts to apparently play for the long Matt Prater field goal.

A quick pass to T.J. Hockenson is followed by a rushed incompletion and a sack. Instead of letting Prater attempt a 65-yard field goal, Patricia opted to punt.

No urgency. No plan. No attacking. Coaching malpractice.

There were several other instances. Going for it on 4th-and-1 by using a linebacker-turned-fullback instead of one of the greatest short-yardage runners in NFL history in Adrian Peterson is another great example.

Enough is enough.

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Behind Enemy Lines: Breaking down Houston with Texans Wire

Behind Enemy Lines: Breaking down Detroit’s matchup against Houston with Texans Wire

The Houston Texans are coming to Detroit for the Thanksgiving Day matinee at Ford Field. Deshaun Watson and his band of Texans are 3-7, coming off a win over the New England Patriots in Week 11 that marked their best victory of the season.

To learn more about the Texans and their travails under an interim regime, I turned to Mark Lane, managing editor of Texans Wire. Lane graciously, honestly answered a few questions about the state of the Texans and how this turkey day matchup will go down.

Deshaun Watson is having a great season. What has been the key to him remaining excellent despite the team’s poor record?

Watson has kind of accepted that he is one of 11 out on the field, and all the team is asking him to do is his job. Let the rest of the chips fall where they may. In doing so, he has put on some of his better performances of the season, and he hasn’t dipped below 90.0 in passer rating since Week 2. He hasn’t chucked an interception since Week 5 against the Jacksonville Jaguars, a 30-14 win at NRG Stadium.

Combined with that, the receiving corps, which has added new elements with receivers Randall Cobb and Brandin Cooks, has developed cohesion with the two-time Pro Bowler. Tight end Jordan Akins was out for a stretch, but has come back and provided a nice check down to replace an ineffective running game. If Watson weren’t playing, this would be an unbearable football team to watch.

Why has the Texans run game struggled so much?

Some of it is the defense has given up so many points the offense has to abandon it, or teams don’t respect it and squelch it quickly. The Texans have rushed just 220 times, the third-fewest in the NFL. Their 3.8 yards per carry is tied for the fourth-lowest in the league.

During the NFL combine, the sense was maybe the Texans might use their second or third-round pick on a J.K. Dobbins or even a Zack Moss. Instead, they traded DeAndre Hopkins, and with David Johnson coming with his contract, you knew that was the RB1 regardless.

J.J. Watt is coming off a huge game vs. New England. How close is Watt to his peak self?

Through the first eight games last season, although Watt had just 4.0 sacks at the time he tore his pectoral muscle, he had 21 quarterback hits, tied for the 20th-most by season’s end. So, the sense was that he was about to have a sack explosion and maybe qualified for a Pro Bowl.

This season, Watt has just eight quarterback hits and 4.0 sacks, same as last year. Cam Newton was in the top-10 for having passes batted going into Week 11. I think a lot of it had more to do with Newton’s problems than Watt’s skill, although it was quite the flashback.

The Texans pass defense seems to be trending up but the run defense is still dead last. Is it scheme, talent, execution or a combination?

It’s guys who are getting off their blocks, freelancing, and trying to make plays on their own. Some of it is also losing D.J. Reader in free agency. The defensive tackle provided the Texans a quality run-stuffer in the trenches, and he was someone that helped make J.J. Watt’s job easier. Against the Patriots, they played more disciplined football, achieved a win, and perhaps provided a necessary touchstone they can go back to.

What’s the attitude of the team playing under an interim coach and interim front office?

The players love Romeo Crennel and are having fun without taskmaster Bill O’Brien in the building. Whether that is sustainable going forward remains to be seen, although it helps chairman and CEO Cal McNair achieve the objective of having the team play with more fun again.

None of the players have said anything substantive about the front office. If anything, Deshaun Watson has remarked about how impressed he is with a “man of God” such as executive vice president of football operations, Jack Easterby, who is also filling in as interim general manager.

The McNairs have to get the coaching and general manager hires right, because Houston is an attractive place to be. Who cares that they are missing their two front teeth in terms of their 2021 first and second round picks being gone? They still have Deshaun Watson. It is a quarterback’s league. If they can bring in a coach who can work with Watson, they should at least vie for a playoff spot while reloading for the 2022 NFL Draft.

The “bad news” is the McNairs hired the same talent evaluation firm that conjured O’Brien.

Who wins and why?

The Texans are operating on a short week and LT Laremy Tunsil is still pretty iffy for Thanksgiving with a non-COVID illness. DT P.J. Hall was listed as a non-participant on Monday with knee and shoulder ailments. G Senio Kelemete (concussion) was limited. The injury factor could knock Houston down a notch. If Ndamukong Suh were playing, he wouldn’t have a reason to kick Matt Schaub as the Lions prevail 26-22, winning their first Turkey Day game since 2016.

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