Pride of Detroit
Ten months later than expected, we finally got the highly-anticipated Detroit Lions vs. Philadelphia Eagles matchup.
The Lions struggled early on, mostly on the offensive side, as quarterback Jared Goff couldn’t get things moving through the air, facing pressure throughout the game. Even when he didn’t have pressure, he threw some rough passes, giving nobody a chance to catch them. The running game didn’t find much success, and despite the defense doing all it could, holding the Eagles to 16 points, it wasn’t enough in the end.
Let’s get into my six takeaways from the loss against the Eagles.
The Eagles’ ground game hasn’t been as stout as last year, and that trend continued Sunday night. Eagles running back Saquon Barkley was contained for 83 yards on 26 carries, averaging 3.2 yards per carry. The Lions saw the dreaded tush push six times (two times getting wiped away due to penalties on the Eagles), with the only success coming from the one-inch line, which is an automatic touchdown for just about any team in the NFL.
Philadelphia got all of its offensive linemen back from injuries as center Cam Jurgens returned after missing two games, but he did leave the game in the fourth quarter. Right tackle Lane Johnson left the game early with a foot injury and never came back. Despite Detroit holding the Eagles to 148 yards, 3,7 yards a carry, and one rushing touchdown, the team couldn’t secure the win.
The Lions’ offense was struggling to get the ball moving in the first half, and twice Lions head coach Dan Campbell decided to risk it on fourth-down plays. The first was a dumb play call, a run up the gut in back-to-back plays after it failed on third-and-1; it failed again on fourth-and-1. It would have made sense to do a quick pass or play action to wide receiver Kalif Raymond on a short route instead.
The second fourth-down attempt was a fake punt that the Eagles sniffed out, as they left their starting defense on the field. Facing the Lions’ special teams, it was a clear mismatch. Linebacker Grant Stuard ran for no gain, and the Eagles got into plus territory. Neither of those play calls was smart at all by Campbell.
The Lions failed on every fourth-down attempt, going 0-5 on the night. When it wasn’t poor play calling, it was poor execution by someone, which deflated all the work the offense tried on those drives.
The “Legion of Whom” played against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and posted an iconic performance. And while this time the Lions’ secondary wasn’t as depleted, it was still a night where players like cornerback Rock Ya-Sin and safety Thomas Harper had a challenge in front of them, and they answered the call. Hurts tried again and again to get the passing game going, but it never saw anything special....
