Pride of Detroit
With five games left in the season, the Detroit Lions are running out of time to make the playoffs. The room for error is thin, as one loss doesn’t knock them out of the race, but it forces them to finish the season undefeated. It started with a Thursday night primetime game against the Dallas Cowboys, who were also fighting for their playoff hopes.
The Lions answered the call when it came to the big play moments. Despite poor officiating early on, the team overcame that, and once they were up 10-6, Detroit never looked back. They were up 20-9 at halftime, and despite the Cowboys fighting with all their might to stay in the game, Detroit answered the bell each time Dallas did something big.
Detroit improves to 8-5 on the year, and their playoff chances increase with the win. I came away with six takeaways from the win.
Last season, rookie guard Christian Mahogany missed training camp, preseason, and most of the regular season due to Mononucleosis. He ended up playing, filling in for injuries to the team’s starting guard. This year, rookie guard Miles Frazier missed training camp, preseason, and most of the regular season due to an injury. He was activated from IR recently and was inactive last week.
This week, starting left guard Kayode Awosika missed the game due to injury, so offensive lineman Trystan Colon stepped in to start. After two drives where Colon was getting bullied, the Lions benched him and replaced him with Frazier, and saw an instant upgrade at the position. Quarterback Jared Goff was faced with pressure quickly with Colon at guard, but when Fraizer came in, Goff had time to throw, and it gave the offense life.
Frazier wasn’t perfect, as he did get called for two false starts, but he impressed me with his play between the whistles. Frazier didn’t get the rest of the snaps, though, as he and Colon rotated in and out in the second half. Personally, I think Frazier did better and would start him over Awosika even when he’s healthy until Mahogany possibly returns later this month.
It’s honestly sad that I have to continue to discuss the poor job the officials do every game. It shouldn’t be something that changes the game, but this game could’ve been worse for Dallas if the refs called the game correctly. Things started rough when the Lions sacked Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott in the end zone for a safety. That was until the officials said the ball was clearly at the one-yard line in a very debatable call, as angles showed the ball was touching the white at the very least.
Twice, the replay assistance had to make up for the officials’ mistakes, and I appreciate it now, as both times it saved the Lions from getting screwed. The first was a clear incomplete pass thrown by Goff towards the dirt, the...
