Detroit Lions Game Ball Week 14: Golden Tate

Golden Tate crossed the goal line twice on his way to earning the Detroit Lions Game Ball for Week 14.

The Detroit Lions looked passive and slow in their loss to the St. Louis Rams. The game, again, had a controversial call that went against the Lions. Beyond the debate over the clipping call, the game was relatively uneventful and frankly boring.

Golden Tate, always the definitive showman, easily had the best game of any Lion and that’s why he takes home the week 14 Game Ball. With the Lions offense in neutral for most of the day, Golden Tate stepped up in the second half. Tate caught 9 of his 10 targets for 60 yards, scored two touchdowns, and rushed once for 15 yards.  His numbers aren’t flashy, but he fought hard all game and was the only Lion to score. The tweet below has a link to his first touchdown. The clip immediately after is his second.

Quandre Diggs had one of his best games on the year. Underrated in the draft process, he wasn’t drafted until the 6th round. He’s put in his work from day one and when Josh Wilson landed on I.R., he stepped into the starting nickelback role. He’s improved steadily throughout the season and seemed to be all over the field today. He finished with only three tackles (one for loss) and one pass break up but he impacted the game all day. Diggs is making a strong case for locking down the starting role for the future.

While Matthew Stafford was not in contention for this weeks Game Ball, its worth noting that he did reach a milestone today. Stafford has reached 25,000 yards passing faster than any player in history. Considering that Stafford is still only 27, its safe to expect that there will be more records like this in his future.

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Previous Game Ball Winners
Week 1: Ameer Abdullah
Week 2: Ezekiel Ansah
Week 3: Calvin Johnson
Week 4: Ezekiel Ansah (2)
Week 5: Theo Riddick
Week 6: Matthew Stafford
Week 7: Caraun Reid
Week 8: Matt Prater
Week 10: Martha Ford
Week 11: Darius Slay
Week 12: Matthew Stafford (2)
Week 13: Isa Abdul-Quddus