The Detroit Lions were an embarrassment to open the 2018 season

The Detroit Lions looked like a pee wee team taking on their dads against the New York Jets. Every aspect of the game was a loss for the Motor City on Monday Night Football.

The game started well. Quandre Diggs opened the season with a pick-six, in pretty much the only highlight of the night for the team. After that, the Detroit Lions got rolled. There is no way to overreact to this game. It was an embarrassment.

The Lions fixed their running game in the offseason right? Well no actually, they didn’t. They couldn’t open holes in the run game, and no number of new running backs is going to fix that problem with five defenders in the backfield. LeGarrette Blount had four carries for -3 yards before he went down with a nasty leg injury. Kerryon Johnson averaged 3.4 yards per attempt.

The Lions offense had one good drive in the first three-quarters of the game. The rest of it was the same lackadaisical and predictable garbage that we’ve seen for several years from Jim Bob Cooter. The Lions kept Cooter as their offensive play-caller despite a new head coach. Lions fans can be forgiven for questioning why.

Of course, Cooter can’t make receivers catch the ball. Golden Tate was relatively quiet in the first half. He came alive for the Lions one good drive. Then he couldn’t hold onto the ball for the rest of the second half.

On defense, the Lions were an easy three yards on every running play. Isaiah Crowell put the dagger in the heart of a brutal game with a 62-yard run where he got through completely untouched. The Jets were lining up in obvious run formations and trying to run out the clock. The Lions defense couldn’t even let them do that.

On Special teams, the Jets got the benefit of Andre Roberts, who had well over 100 punt return yards on the night. The Lions didn’t force a lot of punts.

Matthew Stafford threw four interceptions. Darnold only threw the one pick on the night. The Jets defense and special teams were outscored the Lions offense. The Lions were down 31 points at the end of the third. Their garbage time offensive numbers don’t matter.

This game was pathetic. Jim Caldwell got fired for this? This was the least prepared team I have seen in a Lions uniform since the first game of the 2008 season. This game was an embarrassment. The players should be ashamed of themselves, the coaches should be ashamed of themselves, and Bob Quinn should be ashamed of himself.

Actually, Kenny Golladay has no reason to be ashamed of himself. He did most of his damage before the game was completely out of hand. The Lions second-year receiver crossed the 100-yard mark for the first time in his career. Congratulations Kenny, thanks for giving me at least one positive thing to write about.