Detroit Lions: Week 2 loss at Green Bay goes exactly as expected
Playing with a depleted secondary, the Detroit Lions blew an early lead in their Week 2 matchup against the Green Bay Packers at Lambeau Field.
Watching Kerryon Johnson execute an empty stadium Lambeau Leap in Green Bay, Wisconsin, during the Detroit Lions‘ 42-21 loss against the Green Bay Packers was probably the high-point of an otherwise miserable day for head coach Matt Patricia.
The Lions came out of the gate roaring and pulled ahead early with an 11-point lead before their offense stalled during the second and third quarters. In typical Lions fashion, the defense failed to hold firm and blew the lead by halftime. This latest collapse is the 11th-straight loss for the team dating back to last season.
The latest stumble was not a shock by any means. Honestly, it was expected. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, Detroit became the first team in NFL history to blow double-digit leads and lose four straight games.
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After witnessing Packers quarterback, Aaron Rodgers steal the spotlight during a Week 1 victory against the Minnesota Vikings, many fans expected to see an encore performance in Week 2 against the Lions.
Instead, it was star-running back Aaron Jones who shined brightest. The Lions defense had no answer for Jones, who had three touchdowns on the day.
In total, he piled up 236-total yards of offense, averaging over ten-yards per touch in a dynamic performance that saw him produce two scores on the ground and one through the air as a receiver out of the backfield.
Throughout the last off-season’s draft process and free agency, it became evident that the Lions would be extremely limited across the defensive line this season. As expected, the unit was unable to impact the game in any capacity.
Their lackluster efforts resulted in just one sack of Rodgers and an obvious lack of push or penetration across the defensive line against an injury-riddled Packers offensive-line.
The Detroit Lions offense switched up the offensive trends, forgoing a “hand it to Adrian Peterson” style which was the plan in Week 1.
Lions offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell traditionally trends against sticking with the run. He’s shied away from the ideology on the game’s biggest stage in the Seahawks’ Super Bowl XLIX loss to the Patriots. Given that, it’s no surprise he’d migrate away from an Adrian Peterson-focused running attack that was one of the lone bright spots for the Detroit offense in Week 1.
Matthew Stafford is the type of quarterback to build around and compliment with a multitude of weapons. Still, it’s become quite apparent over the years that he’s not a signal-caller capable of putting this morbid Motown franchise on his back en-route to an upset victory.
His performance of 20/33 on attempts, 244 passing yards, two touchdowns, and one interception which the Packers were able to score off of. Without Kenny Golladay, the Lions’ top wideout, this offense is moving the chains but is still failing to find the high gear that launched Stafford as an early-season MVP candidate in 2019.
Second-year tight end T.J. Hockenson, and rookies D’andre Swift and Quintez Cephus provided noteworthy contributions from a pass-catching perspective, but all failed to reach the end-zone during the game despite having no drops on all of the trio’s targets.
Even after two games, it might be time for the Detroit Lions to evaluate the decision to keep around “defensive guru” Matt Patricia.
The writing is on the wall. These Lions of 2020 have their shortcomings, and Matt Patricia has sold the Ford family a bill of goods that he can’t deliver. This team continually has no fight and lacks the confidence to play with the lead in each passing week.
When measuring themselves against the best of the NFC North Division in 2020, these Lions have no courage like the one from Wizard of Oz. They are cowardly, undisciplined (7 penalties/70-yards), and lack general competence.
One would recognize that this should be a run-first, clock-chewing team because the defense is injury-riddled and below average.
The Lions’ best chance for a victory this season is likely to occur as a result of keeping another team’s offense off of the field. Shockingly, a so-called “defensive-guru” like Patricia is unable to figure things out.
Expect this team to be in complete upheaval by Week 5. By then, Matt Patricia will be fired, and the Lions will have their bye-week to figure out which temporary direction to head next under GM Bob Quinn…if he’s not dismissed by Sheila Ford-Hamp too.
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Until the next Detroit defensive-collapse, Forward Down The Field!