The Detroit Lions suffered a setback on Sunday afternoon as they were defeated by the Minnesota Vikings by a score of 27-24. With the results of the rest of the NFC North creating some urgency, the Lions need to move on quickly from the loss and fix their mistakes in advance of a Week 10 matchup against the Washington Commanders.
While the Lions have some things that are correctable, such as their struggles on third down, there are some other issues that have lingered throughout the season. That includes the sudden retirement of center Frank Ragnow, who threw the middle of the offensive line into a transition period in the middle of June.
The Lions have done a good job making up for the loss of Ragnow and entered Sunday ranked seventh in Pro Football Focus’s offensive line rankings. But while Graham Glasgow has been serviceable in his place, Ragnow’s absence was finally felt as the Vikings terrorized Jared Goff in a disappointing loss.
Lions Finally Feel the Impact of Frank Ragnow’s Retirement After Vikings Loss
The Glasgow experiment at center has had mixed results for the Lions this season. Winning the job over rookie Tate Ratledge during training camp, Glasgow had a couple of tough games at the beginning of the year, with a 43.6 overall grade in a loss to the Green Bay Packers in Week 1 and a 56.7 overall grade in a Week 2 victory over the Chicago Bears.
While the overall grades have evened out to post an overall grade over 60 in each of the past five games, the one constant has been Glasgow’s pass-blocking. In the first seven games, Glasgow allowed six pressures and no sacks in 179 pass blocking snaps, according to PFF. He also had just one penalty during that stretch and appeared to be a serviceable replacement, even if he wasn’t playing at Ragnow’s All-Pro level.
But that all changed on Sunday afternoon. Glasgow’s 44.9 overall grade was part of his rough performance, but he also short-circuited in pass protection, allowing three pressures and a sack on 42 pass-blocking snaps. Another challenge was picking up Vikings defensive coordinator Brian Flores’s scheme, which threw several exotic looks at Glasgow that he wasn’t able to call out before the snap.
One play highlighted by Matt Waldman of Footballguys.com saw Flores disguise a cross blitz. While Ragnow wasn’t the sole cause of the pressure on Goff, it was the type of play that Ragnow identified to protect his quarterback in his previous matchups with Minnesota.
The PFF grades show evidence as Ragnow posted a 90.1 overall grade and an 85.1 pass blocking grade with no pressures on 29 snaps in a Week 7 victory over the Vikings last season. In the winner-take-all matchup in Week 18, Ragnow’s overall grade dropped to 61.5 overall, and his pass-blocking dropped to 73.5. But he still shut down the Vikings’ pass rush with no pressures allowed on 36 pass blocking snaps.
This all contributed to Goff being pressured for the third-highest rate of the season at 42.9% and his highest pressure rate since Week 4 (44.4%) in a win over the Cleveland Browns. This won’t go unnoticed by other teams, and there’s a good chance teams could attack the interior going forward – especially after starting left guard Christian Mahogany is facing an extended absence with a knee injury.
Put it all together, and Ragnow’s retirement finally hit the Lions in Week 9, and how they respond could determine the outcome for the rest of the season.