Detroit Lions Week 2 PFF Grades: The Offensive Line Played Well?
By Alex Reno
If you are not aware by now, Pro Football Focus is a website dedicated to grading NFL players’ individual performances based on in depth review of every snap of every game. If you’re interested, here is a look at their grading system.
Let’s take a quick look at what PFF had to say about the Detroit Lions and their road loss against the Carolina Panthers, shall we?
Offense
Best Grades:
Joseph Fauria: +1.8
Dominic Raiola: +1.4
Calvin Johnson: +1.3
Garrett Reynolds: +1.1
Larry Warford: +1.1
Rob Sims: +1.1
Worst Grades:
Matthew Stafford: -5.1
Golden Tate: -2.5
Reggie Bush: -0.7
Joique Bell: -0.7
Jed Collins: -0.5
Analysis:
I really couldn’t disagree more with most of these grades. PFF gives a lot of love to the offensive line, yet I thought Stafford was constantly under duress and played a better game than most thought. Stafford’s decision making was not up to par with his performance from last week’s bout with the Giants, but it was a team failed effort.
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Stafford’s biggest mishap came on a 1st-and-10 with good field position where he forced a throw to Calvin Johnson into double coverage. Last week, he was rewarded with his patience and had a spectacular game. If he would have been a little more patient against the Panthers, we may have seen a different outcome.
It was clear yesterday that the right tackle position was going to be a problem with both Corey Hilliard and LaAdrian Waddle sidelined, especially when all three sacks were given up by either Garrett Reynolds or Cornelius Lucas. PFF still managed to give them positive grades, including Reynolds receiving the fourth highest grade on offense.
Defense
Best Grades:
DeAndre Levy: +2.5
Stephen Tulloch: +1.3
Nick Fairley: +1.2
Jason Jones: +0.5
Ndamukong Suh: +0.2
Worst Grades:
Ezekiel Ansah: -2.6
Rashean Mathis: -1.8
Devin Taylor: -1.8
Cassius Vaughn: -1.6
CJ Mosley: -1.2
Analysis:
I truly expected defensive tackle CJ Mosley to be at the top of the list. He made a few big plays against the Panthers, including two sacks and two “Superman Cam” celebrations (that counts for something, right?).
I also thought that Darius Slay played much better than he was given credit for (-0.2), but to be fair his negative grade was due to his ineffectiveness in the run game yesterday, supposedly missing two tackles.
As the game wore on, Cam Newton began ripping the secondary to shreds, and you can tell by the fact that not a single player in the Lions’ secondary received a positive grade yesterday
Other than that, most of the grades on defense given out were up to par with what I saw yesterday. The Lions put pressure on Cam up the middle, but had difficulty getting any production out of their defensive ends. Ansah and Jones were credited with a half a sack each early on, but disappeared for the rest of the game.
As the game wore on, Cam Newton began ripping the secondary to shreds, and you can tell by the fact that not a single player in the Lions’ secondary received a positive grade yesterday.