Detroit Lions Week 6 Review: The Good and the Bad

Oct 5, 2014; Detroit, MI, USA; Detroit Lions wide receiver Golden Tate (15) celebrates his touchdown with wide receiver Jeremy Ross (12) during the first quarter against the Buffalo Bills at Ford Field. Mandatory Credit: Tim Fuller-USA TODAY Sports

The Bad

Golden Tate

Tate caught seven passes for 44 yards on 12 targets. He was unable to gain many yards after the catch like we’re prone to seeing by now. Not only that, but he had at least three drops by my count, which is very uncharacteristic of him.

I’ll just chalk this up as a small setback for Tate, because he’s been so good for this offense up until this point.

The Kicker Position

I’m getting pretty exhausted from writing about the Lions’ kicking woes.

This tweet just about sums everything up:

Seriously? Is this real life?

If Prater continues to struggle, I have no idea what the Lions would do. They can’t expect better results from recycling through other washed up kickers, so they may just have to wait for Prater to get back to his old ways.

It could be just a matter of getting the timing right with holder Sam Martin, or maybe the fact that today was the first time he’s kicked in an NFL environment in four weeks. Either way, the misses just have to stop for the Lions, because this is getting pathetic.

Stafford and the Offensive Line

Stafford had yet another poor performance for the Lions despite earning a win. It wasn’t all his fault though, as he didn’t exactly receive the best protection from his offensive line, and he also had a few catchable passes that were dropped by his peers.

Live Feed

With the First Pick

I don’t know who to point fingers at anymore, but I can tell you off the top of my head that I remember a few instances where left guard Rob Sims and center Dominic Raiola were not on the same page and resulted in Stafford getting hit and/or sacked. Larry Warford also had a bizarre play where it looked as if he didn’t have the snap count down, resulting in another hit on Stafford.

Stafford may be struggling, but if the offensive line cannot get their act together, we may see an offense run by Dan Orlovsky. Trust me Lions fans, if that happens, you’re going to wish you had a struggling Stafford under center.

Ryan Broyles

Ryan Broyles was active for today’s game, and even with Megatron out I don’t remember a single instance of seeing him on the field.

Broyles was a first down machine in the preseason this year, and with the Lions only converting one of 13 third downs today, you have to wonder why the coaching staff refuses to plug Broyles in their offense.

Honorable Mentions:

Corey Fuller, DeAndre Levy, Eric Ebron, Packers won, FOX announcers