Dec 14, 2014; Detroit, MI, USA; Detroit Lions punter Sam Martin (6) holds the ball as kicker Matt Prater (5) kicks a field goal during the third quarter against the Minnesota Vikings at Ford Field. Mandatory Credit: Detroit won 16-14. Tim Fuller-USA TODAY Sports
The Bad
Special Teams
This tweet explains it all.
If the punt team just stood there instead of trying to do anything, Lions would be up 10-0.
— Matt Snyder (@snyder_matthew) December 21, 2014
About halfway through the game the Bears led by a score of 14-10. Both touchdowns were courtesy of a special teams blunder from Detroit.
The Lions gave up an easy score leading into the half after Jeremy Ross fumbled a punt inside his own 15-yard line.
In the third quarter, Julian Stanford was penalized for roughing the kicker on 4th and 23. It was a pretty weak call as I’m not even sure if Stanford touched the punter. It was a great sell by Chicago’s punter who immediately flopped to the ground after the punt though. Gotta give him credit for keeping the drive alive.
Not to be outdone by the punting unit was Matt Prater who ended up slipping on a kick attempt early in the fourth quarter. It resulted in a blocked kick for the Bears.
Defensive Line
There was really no excuse for not being able to put pressure on Jimmy Clausen today. Especially with Kyle Long among the inactives for the Bears. Clausen was given all day and managed to have a pretty solid game for a QB who hasn’t started since 2011.
With the First Pick
Suh was getting double/triple teams thrown at him all game long and his teammates weren’t able to get the job done beside him.
Detroit’s defensive line unit has been inconsistent all year. It would be nice if they could show up while they’re fighting for their first divisional title since 1993.
Matthew Stafford and the Offensive Line
Stafford had an extremely rough game completing just 56 percent of his passes for 6.2 yards per attempt. To his credit, he didn’t really receive a whole lot of help from his offensive line. It felt like over half of his dropbacks resulted in getting knocked to the ground.
Left guard Rob Sims was beat on an inside stunt from Bears defensive end Jared Allen for the first sack of the game. For some unknown reason, the Lions’ o-line just cannot figure out the inside stunt. It continues to haunt them on third down.
The frustration didn’t stop there. During the second half, Raiola was caught “accidentally” stomping on a defender’s ankle after a play was blown dead. As you can tell, it was clearly on purpose. Raiola can expect another fine later this week, and possibly a suspension. That kind of behavior is completely unnecessary.
Honorable Mentions:
Jeremy Ross, Matt Prater, Theo Riddick, Ezekiel Ansah, Don Carey, Cassius Vaughn, Andre Fluellen