A questionable onside kick, penalties, and drops hurt Detroit against Houston as they fall to 4-4 after the 20-13 loss.
The Hoston Texans were ferocious on defense and Detroit failed to produce that late-game magic that’s helped them win their previous three games. Coach Caldwell elected to go for an onside kick attempt, with three minutes and three timeouts in the fourth, which didn’t work and ended Detroit’s comeback bid. Matthew Stafford was decent, but not his explosive self. Houston’s defensive line, including Jadeveon Clowney, harassed Stafford and the Lions’ offensive line all game. The Texans’ secondary was outstanding, possibly getting away with some calls but outplayed Detroit’s receivers for most of the day. The Lions are 4-4, after a painful, Sunday-afternoon-killing loss that hurts their playoff chances. Read my quarterly notes from the game below.
1ST QUARTER
The Lions received to start the game. Eric Ebron and Theo Riddick were back in the starting lineup. A few short passes got the Lions past midfield and a Riddick catch had them at the Texans’ 38-yard line. Coach Caldwell elected to go for it on fourth-and-three. Matthew Stafford looked for the quick dump off, saw it was covered then tried to take off, but without enough room he fired it incomplete to Anquan Boldin. The Lions turned the ball over to the Texans. After two Lamar Miller runs failed to get a first down, the Lions sacked Osweiler on third-and-three. Armonty Bryant got the sack. The Lions got the ball back and a holding penalty on the kickoff pinned them around their own 10-yard line. Stafford’s completion to Golden Tate moved Detroit out near their own 20.
Riddick popped a run up the left sideline for a first down. Another quick pass to Tate for a nice gain got the Lions near midfield. We finally saw the return of Eric Ebron, as he caught the ball on a crossing route to get Detroit to the Texans 35-yard line. After another Ebron catch, Texans DB Kareem Jackson broke up a pass on third-and-six to Boldin. On the Matt Prater kick, the ball took a very awkward trajectory and bounced off the upright for the missed field goal. Lions were getting nice pressure, making Osweiler look frantic in the pocket. Kerry Hyder Jr. hit him causing an incompletion. Osweiler hits his tight end for a first down and the first quarter ends with the Texans in field-goal range with the ball.
END OF 1ST: Detroit-0, Houston-0.
2ND QUARTER
Osweiler hits C.J. Fiedorowicz for a 7-yard touchdown pass on 3rd and goal. 7-0, Texans. Stafford took over after another kickoff penalty with bad field position. The Texans were getting away with some good, physical play at corner. Stafford couldn’t convert and the Lions punted right back to Houston with 11 minutes left in the half. A nice kick return gave the Texans great field position. They decided to go for – and get – their 4th-and-short rushing attempt. A Lions penalty put Houston on the Detroit’s 26-yard line. DeAndre Hopkins made an unreal one-handed catch to give Houston a 1st-and-goal. Lamar Miller pounded it in to go up 14-0.
Detroit got the ball back and started their drive with a pitch to Riddick up the left sideline. That would be it, however, as back-to-back penalties on the Lions offensive line killed another drive. They were forced to punt back to the Texans with around four minutes left in the half. Hopkins kicked off the Texans drive with another pretty grab. The Texans ran a similar fake-pitch sweep to what Detroit ran earlier, that was gobbled up by the Lions defense. Detroit got the ball back with just under two minutes left in the half. A blatant pass interference finally produced a penalty that went Detroit’s way. An Ebron drop added to Detroit’s league-lead with 17. A sack ended the drive for Detroit.
Sam Martin’s mediocre punt gave the Texans the ball in great position, with 1:21 left and 2 timeouts. John Bademosi made an interception on a ball intended for Hopkins to kill their scoring drive. Detroit got the ball and Stafford hit Ebron for 34-yards. Two more catches by Ebron had Detroit in field goal position. Prater redeemed himself, cutting into the lead to make it 14-3 going into halftime.
HALFTIME: Houston-14, Detroit-3.
3RD QUARTER
Houston received the ball to start the second half. Detroit seemed confident (Jim Caldwell even reportedly winked at Fox sideline reporter Jen Hale). Lamar Miller was swarmed and Detroit’s defensive continued to play well. Houston punted back to Detroit after a 3-and-out. The Lions matched Houston with an even quicker 3-and-out, and punted it back. DeAndre Hopkins caught what looked to be a catch and fumbled, but it was ruled a drop. Caldwell looked like he might challenge it, but chose not to. The announcers were adamant it was a fumble, I’m not so sure it would have been overturned. Detroit held the Texans to a field goal and went down 17-3, with 5:51 left in the third quarter.
The Lions had a nice kick return that for once wasn’t negated (Andre Roberts looked good all game). Stafford missed Jones on a curl route. Riddick ran a two-way go and converted a 2nd-and-10. Marvin Jones caught a contested ball for a third down conversion. Stafford hit Ebron multiple times — on what was looking like the best game of Ebron’s career — and Detroit was in field goal range. The quarter ended with Detroit still down 14-points with the ball.
END OF 3RD QUARTER: Detroit-3, Houston-17.
4TH QUARTER
Stafford rolled to his right and hit a diving Theo Riddick, who rolled into the end zone for the touchdown. Houston took over with a touchdown lead, up 17-10, with 14:50 left in the game. Osweiler wasn’t able to do much on the next drive and the Texans punted it. The Lions had another penalty and a drive that went nowhere, yet again. Houston got it back with about ten minutes left in the game. They drove down with Alfred Blue killing Detroit’s front-seven, and nearly scored before a holding penalty backed up the drive. They settled for a field goal, making it 20-10 Houston. Caldwell, for some reason, let Houston bleed the clock but had all three timeouts when Detroit took over with 4:09 let in the game.
Andre Roberts had another spectacular return and got it out past the Lions 40-yard line. Jones had a first down grab and Riddick caught the ball out of the backfield and took for a 23-yard gain. Tate couldn’t convert the 3rd-and-10 and Detroit settled for a field goal, making it 20-13. Surprisingly, (to put it nicely) Caldwell elected to go for the onside kick, despite having three minutes left, three timeouts, and playing against Brock Osweiler. It backfired, horrifically, as Detroit couldn’t get the onside kick. Detroit’s defense let Lamar Miller run right through them and the game was over.
FINAL SCORE: Houston-20, Detroit-13.
3 STARS OF THE GAME
3. Eric Ebron
Ebron had another good performance wasted in a loss. He’s surely a difference-maker when healthy and locked in. Stafford connected with him in some crucial moments. Ebron finished with 7 catches for 79 yards. He had a big conversion late, but it was all for nothing as Detroit couldn’t get the ball back to try and extend the game.
2. Andre Roberts
Roberts was dominant in the return-game all day, but had several taken back with pentalties. Nonetheless, he finished with 5 for 134 yards, including a 42-yarder in a big moment, late in game. Roberts wasn’t a factor in the passing game, but is a good option out there returning kicks.
1. Jim Caldwell’s Onside Kick Decision (For Houston)
I’m not usually one to bash Coach Caldwell. I wrote about how his timeout strategy had been paying off in Detroit’s 3-game win streak. However, in this game it absolutely made no sense to try and onside it in this critical moment. Sure, Detroit was down one score and it could have been a great move, but why let Houston bleed the clock just to onside it when there was still enough time to kick it deep and put the pressure on Osweiler? All coaches make tough decisions but Detroit’s aggresiveness surely cost them in this one. But, that’s the NFL. Easy for me to question it when it didn’t work. Still, damn, it seemed like Detroit lost a game they could’ve won. What else is new?
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