The good, the bad, and the ugly: Week 15, New York Giants

The Detroit Lions walked into East Rutherford on Sunday for the biggest game of the season by far, and played their worst game of the year.  No one on offense or defense played considerably well, and the coaching staff performed even worse.  It is tough to recover from two redzone turnovers in any game, let alone against the Giants’ stellar defense.  This loss, combined with the Green Bay win in Chicago, means that the Lions now have little room for error in the next two weeks.

It might be hard to re-live this game, but since you’re already here, might as well take a look at the good, the bad, and the ugly.

The Good

Matthew Stafford

Stafford did not finish the day with the best stat line, but he played well for most of the game, even if he tried forcing the ball to Boldin on the game-ending interception.  His teammates and coaches on the other hand, were largely miserable.  The receivers dropped more passes, which is sadly not new.  The running game actively hurt the offense today, with Zach Zenner’s fumble in the red zone and Dwayne Washington contributing one 12 yard run, then achieving an incredible 19 yards on 12 carries.  Stafford has carried this team to nearly every single win this year, and he’ll have to do it at least one more time to win the division.

Matt Prater

Prater was the only player to score points this game.  So I guess he gets a spot here.  He also tied his career high for made field goals in a season, which is a nice feat for him, and a depressing statistic for the Lions’ ability to finish drives with touchdowns.

Golden Tate

Tate continues his surge after starting the year off slow.  He finished with 8 catches for 122 yards, and almost had much more had it not been for a last-moment tip from Eli Apple on a would-be touchdown.  Jim Bob Cooter seems to have figured out how to use Tate to his fullest.

The Bad

Officiating

Remember when this was a catch?  Me neither.

Blaming the officiating for losing is a fool’s errand and petty at best.  But when the results are this abhorrent, they should be pointed out.  Not only did they completely blow the call above, but also continually missed egregious penalties all game by both sides.  Matthew Stafford was pummeled late after a delay of game penalty early on, and Taylor Decker was holding Olivier Vernon on nearly every other play.  Just another day in the life of the NFL referee.  Hiring 17 full-time referees will help, but drastic measures need to be taken to resolve this issue plaguing the league for decades.  Don’t hold your breath.

Asa Jackson

Adarius Barnes must be flabbergasted.  Asa Jackson had an awful day, and hasn’t shown anything of note in the two games he has played in.  To be fair, he was put in terrible positions all game, often being asked to cover Odell Beckham by his lonesome, which, in my opinion, is worse than Teryl Austin dropping Haloti Ngata in coverage to guard Jordy Nelson.  If anyone asked me to describe one of Jackson’s strengths as a corner, I would come up blank.  It is incomprehensible to me that he of Baltimore Ravens practice squad fame showed enough to coaches and Bob Quinn to drop Barnes for him.

The Ugly

Zach Zenner’s red zone fumble

Looking back, this was the play that turned the entire game.  If Zenner punches the ball into the endzone, the Lions would have taken a 10-7 lead, and gained confidence that they could score points on a team that rarely concedes a touchdown.  Zenner likely would have been benched following the fumble had the Lions had anyone else to run the ball besides Dwayne Washington.  When the team is down to its 4th string running back though, all bets are off.

Front Office and coaching

It starts up top.  Bob Quinn made the head-scratching decision to promote Asa Jackson from the Baltimore Ravens’ practice squad a few weeks ago, demoting Adarius Barnes in the process.  Why?  We will literally never know.

The coaching staff could have mitigated his impact, however.  Teryl Austin repeatedly put Asa Jackson up against Odell Beckham Jr, often in key or game-changing situations.  A corner who joined the team two weeks ago, who had a bad game in his first, played crucial snaps against arguably the league’s best receiver.  If you can rationalize this decision, please let me know.

Jim Bob Cooter also had one of his worst days as a coordinator.  Up against above average or good defenses, Cooter’s offense tends to crumble.  Against the Giants it was no different.  Matthew Stafford’s finger played no negative role, either.  He was making just about every throw he always does, but Cooter coddled him yet again.  Stafford has had the best season of his career, but too often the offensive coordinator puts the training wheels on, giving him short completions on tough situations.  The inept screen game reared its ugly head yet again, being called in 3rd and long situations.

Jim Caldwell’s stock has been falling the past few games as well.  This team came out flatter than ever in the most important game yet, and continually play down to their opponents.  I cannot remember the last time he exploited a team’s weakness.  Remember when he was “the most aggressive coach in the league?”  Today, he punted down by two scores with less than five minutes left.  He didn’t challenge the first Beckham drop, which was glaringly obvious to everyone except the referees and Jim Caldwell.  If the team falters down the stretch and misses the Division title or the playoffs entirely, he should be gone.

In conclusion.

The Lions likely will have to beat Green Bay on the last day of the regular season to clinch the division, which is terrifying to think about during this current winning streak they are on.  If the Vikings can do the Lions one more favor and beat the Packers next week, and the Lions somehow pull off a miracle against the Cowboys, the division could be clinched before that game.  That seems as unlikely as ever after this utterly disappointing loss.  Buckle up, Lions fans, and stock up on alcohol.

Next: Lions Fail First of 3 Big Tests With Loss to Giants