Detroit Lions: 48-17 score not indicative of performance vs Jets

Following the Detroit Lions embarrassing 48-17 loss to the New York Jets Monday night, a closer examination of the game tells a somewhat different story.

For Detroit Lions fans, they woke up this morning to the harsh reality that Monday night’s 48-17 blowout loss to the New York Jets was not some sort of nightmarish dream. This was supposed to one of the easiest games for the Lions to win, with teams like the 1-0 New England Patriots, 1-0 Green Bay Packers and 0-1 Dallas Cowboys on tap prior to their Week Six bye.

Still, the lopsided score and with annoying chats of “J-E-T-S Jets! Jets! Jets!” still ringing in their ears, fans could easily conclude that Detroit’s performance in their home opener was simply more of those ‘same old Lions’. But the truth is the team performed better than the score indicates. And that numerous unusual circumstances resulted in one of the worst outcomes in franchise history.

First, let’s examine what went wrong and how abnormal this performance was for Detroit, starting with quarterback Matthew Stafford. Clearly, where the 30-year old passer goes, so go the Lions. Detroit can’t achieve the things they want without #9 playing well.

Stafford recorded four interceptions in a game for the fifth time in his ten-year career. But he’s only averaged 11 picks per season the last four years. In 2017, Stafford posted nine games without a single interception and recorded just a single pick through Week Five. The point being despite his history of multi-interception games, this was not a typical Stafford performance.

Secondly, let’s consider the players around him. The Lions offensive line is still a work in progress as the core of left tackle Taylor Decker, rookie left guard Frank Ragnow, center Graham Glasgow, right guard T.J. Lang and right tackle Rick Wagner have not been able to play together all that often due to various injuries. Continuity is vital to the success of any offensive line and this group is still building that much-needed chemistry.

But the offensive line actually performed well when it came to pass protection. According to Pro Football Focus, the Lions’ O-line ranked in the top ten in pass pro with a positive score of 79.2. And that bares out on a re-watch of the game as Stafford was able to move the ball well at times. In fact, the Jets failed to record a single sack in the contest, although they were certainly able to apply pressure.

What else stood out about the Lions’ offensive performance that was unusual? Running back LeGarrette Blount, who is known for being a short-yardage savant, was held to negative yardage on only four carries. The last time that happened to Blount was in October of 2015.

Continuing on this atypical theme, both wide receivers Marvin Jones and Golden Tate had their share of drops and missed opportunities. These are normally very reliable receivers who make clutch catches on the regular.

Yet, Jones had two opportunities to score touchdowns on passes that he was simply unable to come down with. And Tate had a chance to convert a key third down that he bobbled and dropped. Again, not typical performances out of these two.

Clearly, the Lions special teams struggled allowing two big returns from the Jets’ Andre Roberts, one resulting in a 78-yard punt return for a touchdown in the third quarter. This unit will need to clean up those issues and you have to believe they will.

Defensively, a rare bad angle taken by veteran safety Glover Quin resulted in 62-yard touchdown run by New York running back Isaiah Crowell. And this secondary did allow two touchdown passes by rookie quarterback Sam Darnold. But playing against rookie in his first start is always a gamble as there is typically next-to-no usable game film on which to properly gameplan for him. And you have to believe a good portion of Detroit’s struggles defensively were a result of this unit still learning a new scheme under first-year head coach Matt Patricia.

Also, it’s easy to forget that Detroit opened the game with a electrifying pick-six by safety Quandre Diggs, who just inked a three-year, $20.4 million extension. There were other positives to draw from as well.

Defensive end Ziggy Ansah recorded his first sack of the season before exiting due to a shoulder injury. Wide receiver Kenny Golladay posted his first 100-yard receiving game of his young career. Free agent linebacker Devon Kennard performed well in his debut, racking up six total tackles and a sack versus the Jets.

Finally, despite only recording 17 rushing yards on five carries, second-round running back Kerryon Johnson looked good in his NFL debut. Johnson also had three catches for 20 yards. I believe the rookie deserves more carries moving forward.

I think the biggest takeaway here is the 48-17 score is not indicative of Detroit Lions’ overall performance in their regular season opener against the New York Jets. There were certainly a lot of unusual mistakes made and spurts of poor play that resulted in the blowout. I do not think this will be a typical performance by the Lions this season and we should see better play moving forward.

For more grades, advanced statistics and more at Pro Football Focus, subscribe to PFF’s EDGE or ELITE subscriptions at ProFootballFocus.com.