Coming off an early bye, the Detroit Lions traveled to Miami to try to even their record to .500 in order to keep pace in their quest for a division crown.
Hard Rock Stadium played host to this week’s NFC versus AFC contest as Matt Patricia’s Detroit Lions made their way from mild Midwestern temperatures in Michigan down to balmy 80+ degree heat in Miami, FL in an effort to win their first road game of the season against a spirited Dolphin bunch.
Here’s how the game went down…
First Quarter
Miami opened up with the ball first from their own 25-yard line with the ageless Frank Gore gaining one-yard on his first carry. On the second snap, Ricky Jean-Francois was able to get home to sack Miami quarterback Brock Osweiler and one play later the Dolphins were stopped on 3rd down as the Lion defense forced a quick three and out.
With the injury to Jamal Agnew, Golden Tate was lined up to field the punt and he got nine yards on the punt return. Kerryon Johnson gained 24 yards on his first carry of the game and he was also the recipient of Matthew Stafford‘s first pass attempt to gain six yards.
LeGarrette Blount then came in and powered his way to convert on second down. After being backed up to 1st & 25 after a chop block penalty, T.J. Jones caught a 26-yard pass from his quarterback to recover nicely from the penalty. Next, on 2nd & 6, Stafford found tight end Michael Roberts for a 15-yard touchdown, 7-0 Detroit.
Stafford was perfect on his first drive as he hit on all three of his passes and the Detroit offense looked good to begin this game.
On 3rd & 1 on Miami’s next series, the speedy Albert Wilson managed to gain five yards to move the chains. Quandre Diggs flew in to stop Wilson in the backfield two plays later to force 3rd & 8 and on the next Dolphin snap, Teez Tabor came up with a very good, textbook tackle to force Miami into another punt.
Detroit got the ball back on their own 10-yard line and Marvin Jones caught his first pass of the game, a five-yard gainer. In a curious call on 3rd & 1, instead of handing the ball off to their power back in Blount, the Lions decided to pass the ball to Tate but Miami defender Kiko Alonso tipped the pass at the line of scrimmage denying the conversion.
On try number three with the ball, Osweiler hit receiver Danny Amendola for a 19-yard strike. Glover Quin and Tabor teamed up to stop Miami’s would-be “YAC King” Wilson on 2nd & 14. Da’Shawn Hand stopped Kenyan Drake from gaining more than a yard on 3rd &10 and for the third consecutive time, the Detroit defense pushed Miami into a punting situation.
With just 12 seconds left in the quarter, Stafford and his offense took the field from the 4-yard line. Blount bullied his way for a five-yard gain and that would serve as the last play in the first period.