Lions vs. Rams: Detroit falters again at home in another loss

Fourth Quarter, Part II

It looked to be a three-and-out for the Lions but Stafford looked deep for Golladay but the Lion receiver was yanked to the ground by the LA defender for a defensive pass interference to keep the Lions’ drive moving forward on a 48-yard penalty which was Detroit’s largest gain of the day.

Theo Riddick put out a strong run to gain seven and push the Lions into the red zone. Ellington would move the chains for Detroit on the next snap. Aaron Donald continued to wreck the Lions as he man-handled Blount for a loss of 1. On 2nd & 11, Riddick slipped on a draw play which drew the ire of the Lion fans in attendance at Ford Field.

On a big 3rd & 12 play for the Lions, Stafford miraculously escaped a sack, launched the ball downfield into the end zone and Kenny Golladay came down with the catch but one of his feet came down out of bounds to negate the would-be touchdown. Matt Prater made his field goal, 23-16 Los Angeles.

Coach Patricia called again for an onside kick but the attempt failed and the Rams again took over with advantageous field position. The Lions defense forced another third down but they got burned by Todd Gurley he should have had an easy score but he stopped short of the end zone in order to force Detroit to burn off their last timeout.

Coming back from the two-minute warning, Gurley got himself another touchdown with a 2-yard run, 30-16 Los Angeles.

Towards the end of the game, Ndamukong Suh pushed Stafford to the ground late which drew another personal foul flag on the former Lion. Stafford ended the game by throwing an interception on a 50-50 ball which drew the game to an end, 30-16 Final.

Final Thoughts

It’s a little ironic that the Lions’ previous coaching regime was ousted because consecutive seasons of 9-7 wasn’t “good enough”. Then, the new staff gets into place and the expectation was for Detroit to be able to immediately compete this year but as soon as the season began, the team underperformed. Now, 9-7 looks like a heck of an achievement compared to what Detroit’s final win-loss record likely could be.

The Lions’ defense gave a glimpse into how formidable they could truly be as they hung with one of the NFL’s best offenses for most of the game but bad execution and mental errors cost the team a victory in this one.

Next week, the Detroit Lions will pack their bags and prepare to head to the Arizona desert to play the legendary Larry Fitzgerald and his Cardinals.