Detroit Lions defense runs out of gas in season opener
The Detroit Lions have finally made it through a regular-season game while slowly crawling to the finish line completely out of gas.
Well, the Detroit Lions didn’t lose on Sunday against the Arizona Cardinals. Oh, it sure felt like a loss. The sky was falling and it felt like the New England Patriots were making a Super Bowl comeback against the Atlanta Falcons.
Only this wasn’t the Super Bowl. Nope. This was a Week 1 game. The Lions were on the road in the desert. Instead of coasting to the finish with a victory, they looked more like they were crawling through the sand begging for water.
But, while the Lions certainly didn’t win, they didn’t lose either. Their defense held the Cardinals to six measly points through three quarters of sound defensive football. You could say this defense is what we all expected after a solid run to end last season. The only difference? They weren’t in regular-season shape.
On one side, people are calling for fewer preseason games and for starters not to play in the preseason. From the post-game view of the Lions Week 1 tie, I see the other side. Nobody had played a full game and weren’t ready for the in-game conditioning.
I’m not the only one who saw it. “Late in the game, they just looked tired,” said Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray, via MLive.com. If the opposing quarterback could see it, he was certainly going to take advantage.
Look, you can blame the coach or players for not being ready for a regular-season game. That’s fine. But, you should also see this as a great sign for the rest of the season. The Lions took this lump on a game they should have won and will use it to push harder next week.
Just look to last season when the Lions were on the road facing a rookie quarterback in Week 1. The New York Jets destroyed this team. The Lions looked so much better this time. On defense, this team was without Jarrad Davis. The team was also slowly working in Trey Flowers and Mike Daniels.
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Without running out of gas from not playing a full game, and with more integration from key players, this defense is going to be holding its own as top 10 in the league. And when the coaches start trusting starting quarterback Matthew Stafford in key moments, this team is going to be just fine this season. They just need to add a little more gas in the tank on the defensive side of the ball.