Lions over Chargers: Clutch throws, kicking woes, and more observations

A few more random but relevant observations

Game ball to Darrell Bevell- I loved the call to go for it on 4th down from the 35, whether they converted it or not. Loved the call itself too, for that matter. Going for the win, showing confidence in the offense, and doing something other than trying to jam CJ Anderson through the middle, more often than not that’s going to lead to good results.

I also loved the play call to seal the deal on 3rd down following the interception. The risk of leaving too much time on the clock (and an extra Chargers timeout) with an incompletion was far outweighed by the potential payoff of ending the game right there.

By rolling out Stafford, Bevell gave plenty options for #9 to make the right call, and I suspect that they talked about taking a sack inbounds and at least forcing the final timeout in case the play broke down completely.

Johnson & Johnson- Kerryon’s overall stats weren’t great, but that guy is exciting to watch. There’s the burst of acceleration after his near-dropped touchdown catch, a matrix spin to turn a three yard loss into a first down, his nasty juke/spin/juke after another catch to pick up a key first down. 88 total yards and a touchdown is nothing crazy, but the body control and instincts he brings to the field definitely are.

Also, I was pretty skeptical when people at this site were talking him up at the start of the season, but Ty Johnson looks like the second best back on the team right now. After several strong runs on Sunday,  I’d expect Bevell to give him 8 to 10 touches against Philly to see what else Ty can offer.

The Miami Dolphins- So the Dolphins/Pats game was on TV over from me during the Lions game, which is noteworthy only for the fact that the Dolphins are every bit as bad as we were ten years ago. I said last week that Arizona is the worst team the Lions would face this year, and a few people were like, “but what about the Dolphins??” And I’ll say to that, the Dolphins aren’t on the schedule so the original statement still stands, but yeah they are way worse.

Matt Patricia may or may not be a SideLion reader-  Right on cue, he ditched the 1934 hat, opting for a black one with a Lions logo on the front. It feels good to be heard.