The Detroit Lions face a must-win today against Minnesota after last Monday’s crushing defeat, but can they win the battle in the trenches to gain victory?
The Detroit Lions need a win. Any kind of win will do, but if they expect to beat Minnesota, which is certainly a winnable game, then some things will need to change.
Three weeks ago the Lions offense ran on almost all cylinders and they looked unstoppable against Kansas City’s defense. Matthew Stafford made big plays through the air and Kerryon Johnson ran relays through the Chiefs’ efforts to bottle him up.
That was the game Lions fans had been looking for. It was the game that was announcing their emergence as a balanced offense that could run or pass their way to victory. The time had come for opposing defenses to quiver because now the Lions offense would purr like a finely tuned motor.
Unfortunately, then came the Lions bye week and either whatever strides they had made vanished in the wind or perhaps they just weren’t as close as we suspected to becoming that finely tuned machine.
My inclination is that the Lions simply aren’t as ahead in their progress as they looked like against the Chiefs. It was a good day against a defense that isn’t overwhelming. They flexed their offensive muscles without much resistance and it raised hopes without good cause.
Because last Monday Night the offense dried up against the Green Bay Packers. Sure Detroit still made some plays through the air, especially early on, but the ground game was almost completely absent.
Outside of two or three decent runs, Kerryon Johnson was nullified and instead of being able to run the clock with long ball-control drives in the second half, Stafford was forced to go back to the air and the Packers defense was up to the task.
Pressuring Stafford and playing much better in the second half, the Packer defense was able to keep the Lions from doing much of anything, giving Aaron Rodgers more opportunities, aided by the officials help, to turn an easy Lions victory into defeat.