Analyzing Detroit Lions Week 1 woes in five numbers

The Detroit Lions came close again but fell victim to the same problems as last year. Here are five numbers that shaped the Week 1 loss.

We could write a long explanation about what happened Sunday, Week 1 in the 23-27 loss at home for the Detroit Lions but there’s no need; you’ve seen that game before just with different names attached. Here are five numbers that went wrong that have to be addressed now.

Stop us if you’ve heard this one; the Lions have a 23-6 lead at the beginning of the fourth quarter…

The game and the whole vibe started going South with the injuries announced prior to the game; wideout Kenny Golladay, right tackle Halapoulivaati Vaitai, cornerback Jeff Okudah, safety C.J. Moore, and tight end/ H-back Hunter Bryant were out for the game. Three starters left during the game, linebacker Jamie Collins, cornerback Desmond Trufant, and slot cornerback Justin Coleman.

Some teams could bring in reinforcements at key positions but the Lions were too thin at cornerback and simply cannot replace a player like Collins in the lineup. Mike Ford, their top reserve cornerback a year ago, was already on the reserve/injured list before Okudah was ruled out, too. The injury bug has already claimed its share of Lions players and they’ve only played one game.

Collins got baptized into what being a Lions player was like when he was ejected for making contact with a referee. Trufant and Coleman went out with hamstring injuries. The safeties and backup cornerbacks had no luck stopping the Bears starters as Mitchell Trubisky went 8 of 10 with three touchdowns against the Lions backups.

In our last column, we discussed five numbers that needed to change for 2020, most of which were defensive numbers. Here are five that sunk Week 1.