Adrian Petersen is still good, but what about Matt Patricia?
By Robert Jones
Adrian Petersen is still productive
Running back Adrian Petersen was scooped off the NFL waiver wire by the Lions to help bolster their backfield. The price was right and Petersen actually wanted to be in Detroit.
With less than a week of practice, Petersen showed up Sunday and carried the ball 14 times for 93 yards. That’s an average of 6.6 yards a tote. Petersen also chipped in three receptions for another 21 yards.
D’Andre Swift and Kerryon Johnson are both the future of the Lions backfield, but they couldn’t match the play of the future Hall of Famer on Sunday.
With Petersen less than a week in Detroit, the thought process was, ‘let’s give the ball to Adrian and see what happens.’ Well, apparently Adrian isn’t quite finished yet.
The signing of Petersen was a move to make a push to win now. They didn’t Sunday, but it wasn’t the fault of the Lions newest running back. He is still learning the offense, yet was almost unstoppable.
Make no mistake about it, this isn’t vintage Adrian Petersen. But even as he nears the end of his career, he is still productive. He is still a back that could make a difference for a contender.
However, he’s here in Detroit where one wonders if the Lions will ever contend for anything meaningful.
Plain and simple Adrian Petersen’s contributions to the Lions offense will only make it that much better. The Bears feared Petersen every time he got the ball. And for good reason.
That fear only makes the passing game better. Even without Kenny Golladay, the Lions had players that were getting open consistently. And while no one was noticing, the offensive line actually gave Matthew Stafford pretty good protection.
The offensive line could’ve been better and in time should be, but fans should be encouraged by their effort against the Bears.
Petersen already has the Packers thinking about how they need to stop him without getting toasted by the Lions passing game. That could be mission impossible if the offense is firing on all cylinders.
Yet despite the promise displayed by Petersen and the offense in general, although some mistakes did hurt them, the majority of the blame for that loss was heaped on one man.