Detroit Lions: 10 Observations from Sunday’s loss to Green Bay

6. It’s hard to feel confident with Chase Daniel leading the offense.

The way Bob Quinn managed the backup quarterback situation over the past two seasons was beyond negligent. Chase Daniel may be a veteran, and a great locker room guy, and provide key insights in film study, but the Lions offense has no chance with him on the field.

Watching David Blough those last few weeks of 2019 was painful, and we can expect more of the same to close out 2020 if Stafford is unable to go. Jamal Agnew’s 70-yard kickoff return trailing 31-21 kept hope alive for just a little bit longer, but even with a very short field (and with a nice completion or two by Daniel, I’ll give him that) they had to settle for a field goal. It’s a tough situation to be put in for sure, but there’s just not much to feel confident in when Daniel is forced onto the field.

7. If Crosby had missed his long field goal, I wonder if Stafford goes back in.

Mason Crosby drilled a career long field goal from 58 yards out, which put Green Bay up ten and was essentially the dagger. Matthew Stafford had been attempting a few passes on the sideline, but eventually was resigned to the fact that his day was over, and Daniel entered the game.

Let’s just say Crosby had missed though. The Lions would have gotten the ball near midfield, trailing by only seven points after a gritty previous drive. Matthew Stafford’s toughness and competitiveness is as legendary as his knack for fourth quarter comebacks.

Would he have sidestepped the medical staff (as we saw vs Cleveland in ’09) and limped back onto the field for one last stand? I have to think that with half a field to work with and a one possession game, he sure would have tried.

8. The Jahlani Tavai draft pick looks worse and worse every week.

Tavai can’t cover anybody and is a step slower than just about everyone he matches up with. Advertised as a tackling machine coming out of college, he made only three in forty-one snaps. D.K. Metcalf meanwhile, drafted after Tavai and rumored to be a potential Lions target in 2019, scored his 10th touchdown reception of the year for Seattle.

If he were a fifth or sixth round pick (as most scouts projected), Tavai would just be another youngster struggling but trying to make the most of his limited (by NFL standards) physical gifts. As a vastly over-drafted second round pick though, he’ll go down as a lasting symbol of the types of arrogant decisions that eventually cost Bob Quinn his job and doomed the Patriot Way in Detroit.