Detroit Lions Week 3 report card: Self-inflicted wounds lead to fourth quarter collapse

The Detroit Lions fell on Sunday by a score of 28-24 to the Minnesota Vikings, in large part due to a cascade of errors late in the game.

Through three quarters, and even into the last 10 minutes of the game, the Detroit Lions were in a position to win on Sunday. Up by a score of 24-14, things were looking up as Dan Campbell closed in on his first road win. Then an avalanche of self-inflicted wounds struck Detroit as the lead evaporated. Ultimately a last-minute touchdown pass by Kirk Cousins lifted the Vikings to a comeback win.

The fact the Lions lost is not the most frustrating part, it’s how they lost. This game wasn’t the Vikings rising to the occasion and stealing the game from the Lions, it was Detroit giving it to them.

After the Vikings closed the lead to three points, Detroit had an offensive drive deep into Vikings territory. On fourth and short from the Vikings’ 30-yard line, Detroit went for it rather than attempting a 47-yard field goal. The attempt was unsuccessful, and they turned the ball over on downs. That attempt in a vacuum is perfectly okay, Detroit was playing aggressively all game.

The problem that appeared though was on the following drive, when Detroit was faced with a 4th-and-four with a chance to put the game way. This time, they elected to try a 54-yard field goal to push the lead to six. The attempt was no good, and it gave the Vikings a short field to drive down the field to score the game-winning touchdown.

Those are two isolated incidents, but they are symptomatic of the larger issue Detroit’s coaching staff generated for the team.

Let’s get into the report card for this Lions collapse.

Detroit Lions Week 3 report card

Run offense: 3.5/5 stars

The run game continues to be the strength of this team. Even with D’Andre Swift only carrying the ball seven times, Detroit picked up 139 yards on the ground. The charge was led by Jamaal Williams, who ran the ball 20 times for 87 yards and a pair of touchdowns. Williams continues to be a model of consistency, acting as a hammer in the run game between the tackle.

The offensive line did its job up front, though issues later in the game stemmed from the Vikings stacking the box more often. As a result the Lions’ yards per carry average dipped, but overall they put up strong numbers on the ground for the third week in a row.

Pass offense: 3/5 stars

The attack through the air was much more balanced this week. As opposed to the strategy of force-feeding Amon-Ra St. Brown, multiple receivers stayed involved all game. Unfortunately because of that, St. Brown’s streak ended at eight straight games with at least eight catches.

However, Jared Goff had a mostly positive day. Towards the end the play calling was questionable, but Goff did his job in this game. He was a lot more comfortable in the pocket, even evading pressure successfully multiple times. When he did leave the pocket, Goff usually was able to reset and find a receiver downfield to get the ball to.

Best offensive player: WR Josh Reynolds

After the opening drive, it seemed like DJ Chark was going to be the Lions receiver having a big game Sunday. But it was in fact Reynolds, who stepped up as the downfield target for Goff. Reynolds finished the game with six catches on 10 targets for 96 yards.

Some of his catches were really impressive. Reynolds had to stretch out for a catch multiple times,  but his connection with Goff looked as strong as it did down the stretch last year.

Worst offensive player: TE T.J. Hockenson

At what point do the alarm bells go off regarding Hockenson? His receiving yards have dropped every game this season, from 38 in Week 1 to 26 in Week 2, now down to just 18 on Sunday against the Vikings.

His usage has been extremely limited, he’s struggled with drops early in the season, and it seems like Goff doesn’t trust him as much as he used to. Something needs to change with Hockenson’s usage because he needs to be taking advantage of the softer matchups he’s been receiving. He did catch a touchdown on Sunday though

Run defense: 2/5 stars

The interior defensive line was doing a great job at forcing the Vikings’ running backs to bounce runs outside. Unfortunately, the backside defense was not able to follow through and finish those plays. Aidan Hutchinson and Charles Harris struggled to set the edge, oftentimes pushing inside too early and giving up the outside lanes.

The linebackers also struggled to clean up plays as a result. Too often, Vikings rushers were hitting the second level without being touched and it resulted in way too much stress being placed on the linebackers.

Pass defense: 2/5 stars 

It was a really weird game for the Lions’ secondary. There were multiple instances of either miscommunication or just flat-out blown coverages resulting in wide open Vikings receivers.

The most egregious instance was on the Vikings’ final drive. After Detroit had called a timeout, Mike Hughes completely blew his assignment and gave up an easy touchdown. K.J. Osborn ran a simple deep corner route, and for some reason Hughes was completely left in the dust on the play.

Then to cap things off the secondary lost its leader, as Tracy Walker went down with an injury. According to Dan Campbell, it doesn’t look good.

With the exception of one player, the secondary was just not good on Sunday.

Best defensive player: CB Jeff Okudah 

Speaking of that one exception, Jeff Okudah is stringing together some really strong games. At the start of training camp, he was battling to just become a starter. Now, just three weeks into the season has unseated Amani Oruwariye as the Lions’ top cornerback.

Okudah was tasked with covering Justin Jefferson, arguably the best receiver in football, in this game. While he received plenty of help from different variations of coverage, Okudah did a phenomenal job against the Vikings’ star. Jefferson finished with just three catches for 15 yards, and that would not have been the case without Okudah’s play.

It was incredibly encouraging to see this type of performance out of Okudah. We had seen strong play throughout the first two weeks, but this was a different level. Okudah’s season is off to an incredible start given what reasonable expectations were coming in.

Worst defensive player: CB Amani Oruwariye

Speaking of Oruwariye, this was far from his best outing. He was the primary defender covering Adam Thielen often and he struggled in that matchup. Even when he wasn’t allowing catches Oruwariye picked up his fair share of flags too.

The validity of some of those calls, and the refs being a little trigger-happy, is a viable discussion. But Oruwariye had a tough go this week, putting a bit of a target on his back if he did anything to push the boundaries of the rules. Considering how good he was most of last season, it’s very discouraging to see his play trending down the way it is to start the new campaign.

Coaching Staff: 1/5 stars

As mentioned earlier, there were some very questionable coaching decisions down the stretch of this game. Even beyond the fourth down decisions, the play calling was also very questionable down the stretch. There was severe over-reliance on play-action on fourth downs. There were multiple instances where a third-and-short call would involve throws deep down the field. And even though D’Andre Swift didn’t play all that much, there were a lot of runs outside the tackles in short-yardage situations when the Vikings were stacking the line of scrimmage.

It was very puzzling to watch these decisions unfold, and they look even worse in hindsight. The coaching staff undoubtedly was the primary culprit in the Lions’ loss on Sunday.

Play of the game: Amon-Ra St. Brown’s 30-yard catch 

On the Lions’ second drive of the game, having come off a drive which ended with a failed field goal, Detroit came out on fourth down and went for it. On the play, St. Brown came across on a short crossing route and caught the ball just short of the sticks. After that, he showcased what he can do with the ball in his hands.

Hopefully, the right ankle injury he picked up in this game is nothing serious. St. Brown is the most important piece to this offense, and losing him would be a catastrophe.

Final thoughts

To rehash the point, it’s not the fact that the Lions lost–it’s how they lost. Self-inflicted wounds always make defeat sting a little more. Now Detroit heads home to take on the Seattle Seahawks in Week 4. Given the events of this game against Minnesota, you can be sure there will be a lot of anger looking to be unleashed next week.