The first half for the Detroit Lions against the Los Angeles Rams played out like a dream. At least on offense. Quarterback Jared Goff was moving well in the pocket and hitting wide receivers Amon-Ra St. Brown and Jameson Williams for big gains, as the Lions entered the half with a 24-17 lead.
But somehow, the "turd quarter" returned.
One of the weirdest consistencies in the earlier years of the Dan Campbell era was the Lions laying an egg coming out of the second half. Everything that worked well in the first half suddenly doesn't, resulting in the team having to grit out a victory, mortal or otherwise, in the fourth quarter.
Mike Payton of AtoZSports.com had a marvelous breakdown of the Lions' third-quarter performance on offense and defense at the end of the 2023-24 regular season. On defense, the Lions see a sharp uptick in yards allowed, a sharp decrease in sacks, and just one turnover in the third quarter all season. And on offense? Lowest yards and touchdowns of any quarter, along with the most turnovers.
Does that all sound a little familiar?
The "turd quarter" that may have doomed the Lions' season
Almost everything that could go wrong for the Lions in the third quarter of Sunday's 41-34 loss did. The explosive offense of the first half mustered up only -7 yards in the third quarter. You read that right. Both of the Lions' third-quarter drives took up three plays each, one gaining five yards, the other -12, thanks to a Goff sack given up by guard Trystan Colon. Both drives ended in a punt.
The Lions' two drives took up a grand total of three minutes and 34 seconds. The Rams, meanwhile, made the most of the remaining 11 minutes and 26 seconds with an opening drive field goal and two TDs to go up 34-24 entering the fourth quarter. The Lions' defense surrendered 179 yards to the Rams in the third quarter across 22 plays. This includes a controversial TD on a Colby Parkinson catch that inexplicably stood as a TD, despite there being an argument that he was well short of the goal line and possibly never even caught the ball in the first place.
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The Lions either matched the Rams in scoring or outscored them in the other three quarters. However, all it takes is a single "turd quarter" to derail a game and playoff hopes. Sunday's rendition of the "turd quarter" may be one of the most demoralizing yet, given a tight playoff race and the emotions that come with playing former QB Matthew Stafford and Goff's former Rams team.
For the Lions to make the playoffs now, they must flush this game from their memories and play clean football for the remaining 12 quarters of the regular season. If they fall short, it won't be a single "turd quarter" they can look to as to why they did. Rather, they can look to the "turd quarter" of the season as a whole and the numerous winnable games lost during that stretch.