When the Lions started slowly against Cleveland last month, Jim Caldwell said he wasn't concerned. Perhaps he should have been.
Because he never fixed the problem. They faced another double-digit deficit Sunday against Baltimore, their fourth in a row. And not even 20 straight completions from Matthew Stafford could help the Lions overcome it.
They drew within 27-20 in the fourth quarter on a 1-yard touchdown pass to linebacker Nick Bellore -- Stafford's 20th straight completion, a team record -- but Justin Tucker tacked on a 51-yard field goal, then Stafford ended his historic streak with an interception that squashed any chances of a comeback.
Stafford was shaken up on the play, too, and left the game with a throwing hand injury. It was the first time he's missed a snap since November 2015, more than two calendar years. Jake Rudock replaced him, and got the first action of his career.
Now for the second straight year, Stafford is battling an injury to his throwing hand as the Lions head into the final month of the season. But at 6-6, they have little to play for anyway, and no room for error.
It entered the weekend with a 19 percent chance to make the playoffs, according to ESPN, and that will shrink to almost nothing with the loss. The club will need considerable help from Atlanta, Carolina and Seattle to make it into the postseason, even if they win all four remaining games.
Here's some quick observations from the loss:
-- Here we go again. On the day he moved into third place on the active QB starts streak list, Stafford hurt his throwing hand again, this time badly enough to knock him out of a game for the first time since that game against the Chiefs in London in 2015. That was more than two years ago. He battled a throwing hand injury in the final month last year too, when he dislocated a finger. He managed to play through it, but his accuracy and performance took a big hit, and Detroit was doomed. The Lions might already be doomed this year, and now, Stafford's start streak could be in jeopardy as well.
-- Jake Rudock, last year's sixth-round pick, got the first regular-season action of his career in place of Stafford. And it took him only five passes to throw a pick-six to Eric Weddle, turning an ugly score into a laughable 44-20. He's shown nice moments in his two training camps and the preseason, but the regular show is a whole other animal. And this reinforced what everybody already knew: Detroit is screwed without Matthew Stafford. Rudock finished 3 of 5 passing for 24 yards, plus the pick.
-- While Stafford's health is the foremost concern, he deserves credit for rallying the Lions again too. After fumlbing twice early in the game, he bounced back to complete 20 straight passes. That obliterated the team record previous held by, well, you know, Matthew Stafford (13 in a row against New Orleans last year). Begrudge the Lions' early play all you want -- and rightfully so -- but you can't take anything away from Stafford's clutch play as well. Without him, the Lions would be road kill. With him, they were able to climb within 27-20 on a touchdown pass to linebacker Nick Bellore with 10:24 left.
-- But the Lions were dogged by too many mistakes, too many injuries up front, and too big of an early hole. Baltimore scored the final 17 points, aided in part by a pair of interceptions, and a one-score game quickly turned into a laughingstock. Detroit was good enough to win this game, but couldn't get out of its own way yet again. And with the playoffs slipping out of their grasp, that could wind up being this team's legacy. Talented. Just not all that good.
-- We pause your regularly scheduled program of bad stuff that happened to Detroit to bring you this uplifting nugget. Rookie running back Tion Green, the last player from the opening day roster to suit up for a game, rambled 33 yards on his first career carry and then took a pitch 5 yards for a touchdown on his first career touch at the goal line. Not bad for a guy who was quoted just this week as saying it "hurts my heart" to see Detroit fail at the goal line, because he was so good at it in college. With Ameer Abdullah out of the lineup, Green led Detroit with 51 yards on 11 carries and one touchdown. And he made a serious case for more time in the Lions' woebegone backfield. The rookie should play ahead of Zach Zenner, that much is clear, and probably Dwayne Washington too. The only real question is why did it take so long for him to see the field?
-- The Lions were crushed in the trenches by injury. On offense, they were playing without center Travis Swanson, then lost right tackle Rick Wagner in the second quarter and right guard T.J. Lang coming out of halftime. Detroit responded by a sort of musical chairs, with Corey Robinson and Don Barclay splitting snaps at left guard, and Robinson and Brian Mihalik splitting snaps at right tackle. Lang did eventually return, although even then, Detroit had just two offensive linemen playing their original positions. No wonder Matthew Stafford was hit so much.
-- The defense wasn't spared either, with Cornelius Washington leaving with a shoulder injury and Ezekiel Ansah leaving twice with ankle injuries. Ansah was able to finish the game though, splitting time with Anthony Zettel and Dwight Freeney.
-- With Tavon Wilson out for the season at safety, the Lions were expected to start Miles Killebrew alongside Glover Quin. Instead, in a major surprise, they started Quandre Diggs there.
-- Everyone is to blame for the Lions' slow starts this season, and especially over the last month, and the coaching staff deserves as much blame as anyone. One early deficit could be an aberration, and two is a trend and three is just inexcusable. And against Baltimore, they made it four straight double-digit deficits in the first half. That's on coaching. So is putting nine men on the field for a defensive play, just one week after putting 10 men on the field for a Minnesota touchdown. Jim Caldwell fell on the sword for that one, and said he had to be better. Just one week later, he wasn't.
-- In his first game since joining Detroit, Dwight Freeney did not appear on the defensive stat sheet. Which is disappointing, considering how much playing time he received with all the injuries at the position. He's no panacea for the pass rush, that much is clear. He did force an early punt with a third-down pressure of Joe Flacco, so there is that.
-- The Lions continued to rotate struggling middle linebacker Jarrad Davis off the field on passing downs, which helped. But he wasn't great on the field either, including missing an early tackle for loss, then committing a penalty and giving up a long completion. Maybe he'll be good one day, but today is not that day.
-- Matt Prater missed a 43-yard attempt, snapping his streak of consecutive makes inside 50 yards at 17. And it proved to be a big miss. Two plays later, Baltimore had scored again to take an early 10-0 lead.
Ansah goes down.
The Lions were able to force another Ravens punt, but it came at a cost as Ziggy Ansah, back in the game after being called questionable to return with an ankle injury earlier on, went down with a seemingly more serious injury.
The 24 points in the fourth quarter tied the Ravens’ record for points in a quarter.
Jim Caldwell said no break in Matthew Stafford's right hand. Badly bruised.
Injury report: Injuries hit the Lions hard in this one, especially on offense.
The big one is to the right hand of Stafford. Throwing an interception in the fourth quarter to Ravens cornerback Marlon Humphrey, Stafford came up holding his right hand. He went right to the locker room and didn’t return.
Already without starting center Travis Swanson (knee), Detroit lost right tackle Rick Wagner (ankle) and right guard T.J. Lang (foot) in the game.
The Lions were rolling with Taylor Decker (LT), Corey Robinson (RG), Graham Glasgow (C), Don Barclay (RG) and Brian Mahalik (RT) at one point in the second half before Lang returned.
The Lions also lost Ziggy Ansah for spurts in the game, though he did return and finish.
Defensive end Cornelius Lucas injured a shoulder in the second half and didn’t return. Defensive tackle Christian Ringo also left the game in the fourth quarter with an undisclosed injury.
http://www.espn.com/nfl/boxscore?gameId=400951680
Boxscore.
http://www.detroitlions.com/news/li...t-Ravens/77c06f82-7199-41c5-901e-051bc24c69c9
RECAP: Lions at Ravens.
Lions.com
http://www.detroitlions.com/media-center/video/recent-videos.html
Webvideo Highlights and lowlights from the Lions loss to the ravens.
Now 6-6, the Lions’ playoff chances are on life support with four games to play.
They’ve lost two straight. They need to win out to perhaps get a wildcard. And even if they do that, no one in their right mind believes they can do any damage in the postseason.
The Lions struggled in all three phases: offense, defense and special teams.
Who is to blame for this game?
Everybody. The Lions didn't look prepared. They looked overwhelmed. And they made mistakes all over the field. Quarterback Matthew Stafford was hit so many times he didn't finish the game and appeared to have a hand injury. Even if he is hurt, I'm not sure it even matters. Not the way this team is playing. This team is basically road kill.
One play seemed to sum it up: At one point, the Ravens looked like they were rushing to the line of scrimmage, trying to avoid a review. And the Lions were totally unprepared, totally oblivious. A screen shot appeared to show nine players on the field, as the Ravens picked up 23 yards and another first down, which eventually led a touchdown.
That’s on the coaches for not being prepared. That’s on the players. That’s on Martha Ford – just because she owns this mess.
The Lions made idiotic plays all over the field. Paul Worrilow was called for a late hit on a punt return, giving the Ravens incredible field position in Lions territory.
Marvin Jones Jr. missed a block and Golden Tate was hammered by a defensive back.
Matt Prater missed a 43-yard field goal wide left, which was bad. But then, he missed an extra point, which was even worse.
The Lions couldn’t even execute a shotgun snap, as Stafford fumbled the ball.
Midway through the second quarter, Golden Tate was running down the field wide open.
Unfortunately for the Lions, Eric Weddle came on a safety blitz. And just as Stafford was about to throw, he got hammered by Weddle. Stafford fumbled, a scene that is all too familiar. He has fumbled 11 times this season, losing seven of them.
It would be one thing to go into Baltimore and lose a close, well-played game.
But the Lions couldn’t do anything right.
They couldn’t kick a field goal. They couldn’t make an extra point. They even botched the clock management end of the first half. They were unable to get a first down, unable to take any time off the clock. And the Ravens added a field goal, just because.
The Lions had a -46 point differential in the first quarter coming into this week, and that’s the 31st worst mark in the NFL this season.
After Sunday’s first quarter had ended against the Ravens, Detroit was a -49 in point differential. The Lions shot themselves in the foot when Matthew Stafford fumbled a snap with the team well within field goal range for Matt Prater. The slow starts continued and it’s just as a mystery as how to fix it at this point.
Jarrad Davis made a few blunders to start this one—a neutral zone infraction, a play where he could have been flagged for a late tackle, and a missed tackle opportunity in the backfield.
Davis’ play has been equal parts exciting and maddening, but as a rookie, these are the sort of growing pains we should have expected.
Detroit was left confused and bewildered by the Ravens offense on the goal line not once, but twice, on essentially the same play. The Lions just couldn’t stop play-action passes when Baltimore neared Detroit’s end zone, and as Chris Spielman mentioned on the telecast, it seemed to be a complete lack of communication by the defense.
On a macro level, the defense just isn’t forcing the turnovers they were at the beginning of the season, and if that isn’t happening, they’re giving up yards and points.
While it’s totally legal to play with less than eleven players on the field while on defense, it isn’t recommended. Jim Caldwell mentioned he had to fix the problem of not having eleven men on the field after the Thanksgiving Day debacle where Detroit had ten on the field for a Kyle Rudolph touchdown.
In Baltimore, after the Lions defensive front finally got some push and nearly forced a fumble from the throwing hand of Joe Flacco, Detroit lined up for a crucial third down... with nine players on the field. Caldwell seems to still be figuring out how to get those eleven guys out there.
Late in the game, with the Lions down by 10, Stafford threw up an ill-advised pass that sailed over Marvin Jones Jr. head and into the hands of the rookie he was picking on all day long, Marlon Humphrey.
On the play, Stafford hit the turf, and his throwing hand was stepped on by Terrell Suggs. It looked bloody and bruised as Stafford walked back into the locker room with a towel draped over it. If Stafford isn’t ready to play next week, the Lions could kiss their playoff hopes goodbye.
https://www.profootballfocus.com/news/pro-refocused-baltimore-ravens-44-detroit-lions-20
Refocused: Baltimore Ravens 44 - Detroit Lions 20.
PFF