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Detroit Lions vs Baltimore Ravens Report Card

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For the fourth straight week the Detroit Lions trailed by double digits in the first half of a game. This time it was against the Baltimore Ravens, and the deficit grew to 20 by halftime. The Lions were blanked in the first half, and by the time they started to scratch and claw their way back it was too late.

The Lions got within seven in the third quarter, and again early in the fourth, but the Ravens poured it on late by scoring 24 points in the final frame, including a pick-six to close out a 44-20 victory.

There isn’t much of a brightside to the effort the Lions gave this past week, and it certainly hurts their playoff chances. Let’s grade out how they did in all three phases of the game.

Offense: C

How can a team that has now trailed by double digits in the first half of games for a month now, come out of the tunnel with a lack of desire? That is inexcusable. I’m not usually one for blaming the coaches but Jim Caldwell and Jim Bob Cooter need to find a way to kickstart things on the offensive side sooner. Whether it be going no huddle earlier in games, or maybe a change in who’s calling the plays, something has to change.

For a team fighting for its playoff life, the Lions lacked a sense of urgency needed to be successful in December, and that has to be disheartening to fans. This is when you want to be clicking on all cylinders, not going through the motions. While the Lions were at an obvious disadvantage in the trenches, especially after tackle Rick Wagner went down, they continued to fail to protect quarterback Matthew Stafford, which led to turnovers.

The line also failed to pave lanes for the running backs. Tion Green was able to bust off a 33 yard run in early in the second quarter, otherwise the Lions only ran for 45 yards, totaling 78 yards over the course of the entire game. It was nice to see Green show some explosiveness, but the rest of the time running the ball was tough sledding for the Lions.

Stafford didn’t have a terrible day when he was kept upright, but he faced heat all day from the Ravens defense. He threw for nearly 300 yards in a game that he wasn’t even able to finish. But the constant pressure caused turnovers and resulted in Stafford injuring his hand late. The Lions offense is totally dependent on him, and their inability to protect him has cost them all season.

Defense: D-

Detroit Lions
The Detroit Lions defense had a hard time bringing Baltimore Ravens running back Alex Collins (34) down all day. Photo by Evan Habeeb-USA TODAY Sports

The Baltimore Ravens came into this game as the second worst offense in terms of total yards per game. Joe Flacco had thrown more interceptions than touchdowns this season before this game. So what do the Lions do defensively? They allow the Ravens to gain 370 total yards, behind an impressive performance from Flacco.

Flacco connected on passes to ten different receivers on Sunday, and threw for 269 yards and two touchdowns. The Lions struggled covering passes deep and across the field. Every other team had mainly forced Flacco to throw checkdowns underneath. Not the Lions, they let Flacco show off his arm strength on multiple connections to Mike Wallace, including a 66 yard bomb in the second quarter.

A lot of the defensive woes should also be blamed on coaching. The Lions have been torched on play action at the goalline all year. I don’t know why teams would run anything else when they approach the end zone, because the Lions haven’t worked on defending it enough and they look silly each time a tight end catches a wide open touchdown after a play fake.

Also for the second week in a row the Lions gave up a critical play without 11 men on the field. This time instead of 10 players on the field, the Lions gave up a fourth down conversion with only nine defenders trying to stop the Ravens. As a result the Ravens converted, and then handed the ball off to running back Alex Collins for a score. Collins averaged five yards per carry on the day.

Long story short, the defense was dreadful, but the coaches need to be held accountable for errors and lack of preparation against schemes that have been killing the team for weeks now.

Special Teams: C-

Matt Prater finally showed that he is human, by missing a field goal near the beginning of the second quarter. The field goal would have been the first points of the day for the Lions, and it would have tied the game at three a piece. Instead the Ravens capitalized with the aforementioned bomb and then scored the play after that.

The usually reliable kicker also missed an extra point. It loomed large at the time, as the Lions trailed by seven after the miss. If he had converted the next Lions touchdown would have put them up by one. Unfortunately it never came down to that, as the Ravens poured it on late, but it could have been the difference between a win or a game heading to overtime.

Punter Sam Martin had a solid day, although you hate to see your punter kicking as often as he did. His first punt was a 51 yard boot in the first quarter, which successfully flipped field position. That is until linebacker Paul Worrilow got hit with a personal foul along the sidelines and pushed the Ravens into Detroit territory. The penalty set up a short drive that resulted in a field goal.

Overall special teams did not cost the Lions the game, but it could have if the other phases of the game held their own end of the bargain.

The post Detroit Lions vs Baltimore Ravens Report Card appeared first on isportsweb.


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