4 takeaways from the Lions’ loss to the Patriots

Congratulations, pricey reader. You scored as many issues and transformed as many fourth downs as the Detroit Lions did on Sunday.

In an totally miserable shutout at the arms of the New England Patriots, little or no went proper for the Lions. From a lackluster offense to a beat-up protection, it used to be a day to omit. The Lions input their bye week with extra questions than solutions, and any prime hopes from their early-season luck are long past.

What takeaways may also be had from this Week 5 loss to the Patriots?

Another week, some other game-changing mistake

Dan Campbell is aware of greater than someone that he has made some deficient selections in contemporary weeks. It is good to see a trainer personal up to his errors, however sooner or later, they want to display that they’re in fact finding out from stated errors.

Perhaps a knee-jerk response to his box purpose mistake in Minnesota, however going for it on fourth-and-9 from the Patriots 32 down 6-0 may have price them the recreation. Even with a brand new kicker on the roster, changing this sort of distance—particularly given how lackluster the passing offense used to be coming into the play—used to be a significant chance. Analytics didn’t find it irresistible, and I’d bet the general public felt the similar:

Instead, the Lions fumbled the ball and the Patriots took it to the area. What can have been a 6-3 recreation abruptly was a 13-0 recreation with all the wind taken out of Detroit’s sails. That deficit quickly grew to 16-0 and Detroit by no means got here shut. Even if the Lions neglected the box purpose try, it will had been 6-0 for a Patriots offense that hadn’t been too threatening on the day.

Decision-making has been an issue on a weekly foundation. It is both time mismanagement, puzzling play variety, or downright terrible execution. We are nearly a yr and a part into the Dan Campbell technology, and the Lions are nonetheless costing themselves issues—and perhaps wins. The aggressiveness from Campbell is encouraging when compared to some coaches, don’t get me flawed, however this is a double-edged sword.

The excellent has been outweighed through the downright terrible. The Lions had been 0-for-6 on fourth down in opposition to the Patriots, however I might most effective in point of fact fault the aggressiveness on one among them. For each and every failed try, alternatively, the play calling faltered closely, both getting filled on a telegraphed run or throwing the ball in need of the sticks. Offensive coordinator Ben Johnson has been a celeb to get started the season, however this used to be through a long way his greatest hiccup.

Lifeless Lions soccer

These are the sorts of video games I hate the maximum. There used to be no past due comeback to carry my nerves. There used to be no offensive explosion to stay me glued to the tv. Instead, it used to be a slog of a recreation, person who felt like a chore to watch. For all the excellent that the Lions have achieved on offense, none of it got here to fruition in opposition to the Patriots. The purple zone woes specifically made for an insufferable enjoy:

This used to be the worst conceivable loss to have coming into the bye week. The Lions can have to leisure for the subsequent week with the style of this recreation lingering. We can most effective hope that it ends up in some critical mirrored image from the coaches and gamers, as a result of the Lions didn’t appear to be an NFL group on Sunday. To their credit score, the protection wasn’t horrific, however in opposition to a third-string rookie quarterback making his debut, it used to be a low bar to transparent.

The secondary is extra of a tertiary

The Lions had a nasty protection coming into the season, however after 5 video games, the secondary is a skeleton group:

With Amani Oruwariye and JuJu Hughes inactive, the soccer gods made up our minds to punish the Lions with a string of accidents. Saivion Smith and DeShon Elliott wanted motorized delivery to depart the box. The beginning cornerbacks, Jeff Okudah and Will Harris were given banged up as smartly, the latter lacking a large chew of the recreation with a groin damage. Adding insult to damage—no pun supposed—however Kerby Joseph and Ifeatu Melifonwu had been additionally nursing accidents on Sunday. The secondary abruptly consisted of Chase Lucas (at protection) and Bobby Price, which unsurprisingly led to a very easy Patriots landing.

On the vivid aspect, Elliott’s damage used to be indexed as cramping and he used to be ready to go back to the box, so it shouldn’t be a long-term factor. That being stated, it’s onerous to see a good trail ahead for the Lions. The most effective conceivable respite is the lingering go back of Jerry Jacobs, however with such a lot of accidents in the secondary, will it even topic?

More than only a recreation

There are moments when you want to step again and have a look at the recreation of soccer and the way brutal it may be. Saivion Smith’s damage seemed tame in the beginning, but if a backbone board and ambulance had been briefly introduced out, it was critical. It is a grim reminder that those soccer gamers we analyze and debate on a weekly foundation are other people too. Seeing Smith’s circle of relatives becoming a member of him in the ambulance added to the fear. We can not speculate on the extent, however neck accidents are steadily bad and horrifying accidents. Suddenly, it doesn’t topic the way it affects the Lions’ protection and even the result of the recreation. All you wish to have is to ensure this younger guy is fine.