Getty Ezekiel Elliott runs over the Lions defense.
The Detroit Lions struggled in a big way on the field amid their 35-27 loss to the Dallas Cowboys, and for a team which once touted hope for their 2019 campaign, the bottom has begun to fall out a bit.
Detroit’s operation is beginning to split apart at the seams more than a bit this season, and during the defeat to the Cowboys, there were several problems the Lions had which magnified plenty of their biggest troubles this season.
How should the Lions be graded for their close but no cigar loss this week? Here’s a look at some grades for everybody this week.
Offense
B
Detroit managed to run the football effectively with Bo Scarbrough and hit some big plays in the passing game to Marvin Jones and Kenny Golladay. Jeff Driskel didn’t make a big mistake while hitting some big plays and the Lions theoretically scored enough to win if their defense had bothered to show up at all. There was some dry spells and the offensive line was inconsistent, but the reality is, Detroit had a decent enough day on the offensive side to possibly be able to pull the upset. There’s not a lot to love about the Detroit offense minus Matthew Stafford, but there’s a decent amount to like. A fairly solid day overall.
Defense
F
Yet another abject failure of a day for the Lions. Detroit managed to force a turnover early, but could do nothing with that momentum and was carved up to the tune of 500 yards of offense on the day. They bottled up Ezekiel Elliott for the most part, but he still scored twice against them which was the difference in the game. The Lions defense allows too many big plays without putting any pressure on the quarterback whatsoever. It’s been a very rough season in Detroit, and the pain continued with this horrible performance. The Lions aren’t measuring up on Matt Patricia’s favored side of the ball, and that is horrible news in the coach’s second year.
Special Teams
B+
The Lions had a decent day on special teams in terms of coverage and punting, and they even managed to brilliantly trick the Cowboys into jumping offsides with a creative formation on fourth and short. Matt Prater managed to hit some extra points, but otherwise it was a fairly standard day for this group on the field. Did a solid enough job to keep the Lions in the game most of the way.
Coaching
D+
Detroit’s coaching staff seems to have a solid divide at this point in the season. Offensively, the Lions are evolving and doing enough to stay in games. Defensively, there are stink bomb performances on the routine. Matt Patricia went for two at a bizarre stage of the game, a decision which apparently makes sense analytically but is confusing logistically. The Lions are dealing with tons of injuries which doesn’t help, but this coaching staff has struggled minus the work of Darrell Bevell. That’s bad news past the midway point of another season.