Getty D'Andre Swift and Matt Patricia walk off the field.
The Detroit Lions fell apart in their season opener after maintaining a big lead for the second straight season, and while there were certainly positives, they were overshadowed by the negative.
Detroit fell apart after a commanding 23-6 lead in the second half and ended up on the losing end of things, and as a result, their grades reflect that type of inconsistent effort on both sides of the football.
Here’s a look at grading the Lions for a sloppy Week 1 loss.
Lions’ Offense Grade vs. Bears:
B-
The Lions had a weird day on offense. They didn’t start hot, and it didn’t help that the team was missing starting right tackle Halapoulivaati Vaitai and wideout Kenny Golladay due to injury. Still, the team executed and gave themselves a shot at winning. Much like last year, killer instinct was lacking with the play calling in the third quarter which contributed and aided the Bears’ comeback. The running game was good with Adrian Peterson, but far too often, the Lions went away from it. The offensive line was decent, but not elite. T.J. Hockenson was a bright spot, but the team didn’t get the one score they needed to put the game away, whether early in the final quarter or at the goal line near the end. At the end of the day, that’s on the offense as a whole. The Lions have to clean up their execution moving forward and find a way to get the ball in the end zone and cash in their chances.
Lions’ Defense Grade vs. Bears:
D-
Detroit was missing plenty of key players on defense including cornerback Jeff Okudah and for most of the game, linebacker Jamie Collins. Additionally they also lost Desmond Trufant. At the same time, the team needed to be able to rush the passer better and had to find a way to get a sack or a turnover. Detroit couldn’t intercept a pass or force a fumble that they recovered. They gave up the game in the late stages by playing a soft defense. This kind of effort more closely resembled what the team did in 2019 rather than showing off an improved, new look team for this season. It wasn’t a great debut for Cory Undlin whatsoever as the boss of this operation. Things were supposed to be different, and they looked the same.
Lions’ Special Teams Grade vs. Bears
A-
Jack Fox had a fantastic debut as the new punter, racking u-p 197 yards on the day and helping to flip field position a few times. Matt Prater was solid aside from missing a 55 yard field goal. The collapse was not on this group, however, as they were good most of the afternoon. The Lions should never have forced Prater to be perfect with a long field goal, so that failure is more on the offense and defense rather than the special teams. All told, a good day for the special teams and a nice debut from Fox.
Lions’ Coaching Grade vs. Bears
D+
It’s hard to be optimistic about Matt Patricia when he team has suffered yet another loss similar to others and the coach is getting defensive about his record after the game. The defense didn’t look like they had improved much, and the offense wasn’t without play calling warts either, given their over-reliance on the run and decision to pull Adrian Peterson in and out of the games at key moments. The Lions coaches didn’t lose this game on their own, but it didn’t feel like they helped win it, either. That’s been par for the course during Patricia’s tenure in Detroit.
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