Getty Georgia's Jalen Carter celebrates a big play in the 2022 SEC title game.
The Detroit Lions had been on the most inspiring run in the NFL, but that hit a screeching halt with a frustrating show against the Carolina Panthers.
Detroit was humbled and embarrassed as part of an ugly 37-23 defeat. While there were plenty of reasons for the Lions’ frustrating loss, the biggest was the team’s porous defense led by Aaron Glenn.
The Lions have struggled in terms of play on the back and and up front. They have done a better job to stop the run as well, having allowed just 50 yards in Week 15. All of that went out the window in a big way in Week 16, though.
Detroit was embarrassed in a major way, and was gashed from the opening drive on the ground by the Panthers. There was no mystery in what Carolina wanted to do on the game, and the Lions couldn’t stop them even when they tried.
Chuba Hubbard (125 yards) and D’Onta Foreman (165 yards) dominated the Lions all day long up front from the first snap to the final one. The Panthers rushed for three touchdowns as a team.
Made a run for it 👏
This is why everyone nationally and locally has to stop the madness in terms of hoping the Lions select a quarterback in the impending 2023 NFL draft. This humbling defeat, in a game the team had to have, was made possible by a lack of depth and bodies in the defensive trenches.
Building the team’s defense to be much better than it was today should be a goal for the team. Getting meaner in the trenches is what the Lions need to focus on, making names like Georgia’s Jalen Carter or Alabama’s Will Anderson Jr. ones to watch early on.
Detroit needs to be much better on defense before they need to worry about other glamour positions on the field. Right now, their defense is in bad shape, especially after this latest gashing.
When the curtain falls on the 2022-23 season, no matter what happens, the Lions need to fix their defense, and specifically, the defensive line. There should be no debate about who gets targeted with the first pick.
What else was learned from this frustrating performance? Here’s a look at some lessons for the first failed hunt in a while.
Jared Goff Wasn’t to Blame for Defeat
An early fumble with Frank Ragnow was pointed to by many fans as one of the biggest reasons for the Lions falling apart, but reality says there wasn’t much Jared Goff could do on the day.
Goff did have some passes batted down, but the offense wasn’t going to be able to keep up with a Carolina team that got whatever they wanted all day long on the offensive side of the ball. Goff did throw three touchdowns on the day to Shane Zylstra in addition to 355 yards on the afternoon.
Another touchdown for @ShaneZylstra84!
#DETvsCAR | 📺 FOX
It’s always easy to blame the quarterback, but Lions fans need to open their eyes and realize the bigger problems lie in plenty of other places on the field, especially on the defensive side of the ball.
Detroit’s Not Making the Playoffs
The Lions had no margin for error entering the final weeks of the season, and now that they lost, the team is going to be swimming up stream the rest of the last two weeks. At 7-8, the Lions need to win the next to in order to get to 9-8 just to see what happens.
Doing that, though, is going to be difficult. The Lions didn’t play well against the Panthers in the cold weather, so winning the final game of the season in Green Bay will be a challenge. Additionally, Detroit gave up an ugly 30 points and 408 yards in Chicago, so that game will be a challenge too.
Even if the Lions win both games, it’s hard to see teams falling apart around them in the standings enough for them to sneak in the postseason. Anything seems possible, but the odds are very long.
Lions’ MVP: Nobody
The team was a no-show in multiple different ways on both sides of the ball, so nobody gets to share the MVP honors this week. The Lions deserved to lose, and their offense and defense was a complete embarrassment on the field.
To see the team get gashed on defense and offer no tangible response on offense harkens back memories of a Lions team of the past who collapsed at the first sign of adversity and choked in the big moment. No player gets honored as the MVP as a result of this pathetic effort.
Lions’ Stat of the Game:
321, which was the number of rushing yards the Panthers had on the day. The Lions offered no resistance whatsoever in the trenches, and got run over by a Carolina team that was running possessed on the day.
Seeing the Lions giving up 321 rushing yards only proves the team is in desperate shape on the defensive side of the ball, and needs an infusion of talent in the trenches as well as a refresher on tackling.
Lions’ Quote to Note
“That was a hungry team we plated and we didn’t look as hungry as they did. That’s the bottom line.” -Dan Campbell. After the loss, Campbell called himself out first and admitted that the Panthers looked better than the Lions did, which was the bad news on the day. He took full blame for the team being unable to get anything going at all on the field.