Yes, I’ve already seen those “same old lions” headlines and comments after the Detroit Lions opened the season with a loss on the road against the San Diego Chargers. While Sunday’s 33-28 loss, after going up 21-3 in the second quarter, was as disappointing as any Lions loss through the years, it is not time to put those paper bags with eye holes back on your heads.
The Lions did not look good in the second half of the game Sunday, but that does not mean that this is a bad football team. This is only the first game and there are plenty of reasons to have high hopes for the season.
In the press conference after the game, head coach Jim Caldwell said, “Anytime you don’t win, you can find some silver linings, but, you know, the fact of the matter is we just didn’t play well enough.”
Yes, the Lions did not play well enough, but let’s look at six of those “silver linings” that can give Lions fans optimism moving forward.
Lions Can Run the Ball
Last year it seemed like Joique Bell had to break three tackles in the backfield on every carry in order to get any positive gains. In this year’s first game, while the new, younger, more athletic offensive line for the Lions had some struggles (especially in pass protection), they did open some holes in the running game.
And an electrifying new running back ran through one of those holes on his first carry for a touchdown.
Ameer Abdullah is not Barry Sanders, but his debut performance was the best the Lions have seen from a rookie running back since Barry Sanders.
Abdullah, selected in the second round of the NFL draft, finished with seven rushes for a team-high 50 yards, plus caught four passes for 44 yards. Toss in his work as the starting kick returner, and his 199 total yards were easily a team high.
His 50 rushing yards were the most by a Lions draft pick making his rookie debut since Barry Sanders rushed nine times for 71 yards against the Phoenix Cardinals in 1989.
Fans and commentators are already calling for Abdullah to get more carries. There should be excitement in the expectation that he definitely will carry the ball more as the season continues.
Even more exciting is that the offensive line should get better at opening holes as the season goes on when they get two starters back in Larry Warford and LaAdrian Waddle.
A Lions offense that can balance the passing attack of Matthew Stafford to Calvin Johnson a.k.a. Megatron and Golden Tate with solid running should be scary for any defense in the league.
Special Teams Look Good
It could be argued, and probably should, that special teams was the best overall unit for the Lions on Sunday.
While the offense and the defense both put points on the board, special teams did their job well the whole game. That certainly can’t be said about the offense or the defense.
Ameer Abdullah looked good returning kick offs, averaging 35 yards per return for 105 yards during the game. Likewise, the Lions decided to use Golden Tate on punt returns and he looked good, returning two punts for a total of 34 yards.
Matt Prater made all of his extra point attempts (that have been extended this year) and Sam Martin put three punts inside the San Diego 20 while pretty well neutralizing Jacoby Jones during kick offs.
Glover Quin Still Making Game Changing Plays
There was plenty of bad from the Lions’ secondary on Sunday. Rasheen Mathis got abused, especially in the second half; James Ihedigbo struggled, missing a couple of tackles very badly; and the Lions’ best corner in Darius Slay got injured in the fourth quarter.
However, Glover Quin looked like our best defensive player.
After leading the NFL in interceptions last year, Quin snagged a pick-six against Philip Rivers Sunday. That was the obvious splash play, but Quin also ran all over the field, making tackles when it seemed like no one else on the Lions’ defense could.
Quin’s incredible ability to read a quarterback and the development of a play should keep him in the right place at the right time to continue making game changing plays all year-long.
A Defensive Tackle Demanding Double Teams
Even though the Lions lost Ndamukong Suh, they still have a defensive tackle demanding double teams in Haloti Ngata.
He’s Ngata Suh (pardon the pun). Ngata did get pushed around a lot on Sunday, but it took two linemen each play to do it. There wasn’t the penetration or splash plays Suh provided for the Lions, but with this being Ngata’s first time out on the field after missing training camp and the preseason to a hamstring injury, he should look better and better as the season continues.
Having a defensive tackle demanding double teams should help open up things for the rest of the defense. Expect Jason Jones, Ziggy Ansah, who got in there for a sack along with Phillip Hunt, and others to take advantage.
Detroit’s Best Defensive Player Was Not on the Field
Probably much more than Suh, the Lions missed DeAndre Levy on Sunday.
The Chargers ripped the Lions apart with little dump off passes from Rivers. No one seemed to be able to tackle receivers–usually Keenan Allan–after Rivers gave them little dump off passes on Sunday.
Do you think that would have happened if the man who had over 150 tackles last season and always seems to be everywhere on the field would have been playing? Not likely.
The Lions certainly didn’t look like the top team against the run on Sunday either. DeAndre Levy was huge in making the Lions the number one team against the run last year and top 10 all time in that department. Having him stuff runs would have been a huge boost for the Lions on Sunday.
DeAndre Levy also does a great job in coverage. It’s not likely tight end Ladarius Green would be able to run wide open down the middle of the field for an easy touchdown in the fourth quarter with Levy on the field.
Getting Levy back will make the Lions’ defense look much closer to the number two overall defense of last year.
Stafford Will Throw the Ball to Megatron
I was only going to do five silver linings, but I couldn’t finish this article without bringing up the most puzzling part of Sunday’s game.
Calving Johnson was only targeted four times throughout the whole game. I know that Stafford now has many targets to throw to on the Lions, but when you have the best receiver in the world on your team, you have to throw him the ball.
The Chargers did a good job of throwing a lot of coverage Johnson’s way, but when has that ever stopped Johnson from catching the ball?
Megatron has always been the first place Stafford looks when he’s back to pass. There is no way he won’t target Johnson more throughout the rest of the season.
Of course, the offensive line also needs to give Stafford more time for these types of throws as Johnson is at his best running deep routes down the field. We’re trusting Offensive Coordinator Joe Lombardi to be true to his word and letting Stafford and Johnson do what they do best more this year in taking deep shots.