This was never going to be easy. The Detroit Lions’ defense has had trouble stopping the run and Titans’ running back is nearly unstoppable even against the best defense.
The Titans opened up the game in the second half, defeating the Lions 46-25 at Nashville on Sunday.
The Lions drop to 1-2 under interim coach Darrell Bevell and 5-9 overall. Still, even though it was a lopsided loss, there is a renewed sense of energy on the offense but two turnovers were costly.
“It can’t happen, one on the 1-yard line, the other in the red area, you can’t turn it over against good teams and have a chance to win. I thought we were moving the ball well on good, long sustained drives, you turn it over and you don’t give yourselves a chance,’’ Bevell told WJR.
The defense continues its struggles like it has most of the season, giving up six touchdowns and 463 yards. “We knew it was going to be a huge challenge, great running back (Derrick Henry) that they have, hard to stop, physical, he also has speed. We knew that was going to be a challenge and it turned out that way,” Bevell said.
Five keys to the Lions’ loss:
1. Two turnovers in the red zone were critical. D’Andre Swift tried to leap over the pile from the 2-yard line on third down in the second quarter, had the ball punched out and the Titans recovered. Also T.J. Hockenson had a third-down catch, fumbled it and Titans recovered early in the third quarter.
2. The Lions defense just couldn’t stop running back Derrick Henry who finished with 24 carries for 147 yards and a touchdown. Overall the Titans had 195 rushing yards which is nearly 40 yards more than their average per game.
3. Since the defense couldn’t stop the run game, things opened up for quarterback Ryan Tannehill who was 21 of 27 for 273 yards, three passing and two rushing touchdowns. Late in the third, on a third-and-11, Tannehill completed a 20-yard pass to tight end Anthony Firkser for a first down. It was a defining play of the quarter and the game. The Titans converted 9 of 11 third-down attempts. That’s an incredible 82 percent.
4. Matthew Stafford, who was playing with injured ribs and was uncertain to go until Sunday morning, played like there was nothing wrong with him at all. We all knew he was tough, he proved it on Sunday completing 22 of 32 passes for 252 yards, one touchdown and a 102.6 rating. “It was a gutty performance by him,’’ Bevell said. He was pulled with nine minutes left after taking a big hit the previous drive. Chase Daniel stepped in and handled it well but it was too late to pull off a comeback with the Lions down by 21 points.
5. The Lions offensive line, which was without center Frank Ragnow (fracture throat), protected Stafford fairly well. He was not sacked but took a few big hits. Joe Dahl, who started at center, had never snapped to Stafford in a game but it didn’t really show. There was a miscue in the fourth quarter on a snap but surprisingly there weren’t more. Then Halapoulivaati Vaitai, who started at right tackle, couldn’t finish the game due to a concussion.
NEXT UP: Tampa Bay Bucs (9-5) at Lions (5-9) at 1 p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 26. The Bucs topped the Falcons, 31-27, on Sunday.
Lions Lowdown 