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Finishing is issue for Detroit Lions who have led in all 12 games but won just 3

ALLEN PARK — In a few weeks when the Lions obituary is written for this season, not finishing games will be one of the causes of an early exit from playoff hopes.

The Lions (3-8-1) have led in all 12 games but won only three of them.

It gets worse. They have led or been tied in the fourth quarter five times, losing four of them.

Lions defensive coordinator Paul Pasqualoni is optimistic about improvement.

“We’re a play or two away from being in position to hold those leads that we’ve had. We’ve been very fortunate, we’ve held a lead in a lot of games – probably all of them, maybe,’’ Pasqualoni said. “We just have to make another play. We’re a couple of plays away. I think it’s important that we’re playing well against the run, which gives you a chance to at least have an idea they’re going to through the ball, so you’re not always kind of in between what they are doing. I think the guys are playing really hard. I’m really pleased with how hard we play. I think we play really, really hard and I think we have a lot of guys that are going in and out of the game.’’

He thinks some of the young guys have responded “pretty well.”

“We just have to take care of some little things and get a little bit better and just make a few more plays. It’s a game of inches, you know I’ve always said that this game is a game of inches and I really believe it is a game of inches,’’ Pasqualoni said.

It’s on defense for not making stops and offense for not getting the big play when it most matters. The Lions have been outscored 105-70 in the fourth quarter.

If it continues on Sunday at the Vikings, put another one in the loss column.

In their first meeting — a Vikings’ 42-30 win on Oct. 20 — the Lions held an early 14-7 lead, tied at the half and then were outscored 21-9 in the second half.

Lions notes: Door remains open for Matthew Stafford to return this season

ALLEN PARK — Matthew Stafford has missed four straight games and coach Matt Patricia said on Monday that he is still week to week with his back injury.

Even though the Lions have played their way out of the playoffs, that doesn’t mean the Stafford won’t be back.

“Out of respect for Matthew and his competitiveness and what he means to this team and what he brings every single week, we’re just going to kind of take it week-by-week and see what happens from that standpoint,’’ Patricia said.

Stafford loves the game of football, he says it often and it’s genuine. He works hard year-round for a chance to play the games. He told the media weeks ago he realizes every time he takes the field he risks injury. Doesn’t matter, it’s the game he loves.

Even though he is not able to participate in practice or in games, Stafford remains a factor in helping prepare the young quarterbacks, Jeff Driskel (who has been placed on injured reserve) and David Blough (who started his first game on Thanksgiving).

“I think he’s done a great job go all the way back to when we first started in the spring and him being here with the offseason stuff he had going on, he was really committed to the team,’’ offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell said on Monday. “Now that he’s had this injury and it’s pushed him back again — he’s been here all the time, he’s been in the quarterback room going through the same preparation as if he was playing then helping those younger guys. If you ask Jeff and Dave they’ll tell you how helpful he’s been, he’s in their ear on the sideline, he’s looking through the pictures with them giving them extra coaching points, he’s doing a good job staying engaged.’’

The Lions will likely respect his wishes and let him play again this season but only if he is cleared by the medical staff. At least for now, they’ve left that door open.

Stafford had been playing extremely well even if the team was not making the most of it and winning. In eight games he has thrown for 2,499 yards, 19 touchdowns with just five interceptions.

FLOWERS SACKS: Trey Flowers has been red-hot with five sacks in the Lions’ last five games (all losses). He’s got six for the season, just 1.5 shy of his career high (7.5) last season with the Patriots. Flowers doesn’t necessarily grade himself by statistics. “I’m very critical of myself and as far as, first of all, if we don’t get the win really nothing else matters. So if I don’t do enough for us to win, then I didn’t do enough to win,’’ Flowers said.

He played the his first four NFL seasons for the Patriots who were 50-14 in the regular season in that stretch. So playing for the Lions (3-8-1) is quite a change.

“It has been frustrating to come in work hard, work hard on the game plan, a lot of guys are working hard in the locker room and to come up short on the weekends is definitely frustrating,’’ Flowers said. “That’s part of this game, you’ve got to find ways to out-execute and out-compete.’’

SEASON OVER: Tight end T.J. Hockenson was placed on injured reserve due to the ankle injury he suffered late in the Thanksgiving Day loss to the Bears. Hockenson, the Lions’ first-round pick, ended the season with 32 receptions for 367 yards and two touchdowns. His first game, the season opener, was his best. That day he had six catches for 131 yards and a touchdown. Patricia said it’s not known if Hockenson will need surgery on his ankle.

ADJUSTMENTS: With high-tech notebooks on the sidelines during games, adjustments are made continuously, but halftime adjustments are still key at least to some coaches. ESPN’s Dianna Rossini tweeted about Steelers coach Mike Tomlin’s adjustments in Pittsburgh’s win over the Browns.

She wrote: “Spoke to Steeler players about Mike Tomlin. Players on defense pointed to the adjustments made at half. They said he ‘straight up went high school football coach and drew up how they were going to defend Cleveland’ since they Browns showing a different look. ‘He saved the game.’’’

When Patricia was asked about making adjustments on Monday, he said, “I think the in-game adjustments are something that’s critical for us. I think there are games where those have been done at a high level and probably some games that we go back and we look at and say, ‘Of course we should have done this or maybe made this change.’’’

The Lions have led in all 12 of their games at some point, but have only held on for three wins.

Lions QB David Blough impressive in NFL debut despite loss to Bears

DETROIT — David Blough said Thanksgiving was what he dreamed about as a kid.

The Lions third-string quarterback started against the Bears in the nationally televised Thanksgiving game.

Although perhaps in his dreams, Blough was able to pull out the win. Instead on Thursday, the Lions lost 24-20 to Chicago.

Still, Blough — a rookie who had never played in an NFL regular season game — was impressive.

Ini his first drive, after throwing a short incompletion to T.J. Hockenson, he aired it out and connected with Kenny Golladay on a 75-yard touchdown pass play. It was his first of four passes for 158 yards to Golladay.

Welcome to Detroit, David Blough.

On his second drive he took the offense 75 yards down the field, wrapping it up with an 8-yard touchdown pass to Marvin Jones Jr.

“Even though it was a short week, we all had a lot of confidence in him. He had a chip on his shoulder during the week. He was very confident,’’ Golladay said. “He even told (Matt Patricia) Matty P, ‘I’m ready to rip it.’ He definitely stepped-up to the challenge. I’m proud of him.”

Blough, who was undrafted out of Purdue, signed as a free agent in June with Cleveland and came to Detroit in a trade following training camp.

He finished the game 22 of 38 for 280 yards, two touchdowns, one interception and a 87.6 rating.

“Going into it I felt comfortable and prepared. In the short week we had a great plan to go into the game and take our shots. We were hoping a guy like me could come in, throw some checkdowns. We were going to throw it around a little bit, credit that to (offensive coordinator Darrell) Bevell you saw how open Kenny was and made great plays, I think that’s where a lot of the credit belongs in the quick start for us.’’

Driskel, who started the previous three games, was bothered by a hamstring since the loss to the Redskins on Sunday. Bough found out on Wednesday night before team meetings that he would be the starter.

“I had been getting a lot of the reps in the walk-throughs and practices leading up to this week I was ready to go,’’ Blough said. “I prepare every week to play on the field it just so happened it was done on a short week, Matthew has been out, a couple different twists and turns. They told me last night and I was pretty excited.’’

He said one of the best things about his day was all the support he received from the coaches and teammates.

“I just wanted to give everything that I had and the guys lifted me up. It was incredible to have the veterans, to have (Danny) Amendola, the guys just come around me and, ‘Hey, we have your back.’ That was encouraging to me as a guy who’s just been here 10 or 11 weeks or whatever it is, to know that I had those guys in my corner,’’ Blough said. “That was special.”