Lions Lowdown

It’s been a rough season for the Lions offensive line.

This group was supposed to be a strength, but injuries have prevented the line playing together as planned except for two games in November.

It started in June when left tackle Taylor Decker injured his shoulder and underwent surgery.

So far Graham Glasgow is the only lineman who has played in every game. He’s typically the left guard but has started for Travis Swanson at center in the two games he’s missed.

Joe Dahl was on injured reserved for nine weeks and Corey Robinson missed eight games with injury.

(Photo courtesy of Detroit Lions)

It continues through this week. Three of the five Lions who did not practice on Thursday were offensive linemen — T.J. Lang (foot), Swanson (concussion) and Rick Wagner (ankle). Also Decker was limited in practice due to his shoulder.

Although Lang has missed several practices due to injury, he has only missed two games.

“It’s not easy this time of year, it’s a physical game, but (Lang) knows his body, he knows what he needs. It’s great to have a guy that’s been around a bit to be able to step in there who if he says he can go when the doctors concur with that as well, he steps in and does a great job,” coach Jim Caldwell said.

Swanson and Wagner have been ruled out for Saturday when the Lions (7-6) host the Chicago Bears (4-9).

Look for Glasgow to start at center and possibly Dahl to fill in at left guard. Expect to see Corey Robinson or Brian Mihalik, who has played in every game with two starts, to replace Wagner at right tackle.

Coach Jim Caldwell wouldn’t say he’s frustrated with the offensive line injuries, instead saying it’s part of the game.

“It’s just how it is, I mean you have to adapt and adjust. …  I believe you don’t dwell on things of that nature, I mean all you do is handicap yourself. Let’s move on with it, you understand the circumstances, nobody cares about that. The only thing anybody cares about is winning, I’m talking about people outside of our building,’’ Caldwell said. “Certainly, we care about our guys from a physical nature and all that kind of stuff, I don’t want somebody to misunderstand that part of it, but nevertheless, I just don’t spend a whole lot of time worrying about that. Here it is, this is what it is, deal with it, win. Plain and simple, no excuses.”

Despite the musical chairs on the O-line, last week in the win at Tampa Bay was the first time all season that Matthew Stafford was not sacked.

The Lions durable quarterback has been sacked 39 times, tied for second in the league. Only the Colts’ Jacoby Brissett has been sacked more often (48). And still Stafford has the third most passing yards in the NFL (3,683) behind Tom Brady (3,865) and Ben Roethlisberger (3,744).

“We’re just trying to adjust and adapt to our guys and their guys — our sort of pass protection plan to their either pass rush plan or blitz plan. And every one of those things matches up a little bit differently. Our guys up front did a really nice job last week,’’ offensive coordinator Jim Bob Cooter said. “That was not a defense that was going to blitz you 40 times in a game. They were going to mix some big pressures from time to time, but a lot of times we were getting four-man rush. We tried to have the best plan available to block those four guys.’’

Of course sacks are not just the fault of the line, Stafford needs to get rid of the ball in timely fashion and he needs pass protection from everyone else too.

“Our guys up front did a good job. Stafford did a good job getting the ball out on time which requires our receivers getting open on time, and that all kind of worked together pretty well a lot of those times last week anyway, and we need to keep that going. Zero sack games are really beneficial for our team,’’ Cooter said.

And for the health of Stafford whose throwing hand was severely bruised in the loss at the Ravens.

ALLEN PARK >> Matthew Stafford seemed a bit thrown off by one question on Tuesday morning.

Reporter: Do you mind throwing the ball a lot?

Stafford: “No, I mean that’s part of our job description is throwing the ball. A lot of other stuff goes into as well, but being successful throwing the ball is a big part of it, and I’m happy to do it.”

Why wouldn’t he love to throw? Stafford has completed 82.2 percent of his passes in the last two games —  a win at Tampa Bay and a loss at Baltimore. In Sunday’s win over the Bucs, he was working with a bruised throwing hand that was so serious he was not a lock to play in the game.

Stafford has the third-most passing yards in the NFL with 3,683. He’s behind Tom Brady (3,865) and Ben Roethlisberger (3,744).

Stafford and the Lions (7-6) face the Chicago Bears (4-9) at 4:30 p.m. on Saturday at Ford Field. In the first meeting on Nov. 19, the Lions won 27-24 but it wasn’t easy.

Five things to know about Stafford:

1. Try to trick him into answering if he’d like to throw more. Go ahead and try it because he won’t bite. “I think the biggest thing is taking it week to week. And like I said, I mean, certain weeks you got a bunch of yards and not that many completions because you’re having a bunch of big gains, big plays,’’ Stafford said on Tuesday. “I don’t look too much into actual number of pass attempts. It’s more combined completions with the run game and all that kind of stuff, how many times you hand it off. Those are usually bigger indicators of success than anything.”

2. In the first meeting with the Bears, Stafford was 21 of 31 for 299 yards and a pair of touchdowns. The Lions were held to 65 rushing yards (shocking, I know). Stafford is 5-1 at Ford Field against the Bears with the only loss coming in 2012.

3. He won’t take credit for his gawdy numbers in the last two games. “I think it takes everybody. Our guys outside are doing a great job of winning and making some tough catches,’’ Stafford said. “Our guys up front our keeping me clean, and I’m putting the ball in some decent spots every once in awhile. So, I think just like everything on offense, it takes all 11. Run game, pass game, it takes all 11, and through the year, minus a couple decisions I’d like to have back, we’ve been pretty good the last couple weeks.”

4. Memories of having a 100-yard running back in a game are starting to fade. The last time it happened was Reggie Bush who ran for 117 yards on Thanksgiving in 2013. Stafford is not worried about that. “I just go play the game. Every game unfolds different, and sometimes we’ve had big games running, sometimes we haven’t, and you just go try to win a game. If that means giving me the ball to throw it around a bunch of times, I’m all for it. I want a ‘W’ at the end of the day however we can get it,’’ Stafford said.

5. Stafford feels bad for Carson Wentz whose season ended early with a torn ACL. “He was having a hell of a year, had that town going man and had that team going, they were playing great. I’m sure those guys will rally around whoever’s in next and go,’’ Stafford said. “Just tough to see guys around the league get injured. He’s an athletic guy running around, making a play for his team and it hurts.’’

The Lions kept their playoff dreams alive with a 24-21 win against the Buccaneers on Sunday in Tampa. They move to 7-6 for the season. They face the Chicago Bears (4-9) on Saturday at Ford Field.

It was not easy and, at times, it wasn’t pretty either.

Detroit held a 21-7 edge at the half, but the Bucs came back to tie it in the fourth quarter at 21-21. Matt Prater kicked a game-winning 46-yard field goal with just 20 seconds left.

“It’s always been kind of a hallmark of ours, we look to battle at the end, our guys show great resilience, they don’t get nervous in tough situations at the end of games, they find a way to win it,’’ Caldwell said. “It might not always be pretty. We’ve always been like that, but we lost quite a few this year just the opposite side of that — Atlanta and Carolina were close at the end and we weren’t able to finish them. We had been uncharacteristic for a portion of the season, we’re going to see if we can be a little bit better this week.’’

The Bucs turned the ball over five times (three lost fumbles, two Jameis Winston interceptions) while the Lions had three turnovers. The Bucs were the 12th NFL team to turn the ball over five times in a game this season and the 12th to lose the game.

(Photo courtesy of Detroit Lions)

Here’s a look at five reasons the Lions won:

1. Give plenty of credit to Matthew Stafford who was 36 of 44 for 381 yards. Yes, he threw two interceptions, but he was able to come up with big plays when needed. Stafford was officially questionable for the game with a bruised throwing hand but it didn’t seem to bother him. Afterward he took full blame for the two picks saying they were a result of bad decisions, impatience and also being too aggressive. His 36 completions were the most for any quarterback in the NFL this season.

2. Tight end Eric Ebron had a rough start to the season drawing plenty of boos at Ford Field. But since the bye week he’s played well. Ebron finished with 10 catches for 94 yards. Both of those numbers are career highs for Ebron. He wasn’t perfect he lost a fumble. But overall it was a solid game. “When we get production out of him like that it’s big for our offense,’’ Stafford said.

3. Cornerback Darius Slay made his case yet again to be sent to the Pro Bowl. He  intercepted Jameis Winston for his fifth interception this season. He recovered a fumble in a play that the officials could not get right until a challenge by Caldwell. They got it right in the end. Slay leads the Lions with five interceptions which is career high for a season. His top previously was two in a season three times.

4. Running back Theo Riddick finished with two rushing touchdowns and 93 total yards from scrimmage. The Lions run game was only good for 53 yards but those Riddick touchdown runs of 2 yards in first and 18 yards in third were obviously key. Offensive coordinator Jim Bob Cooter mixed it up more and ran it less with just 18 carries. In his second game, Tion Green had five carries for 15 yards. Ameer Abdullah and Dwayne Washington were inactive.

5. Detroit may have won, but it was so close at least in part due to eight penalties for 105 yards. If the Lions had lost this one, the spotlight would have been on these turnovers. Caldwell likes to say when you win you’re not as good as you think and when you lose you’re not as bad. Well these penalties could have been killers. And it wasn’t just the number of penalties it’s that they occurred in key situations. Five of the penalties were on the offensive line including two for T.J. Lang.