Matthew Stafford – Page 13

Five things to watch as Lions face Vikings

Every NFL team has to deal with the limitations due to the coronavirus pandemic. This week it was the Lions that took a hit with Matthew Stafford and Jarrad Davis being exposed and forced into quarantine.

Still the Lions (3-4) had to keep an eye on the goal for this week — beating the Vikings (2-5) at Minnesota on Sunday.

“I think for us it’s really important that we’re trying to do everything we can protocol-wise to stay in front of it and stay safe,’’ coach Matt Patricia said. “We knew that probably getting towards the month of November and December as flu season kicked up – we certainly understood that situations might change, and things might change from that aspect of it.’’

Luckily many of the team and individual group meetings are virtual. So Stafford and Davis have been able to keep up that way.

“Obviously trying to stay ahead as far as what’s going on out in the communities and knowing that will definitely affect us as we go. Doing the best we can to stay in front of it from that standpoint and trying to always go more extreme than we need to, just to make sure that we’re staying safe, but understand that everything can change, you know, day-by-day,’’ Patricia said.

Five things to look for against the Vikings:

1. Stafford has not been able to practice but that shouldn’t be a huge factor. “I think if you called Matt Stafford on an April day and said, ‘Hey, we’re going to go play a 60-minute football game,’ he’d be able to go out there and rip it. He’d be fine. He’d see defenses; he’d see coverage. He’d be doing all the right things. He’s a great vet. He knows how to play the game,’’ Patricia said. “… I trust Matt Stafford to always do the right things, be ready to go and that’s where we are right now. I think just in general – I think that the game of 11 guys working together at the same time, that’s why some of that stuff is important. It’s not necessary, but it’s definitely important.”

2. Defensive end Everson Griffen will be playing his first game for the Lions and it’s against his former team. After the trade from Dallas, Griffen could not join the team immediately due to coronavirus stipulations. His first practice was Wednesday. “I thought his communication was really good on the field, and he’s got a high motor. He practices at a high level, so that was really good. It was good for us to be out there in pads and to be able to see some of that and just get him used to some of the communication out on the field. I thought it was a good first step,’’ Patricia said.

3. After losing five of their first six games, the Vikings upset the Green Bay Packers last week. Minnesota’s ground game averages 144 yards per game while the Lions defense has had some trouble stopping the run. Last week the Colts ran for 119 yards. Running back Dalvin Cook is the workhorse with 10 rushing touchdowns. Three of those were against the Packers last week.

4. The Vikings defense is young but strong through the middle. “Certainly, to me, it starts with (Eric) Kendricks in the middle (with) his ability to communicate, especially with the front. I think the front’s improving every single week. Those guys are long, they get off the ball, they knock the line of scrimmage back,’’ Patricia said. So, I think he’s done an outstanding job in the middle (of) kind of settling all that down, and certainly (Eric) Wilson, he’s played a lot of football for them and he’s a good player. I feel that the strength at the linebackers, plus the strength of the safety position – Harrison Smith, obviously, and Anthony Harris – those guys are phenomenal. A lot of what they do out of their pressure packages is because of the disguise that those two can come up with. They’re very in sync with all that, and you see them communicating out to the corners. I feel that their defense is getting better each week. I think that those guys are out there and they’re getting more familiar with each other and the communication looks like it’s getting better. Those guys are playing at a high level. The strength through the middle of the defense, I think, is important. They have that.”

5. No excuses for the Lions who are coming off the 41-21 loss to the Colts at home. They will be missing three key players — Kenny Golladay, Jamal Agnew and Tracy Walker are out with injuries. Also, Joe Dahl, Christian Jones, Darryl Roberts and Halapoulivaati Vaitai are questionable.

PREDICTION: Vikings 28, Lions 24

Five reasons the Lions lost 41-21 to the Colts

DETROIT — The Lions never gave themselves a chance in their 41-21 loss to the Indianapolis Colts on Sunday at Ford Field. It didn’t seem that close.

The Lions are now 0-3 at home and 3-4 overall.

Execution? Not so much. We’ve seen this before. Plenty of blame to spread around.

Coach Matt Patricia gave credit to the Colts (5-2). “They played well in all three phases and were able to capitalize on the mistakes we made,’’ the coach said.

The Lions were coming off two straight wins, although both were against one-win teams. Still whatever momentum they had built is gone.

“Yeah, I mean it is frustrating to lose. We’ve put a bunch of work into it, and when it doesn’t go the way you want it to go, it’s not fun. And this one’s no different,’’ Matthew Stafford said. “But at the same time we’ve got to learn from it. We’ll look at the tape, we will figure out where we can do better and we have got a new opponent next week. We are going to have to get ready to go to them and play well.”

The five main reasons the Lions lost:

1. Detroit’s defense could not get quarterback Philip Rivers and the Colts’ offense off the field. The time of possession was a joke in the first half. The Colts had the ball for 22:06, the Lions for 7:54. Of course this goes both ways. The Lions’ offense couldn’t sustain drives to stay on the field. “It’s no excuse. We play defense for a reason. Offense is going to have off days, but we’ve got to go out there and play ball, simple as that,” linebacker Reggie Ragland said. Rivers finished 23 of 33 for 262 yards and three touchdowns. He was sacked twice. The 38-year-old Rivers was impressive and certainly got some help from the Lions’ defense.

2. Penalties were the killer, not that there were so many of them (four for 76 yards), just those that came at crucial times. None worse that in the second quarter on a third-and-four, Danny Shelton sacked Rivers for a loss of 7 yards. But he was called for unnecessary roughness which is a 15-yard penalty and three plays later. Shelton did not stop when the whistle blew that the play was dead, according to a pool report with Clay Martin the referee who made the call. The flag was delayed because first he had to break up a scrum that was a result of the play. Shelton should know better.Three plays later Rivers connected with Jack Doyle for a 7-yard touchdown.

3. Stafford did not have his best game. He turned the ball over twice. An interception early in the fourth quarter was returned for a touchdown. He said he didn’t have god enough eyes on the nickel. In the prior series he was sacked, fumbled the ball and the Colts recovered it. “Wish I had those two plays back,’’ Stafford said. He didn’t have much time on the field and the offensive shortcomings are not all on him. Stafford put together three nice touchdown drives but it obviously wasn’t enough. He finished 24 of 42 for 336 yards, three touchdowns and was sacked five times for losses of 39 yards.

4. The run game was abysmal. Five carries for 5 yards in the first half spells trouble. They finished with just 29 rushing yards and 10 of those came on a run by Stafford. “Obviously, didn’t sustain drives well enough in the first half or the second half to be honest. Didn’t run the ball as well as we can, obviously and then just didn’t play well enough in the passing game to overcome that,’’ Stafford said. “So, it was obviously we scored early which was great, but we weren’t able to be consistent on drives and our defense was out there for a long period of time, which isn’t good.” Adrian Peterson had five carries for 7 yards while D’Andre Swift carried six times for 1 yard. It was an issue. The run game started off the season well, but has faltered in recent weeks.

5. Matt Patricia said afterward he has to do better. The Lions took a step backward. “We’ve got a lot of work to do,’’ Patricia said. “We have to play better, we have to coach better, that’s the bottom line.” Patricia is now 12-26-1 in his three seasons in Detroit. He’s never put together three straight wins. Most coaches agree that taking care of home turf is crucial. Patricia is 5-14 at Ford Field.

BY THE NUMBERS: Wide receiver Marvin Jones Jr., had two touchdown catches giving him three for the season. … Both teams were exactly the same on third-down proficiency – 7 of 14 (50 percent). …. The Colts rushed for 119 yards, the Lions for 29 … Jason Fox averaged 52.4 yards on his five punts. … Jamie Collins and Tracy Walker led the defense with 10 tackles each. Romeo Okwara notched his fifth sack of the season. … Miles Killebrew blocked a punt in the first quarter which gave the Lions the ball at the Colts’ 32-yard line. Two plays later Stafford connected with Marvin Jones Jr. for a 25-yard touchdown that gave Detroit a 7-0 lead.

NEXT WEEK: The Lions (3-4) at the Vikings (2-5), 1 p.m. on Sunday, Nov. 8. Minnesota beat Green Bay, 28-22, on Sunday.

Detroit Lions host Colts: Five things to know

It would be a big step for the Lions to beat the Indianapolis Colts on Sunday. Detroit is coming off two straight wins, but they were over one-win teams.

No win in the NFL is easy, but beating Jacksonville and Atlanta was crucial to the Lions (3-3) moving forward. The Colts (4-2) should present much more of a challenge at Ford Field on Sunday.

Five things to watch:

1. The Lions defense which has looked much more solid since the bye week, must continue to mature. Lions linebacker Reggie Ragland said the reason for the improvement is easy: “Because everybody’s doing their damn job,’’ Ragland said. Good point. Here’s another from defensive coordinator Cory Undlin. “The more time you spend together, the more time you get used to each other. How many times has this been said as well as far as no OTAs, short training camp – and just like any family, any group of men that spend a lot of time together, there’s a chemistry and there’s a trust that goes into it. When you look to the guy to your right and the guy to your left, can you count on those guys? It has a lot to do with me and them towards me and me towards them. I think the longer we get together, the more time we spend together, it’s coming together.’’ So there you go. Defensive end Everson Griffen, who was acquired this week in a trade with Dallas, has to wait another week due to coronavirus protocols.

2. Detroit must maintain its run game. The yardage was down against the Falcons last Sunday but part of that was the game strategy. No worries. It’s a three-headed monster with Adrian Peterson, D’Andre Swift and Kerryon Johnson. Offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell said they’re constantly evaluating whether they’re using the running backs correctly. “Even last week, I think Swift ended up with the most just total number of plays, not necessarily the most carries, but the most total number of plays,’’ Bevell said. “It’s still in flux each and every week, trying to put guys in positions to be successful.’’

3. In the offseason apparently the Lions were vaccinated for fumble-itis and it worked. The offense hasn’t fumbled the ball in the first six games. “Honestly, I just think the guys do a great job with just fundamentals. I think that is a big part of our teaching of fundamentals. From Day 1, we talk about those things,’’ coach Matt Patricia said. “The No. 1 fundamental is ball security, and obviously trying to turn the ball over when we get those opportunities. We have a little bit of a saying, it’s called, ‘It’s all about the ball.’ That’s the truth.’’ (If you think asking Patricia this questions will jinx the streak, blame in on Justin Rogers of the Detroit News.)

4. Matthew Stafford had his best game so far this season with the comeback win over the Falcons. “I think that the guys that are calm in those situations are obviously guys that have been there before and Matthew Stafford’s been there a lot of times, and really just phenomenal in those situations. It was just great. I think everyone around him, too – give credit to the offensive line and the receivers and the skill guys. I thought they did a phenomenal job of everyone just being on the same page,’’ Patricia said. In six games, Stafford has connected 62.3 percent of his passes with 10 touchdowns and four interceptions.

5. The Colts’ defense is sneaky good according to Patricia. “Obviously, (DeForest) Buckner was a great addition inside to help them kind of create that penetration. He’s got huge length, he can play the run, he’s extremely strong. So, I think he’s just solidified the inside part of that defense. (Grover) Stewart’s in there, too. He’s a great player. (Justin) Houston on the edge, obviously now him with Buckner and the ability for them to run the pass-rush games that they run and the stunts that they use up front, I just think they’re very, very disruptive up front.

PREDICTION: Lions 27, Colts 24