The Detroit Lions blew a game they needed to have, and there’s plenty of blame to go around in their 29-24 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers. Let’s break it all down in Detroit’s Week 16 report card.
Quarterback: B
Without a run game and a dealing with a patchwork offensive line, Jared Goff nearly helped pull off a miraculous comeback. He finished with 364 yards, three touchdowns, and a 101.2 passer rating. However, he also contributed to some of Detroit’s struggles. He turfed a couple balls, invited pressure by holding
onto the ball too long, and didn’t seem like he was on the same page with some of his receivers.
On a day with numerous problems, though, he seemed like the least of Detroit’s worries.
Running backs: C-
The offensive line didn’t help Jahmyr Gibbs or David Montgomery out much in this game, but Gibbs didn’t help himself with a fumble and a couple of runs he tried to do too much. That said, he did help out in the passing game, especially late, pulling in 10 catches for 66 yards and a touchdown.
Montgomery was fine, but game situation limited his production to just four carries for 14 yards…. with a long of 17 yards.
Tight ends: C
Early in the game, Anthony Firkser provided some surprisingly impressive catches, and he finished with four for 40. Shane Zylstra even contributed three for 20 yards. However, the unit continues to be a liability when it comes to blocking, both in the run game and in terms of pass protection.
Wide receivers: C-
Amon-Ra St. Brown had a bad drop. Regardless of whether you agree with the calls or not, St. Brown and Isaac TeSlaa both did enough to warrant considering for their devastating offensive pass inteference calls on the potential game-winning drive.
That said, Jameson Williams came up with some big plays, TeSlaa had a fantastic catch in traffic, Kalif Raymond flashed his speed on his 27-yard touchdown, and St. Brown—despite a down day—still came up with some big-moment catches, including a 24-yard play that brought the Lions near the verge of victory.
Still, I wonder if all of those times that Goff held onto the ball too long if that was because the receivers weren’t getting open enough.
Offensive line: D-
The run game was a disaster all afternoon. Admittedly, the Lions coaching staff didn’t put them in the best spots (more on that later), but they also just weren’t winning at the point of attack enough.
The Steelers also finished with nine QB hits, three sacks, and a safety. Two false starts on the offensive line didn’t help, either.
Defensive line: D
While I don’t think the defensive line was the primary problem in the lack of run defense (more on that later, too), they certainly weren’t an asset. Alim McNeill and DJ Reader were getting moved off their spots more than I’ve seen all season. Reader added a defensive holding to his night, as well.
Pass rush was decent in the first half—with Aidan Hutchinson nabbing two sacks. But when the Steelers leaned more heavily on the run and quick pass game, it neutralized any semblance of pressure.
Linebackers: C
A lot of good. A lot of bad.
I think Jack Campbell continues to play exceptionally well, and Detroit’s man-to-man coverage was mostly very good on the night from their linebackers.
Campbell produced 14 tackles, two passes defended, and recovered a fumble. Anzalone pitched in a pass defense of his own.
But the bad plays were bad. Anzalone not only committed a brutal pass interference on a deep shot at the end of the first half, but he then allowed Kenneth Gainwell to catch the ball, get up, and walk in untouched.
Secondary: F
I think the biggest failure in the run game came from the entire secondary. The run fits were extremely bad at this level, with both the safeties and the running backs being responsible upon first watch. For the second straight week, the offense’s use of 13 personnel or jumbo formations seemed to put Detroit’s defenders in a tizzy.
D.J. Reed was often playing too soft in coverage, allowing easy completions for Aaron Rodgers to get into favorable down and distances. I thought Detroit was also very undisciplined in their zone coverage, often leaving receivers with 10 yards of cushion in every direction.
Special teams: C
Nothing particularly notable happened on special teams. Jack Fox was fine. The return and coverage teams were largely neutral. Kalif Raymond took one big, unnecessary hit and nearly fumbled, but he also turned in a 13-yard return. Special teams was not really a factor in this one, unless you count Chris Boswell’s shocking missed 37-yard field goal, which was unforced.
Coaching: F
Oh boy, do I got a lotta problems with the coaching in this one. Let’s start with the game-management stuff.
- Dan Campbell took an odd defensive timeout at the end of the first half. The Lions had gotten into a third-and-11, so if he was trying to get the ball back on offense, I would understand it—except he waited nearly 20 seconds after the play had ended to call it. Instead, it gave the Steelers a free stoppage of the clock that turned out to be pretty importnat
- The Lions had to burn a second-half timeout because they only had 10 players on the field during a critical Steelers fourth-and-2.
- On the last defensive drive, Campbell failed to use a timeout after getting a stop on first down to force a second-and-11. That burned 40 extremely valuable seconds off the clock. I suppose Campbell wanted to keep that timeout for their offense, but 40 seconds seems more valuable.
- Campbell did win a challenge, so good job.
Beyond that, I thought the play-calling was absolutely brutal on both sides of the ball. On offense, Detroit was especially terrible in the red zone. On their first trip, the Lions tried a gap run that asked Christian Mahogany to unrealistically pull to get to Jack Sawyer, who made the tackle for loss and set the Lions behind the sticks. I didn’t mind going for it on fourth down there, but the play call fooled nobody.
On the final drive, there are no excuses for failing to score on first-and-goal from the 1-yard line. Detroit seemed rushed when they could have relaxed, substituted and gotten David Montgomery in the game. Instead, they tried a risky pick play that was asking for trouble.
Defensively, it was even worse. They seemed completely ill-prepared for a Steelers offense that couldn’t have been more predictable. They live off the short passing game and running game, and Detroit couldn’t stop either. They were often giving far too much cushion to the receivers, and for the second straight week, they had no answers for 13 personnel and jumbo sets. This team has been built for years now to stop the run. They have the personnel, so there’s only one direction to point the finger.
While it’s tough to be objective about play calling without using the benefit of hindsight, I believe there are two aspects of the game that heavily rely on coaching over everything: third downs and red zone. The Lions offense went just 1-of-4 in the red zone and 6-of-15 on third downs. While the defense was strong in the red zone (0-for-3), their third down struggles (8-of-16) continue to be maddening—espeically on third-and-long. The Steelers were unacceptably 4-of-6 on third-and-10 or longer. That’s a perpetual problem this year that has still not been fixed.
