The Detroit Lions lost 32-26 to the Carolina Panthers on Sunday night, falling to 2-2 on the season.
The Lions once again came out flat, and the defense had no answer for the Panthers' league-leading passing offense. The Panthers never looked threatened through four quarters of football.
The Lions will look to regroup ahead of their Week 5 road matchup at the Arizona Cardinals.
Here are the Lions' winners and losers from Sunday night's loss:
Loser: Dan Campbell
It starts at the top, and one of the losers from the start of the season has been general manager Brad Holmes. However, on a day where the Lions somehow looked worse than they have through their first three games, the coaching becomes a concern.
Campbell has echoed the Holmes sentiment of "we like the guys we have,"
but the defensive performances regardless of personnel are only amplified by Sunday night's loss. The decisions being made and costly penalties to put the Lions in the positions they're in have to put a chink in the leader's armor.
Loser: Kelvin Sheppard
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As mentioned above, the personnel can certainly be looked at as an issue for the Lions' defense.
However, these performances suggest that the coaching staff doesn't have an answer to modern NFL offense. The committment to man coverage without the talent to do so continues to plague the secondary.
Sheppard continues to mistime blitz packages, including near the goal line like in this game, which leaves receivers wide open in the most congested part of the field. It's strategic faults like these that call into question the ability of the coaching staff to adjust and evolve with the resources its provided.
Winner: Jake Bates
Lions kicker Jake Bates had to make every one of his four field goal attempts and two PATs to keep the Lions in this game as they came up short on offense in the red zone on multiple occasions.
Bates has been solid all year, but this was the first game he was repeatedly called upon, and he delievered.
Winner: Jameson Williams
Wide receiver Jameson Williams had the kind of game that makes him look like a top option in the NFL on Sunday night.
Despite some inconsistency with the offense as a whole, Williams cashed in on several opportunities to shine. He caught six of eight targets for 102 yards.
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This article originally appeared on Lions Wire: Detroit Lions' winners, losers from defeat at Panthers
