Detroit Lions vs. Carolina Panthers: Full Report Card Grades for Detroit
The Detroit Lions hit the road for the first time this season and ran into an inhospitable host. The Carolina Panthers outlasted the Lions, pulling away in the fourth quarter by a score of 24-7.
The offense that was so ferocious a week ago was grounded by a tough Panthers defense. The offensive line was overrun, as Matthew Stafford couldn't get the chains moving in the second half.
There were quite a few performances of note from the Lions, but not many deserving of praise. Click through to find out how each unit graded out.
Quarterback
1 of 10
A lot of the perceptions about Matthew Stafford have changed in six days.
Stafford started the game out as he did last week, spreading the ball around. By the second quarter, seven different receivers had caught passes because he was finding the open man.
"Matt Stafford's thrown 49 passes without an interception, the longest stretch to open any season of his career. Previous best was 20 in 2010
— Kyle Meinke (@kmeinke) Sept. 14, 2014"
Then, everything went south.
The old Stafford reared his ugly arm and eyes. He began to lock in on Calvin Johnson at the end of the half, and the offense started to sputter.
The nadir was his decision to force the ball to Johnson downfield early in the fourth quarter. Calvin had two defenders in decent coverage, and one tipped the underthrown ball that landed into Melvin White's hands.
"Lions fans telling me it was a bad throw that caused Stafford's INT. Sure. But it was a bad decision to throw into double coverage too.
— NFL Philosophy (@NFLosophy) Sept. 14, 2014"
There's nothing wrong with taking a shot deep every now and then, but that was not the right situation. The Lions had great field position thanks to the defense and were only down six.
Unfortunately, that's the type of day it was for Stafford, even if he did finish the day with 291 yards and a touchdown.
Grade: C+
Running Back
2 of 10
The news doesn't get much better for the running backs.
Reggie Bush barely played, logging just eight touches for 32 yards. It probably had something to do with his health, because it couldn't have been the effectiveness of Joique Bell.
"Reggie Bush had his left knee wrapped in locker room. Ashlee Palmer had right wrist wrapped. Joe Fauria had ice on left hand.
— Josh Katzenstein (@jkatzenstein) Sept. 10, 2014"
The running game as a whole didn't see much work. All three running backs were only given a combined 17 carries.
And Bell was the main beneficiary with 10 carries, but he didn't spread the goodwill very far. Unless, of course, you count the Panthers.
"What is going on with Joique Bell? Ball security has been a nightmare the first two weeks.
— Justin Rogers (@Justin_Rogers) Sept. 14, 2014"
He had a fumble that was corrected to a drop early, and then followed that up with a fumble just outside of the red zone. Bell had four fumbles last year and has now put the ball on the carpet twice in two weeks.
Still, the coaching staff continued to feed him. He held onto the ball, but he finished with just 36 yards on 10 carries. He did add six catches for 61 yards, but the bulk of those came in garbage time.
Grade: D+
Wide Receiver and Tight End
3 of 10
It seems impossible, but Calvin Johnson actually brings this grade down a bit.
Johnson had a pair of drops by my count, both of which proved costly. The first had a familiar feel to it.
"The Calvin Johnson rule really hates the Calvin Johnson.
— Justin Rogers (@Justin_Rogers) Sept. 14, 2014"
Johnson seemed to catch a diving touchdown pass. Yet, he couldn't come up with the ball as he went to the ground.
The second was at the end of the first half when Detroit had three timeouts and over a minute left. Instead of performing like the best wideout in the game, he let the ball get into his body where it popped up dangerously and fell to the ground.
He still had at least one catch of the jaw-dropping variety and ended up with six receptions for 83 yards. Yet, it was an underwhelming performance for Megatron.
Golden Tate—who caught six passes last week on third down—posted another solid game with five catches for 57 yards and Eric Ebron finally hauled in his first three passes.
"This week Lions have 6 drops, last week zero. #Lions at #Panthers
— Paula Pasche (@paulapasche) Sept. 14, 2014"
However, there is only so high of a grade a unit can achieve with six drops. The wideouts also had trouble getting off the line in key situations, which forced Stafford to hold onto the ball long enough to get battered by Carolina.
Grade: C
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Offensive Line
4 of 10
The Lions failed to run the ball well for the second game in a row. Two instances doesn't make a trend, but it's certainly the beginning of a pattern.
Garrett Reynolds stepped in for LaAdrian Waddle and started out admirably. Like the rest of the line, things turned quickly.
"Garrett Reynolds showing why the Falcons gave up on him. Mario Addison torching him for the easy sack. #DETvsCAR
— Jeff Risdon (@JeffRisdon) Sept. 14, 2014"
The entire offensive line cracked under the relentless pressure of Carolina's talented front seven. After giving up just three hurries midway through the third, the game plan became progressively more run-heavy and the turnstiles up front started whirling.
Even Larry Warford took a few matador snaps, escorting the defensive tackle into the backfield.
In all, the Lions did put up 3.9 yards per carry, which isn't terrible considering the competition. But the constant pressure and four sacks weigh heavily on a mediocre performance.
Grade: C
Defensive Line
5 of 10
The defense was the star of this game for Detroit, and it all started with the defensive line.
Defensive tackle Nick Fairley spent plenty of time in the backfield. He seemed to be penetrating the line at will—as did C.J. Mosley—and blowing up various running backs.
"When Nick Fairley guesses the snap count, look out.
— Justin Rogers (@Justin_Rogers) Sept. 14, 2014"
Mosley got the better of Cam Newton on two occasions in the same fashion, by flying by the overmatched Carolina guards. Ndamukong Suh also chipped in with two tackles for a loss.
The ends did pretty well to capitalize on the attention required in the middle.
"That's two games in a row now where Ziggy Ansah has at least a half sack. #DETvsCAR
— Tim Twentyman (@ttwentyman) September 14, 2014"
Ziggy Ansah and Jason Jones teamed up to bring down Newton early in the game, but their effectiveness seemed to wane as the game wore on. Devin Taylor also applied some pressure and finished with one quarterback hit.
The defensive line was also the main key to limiting Carolina to just 2.6 yards per rush.
Grade: A-
Linebacker
6 of 10
The linebackers piggybacked on the defensive line's performance to put up a solid one of their own.
Stephen Tulloch was certainly the ring leader.
"Wrote about Tulloch as a blitzer last week, he's really good on that Sam-Mike blitz
— Dave Birkett (@davebirkett) Sept. 14, 2014"
Tulloch's sack was a thing of beauty. He flew through the hole, broke down in front of Newton while maintaining his speed and didn't let the elusive quarterback escape.
He also posted 10 tackles, although that number could be inflated by his lack of coverage skills.
"Greg Olsen on Stephen Tulloch, even in zone, is a terrifying matchup for Detroit.
— Jeff Risdon (@JeffRisdon) Sept. 14, 2014"
DeAndre Levy didn't make as large of an impact, but he still posted seven tackles. However, both he and Tulloch have to take a hit for Greg Olsen having such a large game, even if they were in zone coverage most of the time.
Grade: B+
Secondary
7 of 10
It's a shame that no one will remember how well Darius Slay played.
Slay was seemingly everywhere, on deep throws and in the flats. Each time, he was usually comfortably lodged between a receiver and the ball.
"Darius Slay looks like a completely new player so far in 2014. Could be a breakout year for him
— NFL Draft Geek (@NFLDraftGeek) Sept. 14, 2014"
Unfortunately, like everything else in this game, things went poorly as time passed. Defensive coordinator Teryl Austin switched to a zone defense, presumably to make up for losing cornerback Nevin Lawson early.
"Lions never looked comfortable. Couldn't protect Stafford & Carolina's offense ate up Detroit's zone defense.
— Justin Simon (@justincsimon) Sept. 14, 2014"
The switch didn't work out for Detroit in the least as Cam Newton got just enough time to find the holes in the zone. After that, Detroit's defense never looked the same.
Safety Isa Abdul-Quddus put together a good effort with eight tackles. Unfortunately, he's the only one other than Slay who performed at least decently.
Grade: C+
Special Teams
8 of 10
Things did not go well for Detroit's special teams.
"Nate Freese wide right again on 49-yard FG. Missed from same distance in first quarter. Aim left!!!???
— Mike O'Hara (@MikeOHaraNFL) Sept. 14, 2014"
Nate Freese missed a pair of longer field goals and was never given another opportunity. If you can't do your job, there's a good chance you won't have one for long.
Jeremy Ross looked nifty at times returning punts and kicks, and then fell apart later. With Detroit needing to score after Carolina went up 14, Ross fumbled away the ensuing kickoff.
There were no misfortunes for punter Sam Martin. He pounded five punts for an average of 46.6 yards.
Grade: D
Coaching
9 of 10
There was a specific emphasize on finding coaches who would help Matthew Stafford take the next step. Through two weeks, nobody can say with certainty what type of quarterback he's going to be.
"Meet the new Stafford, same as the old Stafford.
— Michael Schottey (@Schottey) Sept. 14, 2014"
Once Stafford started focusing on Calvin Johnson at the end of the first half, the coaches should have been in his ear. They should have reinforced everything they worked on throughout the summer.
That failure has to fall squarely on the coaches.
Defensively, the reliance on zone coverage was ultimately its undoing. It's possible that defensive coordinator Teryl Austin's hand was forced by injuries, but you have to make adjustments when getting torn apart.
On a more positive note, the Lions had 52 less penalty yards. And the Lions were in a position to win this game in the fourth quarter despite a spat of mistakes from the players.
Grade: B-
Final Grades
10 of 10
QB: C+
RB: D+
WR/TE: C
OL: C
DL: A-
LB: B+
Secondary: C+
ST: D
Coaching: B-
Cumulative Grade: C
Last week, the Lions looked like a team ready to compete against the best in the league. That vision wasn't completed against Carolina.
Little mistakes—like missed field goals, drops and fumbles—eroded all of the positive things the offense was able to do early. More importantly, when the Lions had a chance to put points on the board, they fell apart.
The defense played well enough to win this game. It's a shame that the mostly impressive effort on that side of the ball was wasted by a careless offense.
The result is a 1-1 team sitting atop their division. With the Green Bay Packers coming to town next week, Detroit needs to get back to basics and execute.
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