Close But No Cigar: Grading the Detroit Lions for Week Eight

Here are my grades for the Lions/Redskins game yesterday. The Lions lost 17-25.

The Lions almost won this game, and had they made a few more plays and converted some key third downs and moved the ball better in the second half, they may have.  Also, the defense played hard but had too many lapses, which cost them.

All-in-all, it was progress from some of the uglier early-season losses but still disappointing on many levels. Here are my grades for the different phases of the game.

OFFENSE: D+

This grade could've been higher if the coaching/gameplan/playcalling would've been better.

Dan Orlovsky turned in another average performance, with its good points and bad.  The good is that he didn't turn the ball over for the third straight game. He put some passes in receivers hands, only to see them dropped, and he moved outside the pocket a few times when protection broke down.

The bad is that he didn't take enough shots down the field and failed to get Calvin Johnson involved, except for two nice plays, one that Calvin turned into a 17-yard touchdown reception.

He still showed some inexperience in that he checks down too much when the primary receiver is covered and didn't understand the down and distance a couple of times on key third downs.

This also was the case on the final offensive play, a fourth down, where he checked down to Calvin Johnson who caught the ball and was immediately tackled short of the first down.

The offense finally scored in the first quarter but failed to mount any substantial drives in the second half, where they had quite a few three-and-out possessions, which allowed Washington to get the lead.

The running game was non-existent again and, inexplicably, Rudi Johnson got the start, despite better showings by Kevin Smith in recent weeks. It's clear that Kevin Smith has the vision and ability to make some highlight runs and move the chains if given the carries.

For some reason, the coaching staff isn't doing that. Also, the vanilla offensive calls on running plays is getting ridiculous. Four straight runs by Rudi, that went nowhere, were base, off-tackle runs.

The offensive line did okay in some spots but had costly penalties as well and need to improve. It's interesting that they continue to struggle while the opposition puts on clinics every week.

DEFENSE: D-

Five out of the six losses have been accompanied by at least one of the opposing team's players having career performances against the Lions, and in the Minnesota game, Bernard Berrian still had a great game. 

This is troubling and cannot be overstated. Michael Turner, Andre Johnson, Santana Moss, Jason Campbell, Aaron Rodgers, Greg Jennings, Frank Gore, Steve Slaton, Kyle Orton, etc. have all posted huge numbers against the porous and outmatched Lions defense.

Tackling is still a huge issue on defense and special teams, as well as missed assignments. The defense did get some pressure and created a turnover, but on many occasions, the offense let them create pressure to set up successful screen plays where the Lions' players lost containment. This is a product of undisciplined players who still don't understand their responsibilities and are exploited because of it. 

Some of this is a talent issue and some is coaching.

SPECIAL TEAMS: D+

They gave up a touchdown due to poor tackling, and they fumbled a return as well, although it went out of bounds and didn't hurt. Middleton is better than any alternatives, but he isn't a threat to go the distance either. 

Jason Hanson was the lone bright spot again!

COACHING: C-

The staff had a gameplan that kept them competitive, and you have to give them credit for finally coming out of the gate with some spunk, but overall, the players are still making mental errors and aren't in the right position much of the time.

It's the coaches job to teach these players what they need to know and then to reinforce it, so that they retain the information and can bring that to the game field. Thus far, they haven't been able to do that.

The defensive calls were decent but weren't always executed very well. The coaches can't play the game, the players do, so some fault lies with them, but the coaches do need to put guys in position to be successful with their calls. That was just okay today, which isn't good enough.

The Lions go up against the Chicago Bears next week, who abused the Lions a couple weeks ago. Hopefully the coaches will make some adjustments from the tape of that game and exploit the mismatches and opportunities.