Detroit Lions: 5 Mistakes That Cost Jim Schwartz and Team Against San Francisco

The Detroit Lions suffered their first loss of the season against the San Francisco 49ers. It was a game that the Lions should have won and a game that they handed over to the 49ers.

After every win the Lions have made this season, they always said that they needed to play better. This loss proves the Lions mantra and to be a strong winning team the Lions have much to improve on.

There were five mistakes that the Detroit Lions committed during the game that they should improve on in order to be a playoff contender this year.

Not Stopping the Rush:

There were just way too many rushing holes in the Lions' defense on Sunday. They failed to stop Frank Gore. He ran for 141 yards in 15 carries and a touchdown for the 49ers in the first quarter. The defense knew what to expect from the 49ers and they fell for the traps that the 49ers offense laid out.

They did better last Monday night holding Matt Forte for 116 yards in 22 carries and no touchdowns. 

The special teams didn't do well in containing the rush as well. Instead of kicking out of bounds, the punter kicked it right at Tedd Ginn at the 25 yard line and Ginn ran it for 40 yards, getting pushed out of bounds on Detroit's 35-yard line. It was this drive that led the 49ers to get the winning lead over Detroit.

If the Lions want to win and stay a top contender for the Packers, they must stop the rushing yards and watch out for traps set up by the offense.

Penalties:

San Francisco committed 15 penalties but they managed to stay in the game. The penalties committed by the Lions almost seemed to hurt them. They committed six penalites for 54 yards.

Brandon Pettigrew's chop block penalty ruined Stafford's pass to Burleson for a first down and a15 yard gain. Instead they went second and 25. This was the drive that started at the Detroit 9 yard line and went up to the San Francisco 23-yard line. They couldn't find rhythm after the penalty and Hanson's 52-yard field goal was no good.

While the Lions have not commited as much penalties as they did last year, these six penalties hurt the Lions chances. As well as the false starts caused by Titus Young in the red zone, twice.

If the Lions want to win, they need to limit their penalties, especially if the offense is starting to get into rhythm because it will only snap it.

Red Zone:

If the Detroit Lions had scored a touchdown instead of kicking for two field goals, they would have won the game, period. The Lions were 2-of-4 in the red zone.

San Francisco's defense is one of the best in the league in the red zone this year, however, the offense coordinator and the offense should have came up with a way. There is always a weakness in any defense.

Maybe the timing of the throws were wrong. Maybe they committed the wrong play. The Lions are 51 percent in the red zone so far this season. They need to score more touchdowns in the red zone if they want to be a solid winning team.

Getting Rattled:

The past five games, Matthew Stafford proved that he was calm and collected during a game. He was obviously rattled and shaken down on the field against the 49ers’ defense. He could not read the defense and was getting confused. He got in some good throws and connected well to some of his receivers on several occasions.

On a whole, Matthew Stafford and the offense could not get in a rhythm, and they could not get anything moving.

The offensive lineman couldn’t protect Stafford to give him time to throw the ball. He was pressured and rushed his plays. He was sacked in the end zone for a safety. He was hit 10 times and sacked five times.

Matthew Stafford is key to why the offense remains calm during a game. They feed off his emotions. Staying calm proved to work for them during the comebacks. However, this game showed that the Lions cannot always rely on amazing comebacks.

Consistency:

There is only one way that the Lions will become a better winning team and be a playoff contender and that is to be consistent. The reason the Lions lost on Sunday was because they only played well in certain spurts of the game.

They didn’t play a full game, they played poorly. The reason they won in Dallas and in Minnesota was because the team was consistent in the second half. To be a winning team, you have to play a full consistent game.

The Lions have the potential to be a a great team, they’ve showed us that in the first five games. Even though they didn’t play consistent with the 49ers, they were close to winning.

The Lions need to protect their quarterback better, stop the run better, kick field goals better, run the ball better, tackle better and make better plays.

The Detroit Lions need to be consistent the whole game. To be a better winning team, they need to stop playing good in only spurts.