DETROIT -- After a first quarter Sunday in which the Detroit Lions once again looked like a potent offense, shredding the Minnesota Vikings, everything stopped. Literally.
The Lions gained eight yards in the second quarter. They lost 1 yard in the third quarter, and by the 3:21 mark of the fourth quarter, when the game was essentially over in their 28-19 loss, they had lost 3 more yards.
That gave the Lions a total of four yards from the start of the second quarter until late in the fourth -- four yards.
It was another bad day for Detroit’s offense, especially after the Lions went with what worked a week earlier by throwing downfield to Calvin Johnson.
Then, for whatever reason, the Lions went away from what worked and the offense completely failed. It’s somewhat inexplicable for the Lions at this point, especially considering they seemed to find a formula for what worked a week ago.
And despite all that, three plays of offensive ineptitude -- from a play-calling and personnel standpoint -- really stood out.
The first came when the Lions ran the ball on a third-and-long trailing by two scores with 11 minutes left in the game.
The second and third plays came on Detroit’s last offensive series, when the team once again moved the ball well in a two-minute situation. With the ball on the Minnesota 1-yard line and a chance to score, the Lions handed off to little-used George Winn and then fullback Michael Burton. Both plays failed. The Lions didn’t convert and turned the ball over.
That’s poor management of personnel and poor play-calling if that is the personnel you’re going to use, and it has been a big part of Detroit’s offensive problems -- and problems overall -- this season.
What it means: The Lions continue to be one of the worst teams in the NFL, and don’t let the final numbers fool you. Until they were down two scores with less than four minutes left, Detroit was inept offensively and struggled to tackle defensively. Nothing is working for the Lions, no matter what they try at this point -- other than throwing downfield, which, as mentioned above, they went away from again.
What were they thinking? Trailing 28-17 and facing a third-and-13 with a little less than 11 minutes left in the game, Detroit opted to go with a quick pitch out of the shotgun to Theo Riddick instead of a pass. Bizarre play call, as Riddick has not had a rush longer than 9 yards in his NFL career and the Lions were down two scores and not moving the ball at all during the second half. It was just a total head-scratcher from the Lions' coaching staff.
One reason to get excited: The Lions are still on pace to have a real shot at the No. 1 pick in the 2016 NFL draft to begin to fix their many, many issues.
One reason to panic: Only one? At this point, the Lions are just a poor football team, especially on offense. Detroit gained 160 yards in the first quarter, then had 7 total yards over the following two quarters. That lack of production is not going to win many games the rest of the season.
Fantasy watch: Detroit seemed to be able to move the ball early Sunday, finding Johnson and Eric Ebron for touchdown passes in the first quarter. But the Lions were useless from a fantasy perspective after that, recording negative yards in the third quarter and less than 10 yards total from the start of the second quarter until the waning moments of the game.
Ouch: Well, the Lions didn’t suffer any significant injuries Sunday -- at least none that were reported in the press box.
Ameer Abdullah is clearly on fumble watch: The rookie lost another ball on a kick return -- it was not actually ruled a fumble because the ground was deemed to have caused it -- but the Lions had clearly seen enough in the return game. TJ Jones was the team’s kick returner in the second half, but Abdullah received some work on offensive snaps.
Matthew Stafford hurt again: The Lions quarterback once again took a bit of a beating against Minnesota. In the last drive of the third quarter he was sacked twice in three plays and had a wrap placed on his left, non-throwing hand, followed by a glove being placed on the hand. It’s the second time this season the Vikings have left Stafford banged up. In Week 2 against Minnesota, Stafford had to have X-rays after the game to check his ribs and chest.