Detroit Lions vs. Green Bay Packers Week 13 Ten In-Depth Observations
6. Shields deserves plenty of praise for making two great plays in the end zone on Johnson, as it’s not easy to beat a guy with Johnson’s size. But that’s exactly what Shields did. I’ve been critical of Shields due to his lapses in coverage, but there is no doubting the fact that Shields has some of the best ball skills of any corner in this league. He first saved a TD to Johnson by just doing enough to squirm the ball free out of Johnson’s grasp (it was a very close call). The interception by Shields was the result of great leaping and ball control, as a corner with merely average ball skills would never have secured that ball.
7. Stafford had two bad interceptions, but he was great overall. He did a nice job of spreading the ball around, and he was very accurate when he wasn’t making a bad decision (I only counted three or four poor decisions from Stafford). He finished with an excellent average of 9.4 yards per attempt, and it just goes to show you that there’s a lot more to evaluating quarterbacks than interceptions. He simply picked apart a subpar secondary, and his 36-yard strike to Kris Durham was a beauty. Another throw I’d like to highlight was a pass to Reggie Bush on the left sideline that had to be perfect, because linebacker A.J. Hawk was impressively keeping up with Bush. The ball from Stafford was perfectly placed, and I believe it also came on third down.
8. I also liked the adjustments that Stafford made at the line of scrimmage, and my personal favorite was the adjustment Stafford made that led to a 20-yard touchdown pass to Calvin Johnson. Before the snap, Stafford saw that the Lions offense matched up unfavorably with the coverage look displayed by the Packers defense, especially since the Packers were in prime position to double Johnson, which is a situation the Lions want to avoid in the red zone.
So Stafford totally goofed up the Packers defense with a genius audible, in which he moved Johnson close to the line of scrimmage. The Packers communicated with each other and decided to have safety Morgan Burnett cover Johnson in the slot. The result? An absolute disaster. Burnett completely screwed up by allowing Johnson to cut into the middle of the field where there wasn’t a Packers defender in sight, and it was quite baffling watching Burnett allowing him find the most open spot of the field. It was a perfect audible by Stafford, an easy pitch-and-catch for a Lions TD, and a whole lot of miscommunication (and probably one badly blown assignment) from the Packers defense.
9. The Lions simply ran the ball down the Packers throats, and the Packers were absolutely helpless. The Lions have arguably the best all-purpose back duo in the league with Reggie Bush and Joique Bell, and both the elusive back and power back in the Lions offense had huge days. While the Packers offensive line was sickeningly bad at opening up holes for Lacy, the Lions offensive line was perfect. Larry Warford, LaAdrian Waddle, and especially Dominic Raiola were flawless yesterday. Not only did they keep Stafford’s jersey clean (just one QB hit allowed, which was the fumble on Reiff), but they also dominated the Packers front seven. Hawk had another stinker of a game, and the Packers defense was just horrid (honestly, only Clay Matthews, Sam Shields, and Ryan Pickett had good games, as Shields and Matthews pretty much had to do all the work).
Bell finished the game with 94 rushing yards and a touchdown on 19 carries with three catches for 34 yards, and Reggie Bush was even better with a whopping 117 rushing yards and a touchdown on 20 carries. Bush was as explosive as ever, and he was racking up missed tackles against an overmatched Packers defense. He was also a beast, as usual, in the passing game by catching all five of his targets for an excellent 65 yards of receiving. The Lions defense, on the other hand, was beautiful, as they totally shut down the Packers and manhandled their offensive line. Suh? He put forward one of the best performances of any defensive tackle this season.
10. Jeremy Ross had a huge Thanksgiving Day game against his former team, as he was just downright deadly on returns, taking four returns for 46 yards (most of those yards came on the strength of a huge 35-yard return). On each return, Ross seemed to miss at least one tackle, and he was simply electrifying out there. I was disappointed by the Packers gunners on special teams, as they were extremely undisciplined and gave up free yardage. Special teams blocking and covering gets overlooked plenty of times, but the Packers punt blocking and punt coverage units were horrendous and cost the team yardage. Tim Masthay had to avoid a couple of strong attempts to block a punt, and he also had to deal with two very low snaps that slowed down the play. However, he finished with a terrific average of 47.8 yards per punt, as well as two punts pinned inside the 20.
Back to Ross now. He also caught an easy five-yard TD, had 70 kick-off return yards on three returns, and he also had a beautiful 24-yard run. He broke a tackle early from A.J. Hawk to get past the first down marker, and then he proceeded to show off great agility and speed on the rest of the run. I mean, he looked like Reggie Bush out there. Ross had a coming out party on a big stage against his former team, and the least I could do is highlight some of his accomplishments.
Some final notes on special teams. Mason Crosby hit a perfect 54-yard field goal and continues to show why he’s one of the best kickers in the league. David Akers used to be one of the best kickers in the league, but his missed field goal from 31 yards out was just inexcusable. If he doesn’t step up, he could really become a liability, as he can’t be trusted anymore. There’s still plenty of hope that Akers can get back on track, but this isn’t a new story for him; he was even worse last year for the San Francisco 49ers. Rookie punter Sam Martin had two kick-offs that went out of bounds, but I don’t blame him for those. No, I blame the Lions for their strategy, as they kept asking Martin to try and pin the ball into the corner of the end zone. That’s even harder than painting the outside corner with a fastball, because people have less control of their feet than hands; those weren’t on Martin, who has been good all year.