Detroit Lions: Studs and duds from dramatic walk off win vs. Falcons
By Tayyib Abu
Stud: Kenny Golladay, Wide Receiver
Kenny Golladay is special. He is a true No. 1 wide receiver. He has all the physical tools and can run any route. Add to that that he can catch the ball from anywhere and the fourth-year wideout is establishing himself as one of the elite wideouts in the NFL.
Six receptions for 114 yards is nice but those six receptions all came on contested catches. There were three that really stood out. One in the first half on a third-and-long, which was an insane grab, the kind of freak catch we associate with other wideouts. Another catch, he mossed the Atlanta defender and obviously the huge catch on the last drive, which put Detroit into the red zone.
Golladay was unstoppable against Atlanta. Since he came back from injury, he is getting better each game. Stafford and Golladay could drag Detroit back into contention.
Dud: Darrell Bevell, Offensive Coordinator
The Detroit Lions run game was non-existent in Week 7. Darrell Bevell stubbornly kept going to the well that is Adrian Peterson. It was clear the running game was not working. Atlanta is a good run-stopping unit and they bottled up the Lions ground game.
Bevell had to see this and I’m sure he did. Yet, he still wanted to dial up the same inside handoff runs that were not working. This was incredibly frustrating to watch, particularly in the second half. The Lions could not capitalize on forcing three and outs and turnovers, as the offense constantly fell behind the chains.
The Lions left many points out there and, against better opposition, this will cost them. Bevell has been impressive as the offensive coordinator in his time in Detroit. But he will need to evaluate his playcalling from Sunday.