The Detroit Lions headed west for a showdown with old friend Matthew Stafford and the Los Angeles Rams. In a matchup where the Rams were expected to easily prevail, the Lions shot their shot and played well–but not well enough–in the 28-19 loss in SoFi Stadium.
Coach Dan Campbell did not lack inventiveness or aggression. The Lions came out with guns blazing. After a great screen call on third down resulted in a D’Andre Swift 63-yard touchdown, the Lions successfully pulled off an onside kick. The ensuing drive was extended with a fake punt that led to a field goal, putting the Lions up 10-0.
Campbell dialed up another fake punt later in the game, and that one worked too. The Lions kept aggressively challenging the Rams in the duel. The Rams just had more bullets and a better marksman pulling the trigger.
Matthew Stafford outdueled Jared Goff in the “revenge game” for the two quarterbacks. Goff played well — his best performance of the season. The Lions just didn’t have the caliber of weapons to go shot-for-shot with Stafford, Cooper Kupp, Van Jefferson, Tyler Higbee et al.
Goff made one crucial misfire down the stretch, getting picked off in the end zone by Jalen Ramsey that snuffed out a potential scoring drive with the score 25-19. Los Angeles drove for a field goal to go up by nine and effectively end the duel.
The Lions outgained the Rams in total yards, 415-374. Detroit ran the ball well (137 yards) and snuffed out the L.A. rushing attack (47 yards in 19 carries). They prevented Aaron Donald from getting a sack, though he did impact Goff on the fateful interception. But even with the chicanery and the good run game and special teams, it wasn’t enough to outscore the Rams and their big-play offense.
Detroit remains the NFL’s only winless team with the loss, but they did not play like a defeated team. The Rams improve to 6-1 and showed why they are capable of beating anyone. The youthful Lions just didn’t have enough talent on either side of the ball to keep up.
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