Lions coach Matt Patricia is a big believer in the process of self-scouting. Like many NFL coaches, he’ll go back after the season and pore over every detail of game film, looking for nuances or things that he might have missed on the first go-through.
I’ve decided to do the same. I’m rewatching every play of every Lions game, using both the broadcast and coach’s tape feeds from NFL Game Pass. I’ll chronicle my reactions in real-time on the rewatch, focusing on specific plays or players in big moments as well as an overall postgame summary of my notes.
After the unsatisfying tie with the Cardinals in Week 1, up next is the weirdly unsatisfying win over the Los Angeles Chargers in Week 2.
Pregame notes:
Starting LT Taylor Decker is out, replaced by Tyrell Crosby. Starting LB Jarrad Davis is also out, replaced primarily by rookie Jahlani Tavai. This game is in Detroit and the crowd was raucous.
First quarter
The Lions open in zone coverage with Jahlani Tavai and Christian Jones both quickly landmarking. First pass of the game goes to Keenan Allen, who drops the Philip Rivers dart just as Jones gets there. The Lions are lucky from the very first play, as Rivers doesn’t look at the slot receiver running a vertical route behind the outside receiver. It’s 6 points for Los Angeles if Rivers sees it because Darius Slay, the outside CB, doesn’t even think of running with the receiver.
Slay gets a PD on the first 3rd down when Rivers misfires behind Allen on a deep cross. Rivers has zero issue challenging Slay and it’s a theme that will play out repeatedly in this game.
Chargers blow an easy TD on the second drive when Mike Williams boots away a perfect fade route from Rivers, beating Rashaan Melvin over the top. Had to double-check to make sure it wasn’t Eric Ebron sneaking into the game for Los Angeles…
L.A. scores one play later when Austin Ekeler leaps over the pile from a yard out. A’Shawn Robinson just misses blocking the extra point and it’s 7-0 Chargers.
The Lions offense is trying to be creative to help ease the pressure against Stafford from the very impressive Chargers defensive front. Lots of quick-hit pass attempts early, plus a naked bootleg throw to Jesse James that is fraught with peril. James is functioning as an extra tackle, helping RT Rick Wagner with either Joey Bosa or Melvin Ingram on just about every play on the first two drives.
Another facet that works well in slowing down the pass rush: the screen pass. Stafford to Kerryon Johnson for 36 yards and the touchdown on a great display by Johnson. Center Frank Ragnow gets lauded by the broadest crew for a phenomenal downfield block that springs Johnson with a clear path to the end zone. It’s a brilliant play call that starts with slot WR Danny Amendola motioning out of the exact spot where Johnson catches the ball and taking the LB with him across the field. Graham Glasgow also makes a great block to pin the EDGE just as Johnson catches the ball on the quick screen. Early front-runner for my favorite Lions play of the year.
Matt Prater yaks the extra point. Snap and hold weren’t perfect but were good enough. 7-6 Chargers.
Second quarter
The quick-hit offense remains the status quo for the Lions. T.J. Hockenson is not having a good day blocking. We get our first sack on Stafford of the game on 3rd-and-4 and it’s a coverage sack. Kenny Golladay and Hockenson are both perfectly covered as Stafford frantically rolls to his right after Bosa beats Tyrell Crosby with a very basic shoulder dip.
Noting a change from the last game: Will Harris is off the punt protect team, replaced by Miles Killebrew. It’s a positive change.
On the Chargers punt after the next drive, Jamal Agnew gets the ball taken by Isaac Rochell like a schoolyard bully ripping away his lunch money. The play is negated by offsetting penalties. Agnew gets benched for Danny Amendola and the Lions promptly commit two penalties on the ensuing punt return.
Kerryon Johnson is running very well. Attacking downhill, no hesitation. Showing better vision than Week 1 and he’s reading the block from the play-side TE (usually James) very well. Lots of 2TE sets and James is holding up nicely as a blocker. Ty Johnson also runs well on this drive, some good work by Kenny Wiggins at RG here too.
The promising, ground-based drive ends badly when Prater yaks the 40-yard FG wide right one play after Stafford badly misfires behind Amendola on a short crosser. Chargers nearly blocked the kick with strong pressure off the right side.
Next Lions drive, Wiggins moves to LG, Glasgow in at right guard and it’s a trainwreck in both run and pass blocking. Stafford gets the Chargers to jump with a hard count but badly underthrows an open Marvin Jones on the free play. Should have been a big gain. One play later he hits Jones with a perfect throw. It’s that kind of random outcome type of game.
General note: The Chargers defense is very disciplined and well-coordinated. They cover the mesh points in the zones and transitions from short to deep very well. It’s giving Stafford problems and really giving Golladay issues trying to get space.
The Lions pass rush is pretty content to just roll with three, and the mix of zone and man is working well in coverage. Contrasting that is a play just before the half where Detroit brings six rushers. Rivers isn’t fazed in the least and hits Allen for a nice gain even though Slay was guilty of holding Allen on the play. The extra “pressure” brought by the blitzers was completely ineffective and uncreative.
A legit “wow” diving catch by Mike Williams on a 4-wide vertical route sets up the Chargers for the go-ahead 39-yard field goal at the half, 10-6 Chargers.
Third quarter
Ty Johnson is back for the opening kickoff of the second half, which lands out of the back of the end zone.
The Chargers almost never show the same look on the defensive front two plays in a row. It’s working. Crosby is tentative at left tackle and even Ragnow misses an assignment.
The drive ends with a very bad choice and throw from Stafford to Golladay. Stafford forces it down the left sideline to a blanketed Golladay and Casey Hayward picks it off in the end zone. Golladay was guilty of pass interference in trying to break up the pass, which was two full body lengths inside where it needed to be. Stafford’s play-action fake was weak and Kerryon Johnson didn’t sell it at all, either, Wretched execution.
The third quarter is most notable for the penalties. My God, the penalties! By the end of the quarter, there are 10 accepted infractions (6 for LA, 4 for DET) and three other plays with declined or offsetting fouls. Dreadful football to watch.
Austin Ekeler’s shiftiness and ability to cut at high speed is a massive problem for the Lions LBs, especially Tavai.
The Chargers lose two touchdowns on one drive thanks to penalties. It’s a very bad drive for Quandre Diggs, poor target points on his dives at feet. The second negated TD is due to an illegal block committed against Damon Harrison, who had lobbied hard after the prior play for a flag.
Pivotal play: After Slay is guilty of holding in the end zone, the Chargers have 1st-and-goal at the 1. Tavai punches the ball out of Ekeler’s hand just as the RB tries to dive over the top. Robinson does a great job absorbing two blocks and not ceding ground, something that doesn’t show in the box score but absolutely saved the Lions here.
The Chargers destroy the Lions run blocking on the following drive. Bosa against Crosby is a massive mismatch. Dahl is holding his own at left guard but Rick Wagner can’t sustain blocks here at right tackle and it’s a quick 3-and-out. Stafford did not seem thrilled with the de facto concession of running into a brick wall on 2nd and 3rd downs.
L.A. misses a field goal off the left upright to keep the game tight. Trey Flowers gets pressures on both reps where he had just one blocker on him. Slay injured his forearm on this drive but didn’t miss a play.
Stafford heaves another bad downfield INT on the next drive. The safety never buys the fake screen to Ty Johnson and basically waits for Stafford’s bomb to land in his lap over the top of Jones. The screen had major potential had the Lions gone to it, too.
Fourth quarter
The Chargers blow their good fortune thanks to a couple of bad misfires from Rivers and another missed field goal. There is a definite sense of rekindled energy on Detroit’s next drive, keyed in part by Kerryon Johnson evading several tackles on a simple outlet route. Johnson left the game after the spectacular run-after-catch.
Stafford is at his best on a 4th-and-1 from the Chargers 35. There is maybe a 3 square foot window for No. 9 to fit the ball into Marvin Jones and it’s closing as he throws it. An absolute laser in a must-have situation. Not many QBs would try that throw and if it fails it’s probably a bad choice, but that’s trusting in your best players to make big plays. The next play goes for a touchdown to Golladay on another perfect throw that beats tight coverage. Stafford’s two best throws of the day give the Lions the 13-10 lead.
What turns out to be the Chargers’ final drive is edge-of-your-seat excitement and it’s all about Rivers. He makes some absolutely terrible throws, missing wide-open targets twice. The Chargers receivers drop two others. But he also slings a couple of perfect strikes that not five other QBs can make. Rivers even scrambles for 12 yards, his longest run in over a decade.
Detroit got some home cooking on a couple of should-have-been penalties. Tracy Walker makes a great read on a late audible by Rivers to switch to a stretch run. It sets up a 3rd-and-19 and Rivers forces it at Slay to Allen. Much like Stafford, Slay salvages an otherwise bad day with a huge clutch play.
Stafford ices the game with a well-executed play-fake and throw to James. Lions somehow win 13-10.
Good games: Kerryon Johnson, A’Shawn Robinson, Ragnow, Jesse James, Melvin in coverage, Wiggins at right guard but not left. Tracy Walker was very busy (mostly playing as an extra LB) but I wouldn’t call it impressive other than his huge TFL late.
Bad games: Crosby, Slay, Prater, Stafford, Diggs, Reeves-Maybin, Prater. Probably Slay’s worst game as a pro even with the game-saving INT.
Stafford’s day was up-and-down. He threw two bad INTs, both times forcing the ball down the field into good coverage. It felt less effective than his 22-for-30, 245-yard stat line.
This game was decided more by the Chargers making more mistakes than it was won by the Lions, though that’s not meant to take away from the clutch plays down the stretch from Stafford, Slay, Golladay and others. Los Angeles lost two TDs and two other third-down conversions to penalties in the second half, plus missing two field goals. It felt more like Los Angeles blew too many chances than it was feeling Detroit was the better team.
