Team Grades: Lions Kicker Is Hero For Once
By Chris Morgan
In years past, the Detroit Lions have been the team that gave up leads in the fourth quarter and lost games in improbable fashion. However, based on how the Lions won their last two games, things have clearly changed. A very shorthanded Detroit Lions team went to London, fell behind early to the Atlanta Falcons, but then managed to pull out a win. The Lions were losing 21-0 at halftime, but thanks to a last second field goal from Matt Prater, plus some other key plays, the team ended up with the 22-21 win to move to 6-2 halfway through the season. Here are the grades for the Lions after this big win.
Offense: Detroit was dealing with a lack of weapons on offense, with Calvin Johnson, Reggie Bush, and the team's top three tight ends all missing this game. That left Matthew Stafford with a limited amount of weapons to work with, but the at least Golden Tate was there. Tate was excellent once again, catching seven passes for 151 yards and a touchdown. He was supposed to complement Megatron, but with Johnson out, he's pretty much just replaced his value.
While Joique Bell was held in check, he only rushed for 39 yards on 14 carries, Theo Riddick came up big. He did nothing on the ground, but he caught eight passes for 75 yards and a touchdown, and made a great one handed grab. The Falcons don't have a good defense, but given the circumstances, this was still a good performance. Plus, they didn't give up any sacks for one. Grade: B
Quarterback: Once again, Stafford left things last, but he pulled it out when needed. He finished 24-for-47, which means he barely completed half his passes, but they went for 325 yards, two touchdowns, and an interception. He was not efficient, and despite the gaudy yardage totals it is hard to say he was terribly good. However, his touchdown pass to Tate was impressive, and the lack of weapons gives him a little bit of slack, but just a little. Grade: B-
Special Teams: The Lions had no returns in this game, and Sam Martin only punted three times. They did reasonably well keeping Devin Hester in check, but this is really all about Prater. Prater is the third guy to kick for the Lions this year, but he was very much the hero in this game. He went 3-for-3 on field goals, including the game-winning 48-yarder as time expired. Of course, he missed a 43-yarder just before that, but thanks to a delay of game penalty he got another chance, and he made the most of it. After kicking cost them a game earlier this year, this time it arguably won them one. Grade: B+
Defense: Early on, the Detroit Lions' defense did not look like they had this year. They gave up three touchdowns, and they even let Steven Jackson look like a viable NFL running back. However, the clamped down, and they held an offense that has some talent to only 21 points. Jackson finished with 60 yards on 18 carries. Roddy White and Julio Jones were kept in check. The team only had two sacks, which given how bad the Falcons' offensive line has been is not as impressive as perhaps expected, but they also got themselves an interception. Not their best performance, but a serviceable one. Grade: B
For more Lions news and updates, visit Lions Central.
Chris Morgan has been a diehard Detroit Lions fan through the good (Barry Sanders) and the bad (Matt Millen) and that love has led him to take jobs writing about sports, including as a fantasy sports "expert." His work can be found on Examiner.com. .
