The last third and one call bothered me. If DC had already decided to kick a FG to tie why throw a deep pass that fell incomplete and stopped the clock and possible been picked off? Also Chark has not played all year and turned inside when throw was outside. Not sure if that was on him or Goff.
Lions pick up the first down and they still had TOs and could have ran the clock down so Bills had no chance in regulation. When you have a chance to win these type of games it hurts to let them slip away. 5-6 and they have a legit playoff chance. 4-7 makes it more difficult and room for error is smaller.
This team without a doubt is better and plays hard but in reality, Lions have had some questionable coaching and time management decisions that have cost them this season.
Ty Schalter
@tyschalter
·
16h
LIONS FANS: “Our play-calling is the worst in the league, Dan Campbell should be fired right now”
NATIONAL NFL ANALYSTS: “Lost it at the end, but the Lions’ staff coached their brains out today”
3rd and 1 overhead
Take your pick: ball came out quick - it was there to Chark, they just weren't on the same page, Jared threw an out and D.J. ran a go - but if he goes through his progression he's got ARSB underneath, Zylstra on a seam, deep square in to Kalif. OL gave him a pocket, #52 is on a delay blitz and maybe the reason he threw right away. Still, great scheme by Ben Johnson.
Clock management is not a 1/0 binary. I have no issue with how they ran the end game two minute offense. Take your time, trying to balance giving yourself a shot to tie or win while not leaving them enough time. If they convert the 3rd & 1 they have all the timeouts and unlimited options - take shots, run any play you want, run the clock down to take your chances in overtime.
To all the E-Z-boy experts thinking they have to run the ball there, 1) they had a ton of negative plays up the middle, the backups to the backups guards were not getting as good a push as they normally do.
"You have to run there to force Buffalo to use their timeouts." 2) the Bills had all 3, we run and Buffalo uses one immediately. Bills didn't need their timeouts to get into position for the game winner so was that really the reason they lost? People are overstating the impact on the outcome without taking into full consideration the various permutations.
It's easy to just blame the guy in charge and say that's why they lost.
Coaches coach and players play. Chark/Goff make that play, Kerby Joseph plays the ball and breaks up the long one to Diggs on the last drive....coulda woulda shoulda. This was the kind of game the Lions usually fold easily. Lost fumble, missed chip shot, took a safety - they overcame all that adversity to stay in it to the end.
Thought Ben Johnson had a brilliant game plan.
Hutch was quiet, didn't register a single stat, but overall Aaron Glenn's crew played well. At one point Diggs was 3-12 on 10 targets, then caught his last 5 after that - after Jerry Jacobs went out. Bit N/A since Hughes (#23) had Stefon most of the day but there seemed to be a ripple effect. Allen was 16/33, then completed 8 of his last 9. Those are great players making great plays when it matters most. Lions needed someone to step up like that and didn't get it. Lions D had two 3 n outs, forced 4 punts (is that a season high lol?), had a red zone interception. After the safety game could have blown up, defense stepped up after the free kick and forced a punt after 4 plays.
Lot of progress. Lot to be hopeful about. Losing sucks, 4-7 isn't good enough, but when most of your defense is age 24 and under there are going to be growing pains. They're getting better. They are on the right path.
