by Team Del Genio
Tuesday, Oct 31, 2023In our NFL Game of the Month for October, the Baltimore Ravens easily beat the Detroit Lions by a 38-6 score on October 22nd.
The Lions have been a feel-good story in the NFL this season with them raising their record to 5-1 after a 20-6 victory at Tampa Bay going into their showdown on the road against the Ravens. They are in the driver’s seat to win their first division title since 1993 with their competition in the NFC North in various stages of rebuilding. They had won thirteen of their last sixteen games, yet winning on the road in Baltimore is always a difficult chore. But what does it say about Detroit that went into halftime trailing by a 28-0 score? How do they give up 502 yards of offense?
Perhaps injuries played a role in the blowout loss? Their defense is missing cornerbacks Emmanuel Moseley and C.J. Garder-Johnson along with linebacker James Houston who was their second-best pass rusher to Aidan Hutchinson. Running back David Montgomery and starting left guard Jonah Jackson were also out for this game.
Quarterback Jared Goff is playing at a very high level right now, and his road woes have probably been overstated when considering that Detroit has won seven of their last eight games on the road. Yet Goff is still playing at his best when playing in the controlled conditions indoors at Ford Field (or previously in the southern California weather for the Los Angeles Rams). Even this season, Goff is completing 66% of his passes in his three starts on the road with a quarterback rating of 97.7 which are good numbers yet not at the level of his 72.9% completion rate with a 113.3 quarterback rating in his three starts at home. The winds of 15 miles per hour at M&T Bank Stadium certainly did not help.
Maybe Detroit should be given a pass since so many NFC teams struggle when facing Lamar Jackson for the first time. Baltimore now has a 15-1 straight-up record against NFC teams with Jackson as their starting quarterback. These NFC teams lack experience playing and defending Jackson’s mobility, and he is such a special athlete that opposing teams do not have a player close to his level to practice against from their scout team during the week. However, losing to Jackson is one thing, yet losing by 32 points perhaps points to deeper issues.
The Lions did successfully rebound in their next game with their 26-14 win against Las Vegas back at home at Ford Field in front of a nationally televised audience for Monday Night Football. Yet that final score was much closer than it should have been when considering that Detroit outgained the Raiders by 329 yards after holding them to only 157 total yards. The Lions settled for three field goals in the first half including two following drives that stalled in the red zone. Another one of their scoring opportunities was flipped when Marcus Peters intercepted Goff to make it a 16-14 game early in the fourth quarterback.
We offer full disclosure by admitting that we were on the Raiders for this game. Given the questions we have about the Lions, getting more of a touchdown (or more) from the oddsmakers seemed too much to pass up. Las Vegas likely covers the point spread if Jimmy Garoppolo can throw even a fairly accurate pass to a wide-open Davante Adams who could have walked into the end zone to have the Raiders pull within five points. Yet Garoppolo badly overthrew Adams in an embarrassing effort. Adams caught only one pass despite being targeted six times, and five of those misses were on the quarterback.
Despite a 3-5 record, Las Vegas may be the worst team in the NFL with the players seemingly in revolt against head coach Josh McDaniels while not having much support for Garoppolo. It is hard to read much into the Lions’ effort against that team. Frankly, Detroit should have won that game by a similar margin than with the loss the Ravens handed them.
Whether it is injuries, the challenge of facing Jackson for the first time, or perhaps the occasional clunker that almost every NFL team experiences, the Lions still have some questions to answer from their 32-point loss to Baltimore.
Good luck - TDG.
The Lions have been a feel-good story in the NFL this season with them raising their record to 5-1 after a 20-6 victory at Tampa Bay going into their showdown on the road against the Ravens. They are in the driver’s seat to win their first division title since 1993 with their competition in the NFC North in various stages of rebuilding. They had won thirteen of their last sixteen games, yet winning on the road in Baltimore is always a difficult chore. But what does it say about Detroit that went into halftime trailing by a 28-0 score? How do they give up 502 yards of offense?
Perhaps injuries played a role in the blowout loss? Their defense is missing cornerbacks Emmanuel Moseley and C.J. Garder-Johnson along with linebacker James Houston who was their second-best pass rusher to Aidan Hutchinson. Running back David Montgomery and starting left guard Jonah Jackson were also out for this game.
Quarterback Jared Goff is playing at a very high level right now, and his road woes have probably been overstated when considering that Detroit has won seven of their last eight games on the road. Yet Goff is still playing at his best when playing in the controlled conditions indoors at Ford Field (or previously in the southern California weather for the Los Angeles Rams). Even this season, Goff is completing 66% of his passes in his three starts on the road with a quarterback rating of 97.7 which are good numbers yet not at the level of his 72.9% completion rate with a 113.3 quarterback rating in his three starts at home. The winds of 15 miles per hour at M&T Bank Stadium certainly did not help.
Maybe Detroit should be given a pass since so many NFC teams struggle when facing Lamar Jackson for the first time. Baltimore now has a 15-1 straight-up record against NFC teams with Jackson as their starting quarterback. These NFC teams lack experience playing and defending Jackson’s mobility, and he is such a special athlete that opposing teams do not have a player close to his level to practice against from their scout team during the week. However, losing to Jackson is one thing, yet losing by 32 points perhaps points to deeper issues.
The Lions did successfully rebound in their next game with their 26-14 win against Las Vegas back at home at Ford Field in front of a nationally televised audience for Monday Night Football. Yet that final score was much closer than it should have been when considering that Detroit outgained the Raiders by 329 yards after holding them to only 157 total yards. The Lions settled for three field goals in the first half including two following drives that stalled in the red zone. Another one of their scoring opportunities was flipped when Marcus Peters intercepted Goff to make it a 16-14 game early in the fourth quarterback.
We offer full disclosure by admitting that we were on the Raiders for this game. Given the questions we have about the Lions, getting more of a touchdown (or more) from the oddsmakers seemed too much to pass up. Las Vegas likely covers the point spread if Jimmy Garoppolo can throw even a fairly accurate pass to a wide-open Davante Adams who could have walked into the end zone to have the Raiders pull within five points. Yet Garoppolo badly overthrew Adams in an embarrassing effort. Adams caught only one pass despite being targeted six times, and five of those misses were on the quarterback.
Despite a 3-5 record, Las Vegas may be the worst team in the NFL with the players seemingly in revolt against head coach Josh McDaniels while not having much support for Garoppolo. It is hard to read much into the Lions’ effort against that team. Frankly, Detroit should have won that game by a similar margin than with the loss the Ravens handed them.
Whether it is injuries, the challenge of facing Jackson for the first time, or perhaps the occasional clunker that almost every NFL team experiences, the Lions still have some questions to answer from their 32-point loss to Baltimore.
Good luck - TDG.
