What Happened To The Lions Sunday Against The Dolphins?

The Detroit Lions took a rough loss to the Miami Dolphins today, after blowing a ten point lead. The Lions were in control of the game the whole first half, playing great offensively and decent defensively. The team collapsed terribly and there was really no explanation as to why they started playing so poorly down the stretch. Let’s break down who’s responsible and who shouldn’t be blamed for this terrible loss.

Who On The Lions Is Responsible?

The First group of players that should be to blame is the secondary, specifically Amani Oruwariye. The expectations weren’t high for this secondary, due to the fact that they were playing one of the best wide receiver duos in the entire league, yet they still disappointed greatly. They were constantly bailing on coverage assignments and leaving players wide open on plays that could’ve changed the game if they stayed on for a couple more seconds. The Lions had the Dolphins in a third down goalline scenario at one point, then Amani Oruwariye lined up way offsides twice in a row, giving them a fresh set of downs and a touchdown. The only upside to the secondary was Jeff Okudah, who was only targeted one time it seemed.

The second most responsible party for this loss is Aaron Glenn and his game scheme. The Lions were faced with a tough task on the outside, going against Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle, and he proceeded to run a lot of zone coverage with the safeties cushioning instead of helping broken coverage. Glenn also refused to run any blitz plays, when Miami’s offensive line is easily their weakest link on offense and Aidan Hutchinson is one of our best defensive pieces. On top of all of that, he moved Hutchinson back into the three-point stance for the majority of the game, when he has proven he is better in the two-point. 

The third most responsible party was Josh Reynolds, with some of his efforts. The Lions’ receiver has had a good tenure with Detroit, having a prior relationship with Goff and being one of his favorite targets. In this game, however, he sold many offensive drives by simply not making the play asked of him. Before half Goff delivered a perfect pass to him in the endzone and he dropped it, that play alone would’ve given them four more points and the score would be tied at the end of the fourth. There were a number of other plays where he dropped the ball that could’ve changed the momentum of the game.

Who On The Lions Shouldn’t Be Held responsible?

The person that should be getting the least heat from this game is Dan Campbell. He called an extremely good game and made the right decision on almost every possession. The only play call you can call questionable is the fake punt due to the field position, but it ended up working out and they scored on that possession. The media loves to blame the head coach for everything, but Campbell called a really good game and this was not nearly on him.

The second person who’s not to blame is Jared Goff. The media has been trying to blame Goff for everything since the start of the season, but he has done all he can to prove them wrong. Today he made almost every right read and delivered them accurately. The is only one questionable throw from Goff, where he threw a deep ball on fourth and short and lead Josh Reynolds in the wrong direction. So while the media loves to do it, this game was not at all on Goff.