Offensive Grades: Without Matthew Stafford, Detroit's Offense Collapses
The Lions finally hit rock bottom Saturday.
They were obliterated by Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 47-7.
A variety of things went wrong for Detroit in the contest, including its defense going MIA and Matthew Stafford leaving the game early due to yet another injury.
It was the team's worst defensive performance of the year, and the offense wasn't much better.
Without further ado, here are the grades for the Lions' entire offense after their Week 16 defeat at the hands of the Buccaneers.
Quarterbacks: F
Stafford injured his right ankle on Detroit's first drive of the game, and he didn't play another series after the first quarter.
The Lions clearly missed his presence under center, as they didn't score a single offensive point the entire game with backups Chase Daniel and David Blough at quarterback.
Daniel and Blough both finished with under 100 passing yards, under five yards per pass attempt and extremely dismal QBRs (8.4 for Daniel and 14.4 for Blough).
Blough also threw an interception on 6-of-10 passing in relief of Daniel in the fourth quarter.
It was about as ugly as ugly can get, and it's the reason for the position group's failing grade above.
Running backs: D-
With the Lions playing from behind from start to finish Saturday, the running game didn't really get the chance to get going.
D'Andre Swift led all Detroit runners with 10 rushes for 45 yards, good for 4.5 yards per carry.
But, he also fumbled for the second straight week.
And the rest of the Lions' ground attack accumulated only 28 yards -- Adrian Peterson had just four carries for 10 yards.
Hopefully, the Lions will find themselves in a more competitive game next week against the Minnesota Vikings, allowing the ground game to get more actively involved.
Wide receivers/tight ends: D
Much like the running backs, there wasn't much going on for this group of players Saturday.
Danny Amendola led all Detroit receivers with five catches for just 37 yards.
And to further exemplify the ineptness of this bunch of players in the Lions' Week 16 tilt with the Buccaneers, Swift amassed the second-most receiving yards among Detroit pass-catchers with only 25 yards.
As mentioned above, nothing went right for the team's signal-callers in this one, and it had a negative trickle-down effect on the individuals catching the passes.
It's why I can't give them anything better than the above grade.
Offensive line: F
It was far from a standout performance from the O-line against Tampa Bay.
Joe Dahl looked lost for most of the game while playing center in the place of Pro Bowler Frank Ragnow.
Meanwhile, left tackle Taylor Decker accounted for three offsides penalties, and the line, as a whole, had a hard time all game long of keeping Buccaneers linebacker Devin White in check.
White contributed one of the team's four sacks against the Lions. He also produced three QB hits.
Detroit certainly did not do a good enough job of protecting its passers, and it played a factor in the team's Week 16 defeat.
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