Lions' Week 9 Offensive Grades: Matthew Stafford's Second-Half Turnovers Cost Detroit
A hideous performance from Detroit's defense and a hugely uneven one from franchise passer Matthew Stafford cost the Lions dearly in their Week 9 loss to the Minnesota Vikings.
A two-interception day from Stafford was compounded by the fact that he had to leave the contest early due to a head injury.
Without further ado, here are the grades for Stafford and the entire Detroit offense after their second straight defeat.
Quarterbacks
Second-half mistakes from Stafford proved to be costly for the Lions for a second straight week.
The veteran passer, however, started the game in an extremely efficient fashion.
In fact, he was 16-of-17 with 1:19 to go in the first half, after throwing a 15-yard touchdown pass to Marvin Jones Jr. The score cut the Vikings' lead to three, 13-10.
Minnesota proceeded to outscore Detroit, 21-10, the rest of the way.
And Stafford didn't help out the cause.
He threw interceptions on back-to-back offensive drives in the third quarter -- the first came with 4:52 to play in the quarter and the second on a third-and-goal play with 54 seconds remaining in the quarter.
Then, on the first offensive possession of the fourth quarter for Detroit, Stafford took a hit to the head, while being sacked by Armon Watts and Eric Wilson with 12:26 to go in the quarter.
He proceeded to enter concussion protocol, and failed to return to the game.
It was an ugly performance from Stafford, and veteran backup Chase Daniel also wasn't very sharp in relief of him, throwing a pick and finishing with a QBR of 18.1.
And it leads to a below-average grade for the position group for a second consecutive week.
Grade: D
Harrison Barden, USA TODAY Sports
Running backs
The Lions were able to find some holes and have a productive day on the ground, accumulating 129 yards on 27 carries, good for an average of 4.8 yards per carry.
Rookie D'Andre Swift was the lead back on the day, amassing 64 yards on 13 carries -- good for an average of 4.9 yards per rush.
Kerryon Johnson and Adrian Peterson also each contributed 29 yards.
Swift, Johnson and Peterson combined for 122 of the team's 129 yards on the ground on 25 total carries, equating to an average of 4.9 yards per rushing attempt.
So, the ground game was far from the problem Sunday afternoon.
Hopefully, Detroit offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell decides to give Swift an even bigger dose of carries moving forward, especially early on in games.
Grade: B
Wide receivers/tight ends
Jones recorded his second straight game with a touchdown, and tight end T.J. Hockenson got back into the end zone, after being left out of it a week ago against the Indianapolis Colts.
Jones now has three TD receptions the last two weeks, and Hockenson has caught a touchdown in four of his last five games.
It was nice to see Bevell also work rookie wideout Quintez Cephus into the gameplan.
The Wisconsin product hauled in two balls on two targets for 31 yards, including a catch that went for 20 yards.
However, Detroit's pass-catchers were also the beneficiary of some garbage-time stats on Sunday, including veteran slot target Danny Amendola on his way to a game-high 77 reception yards.
Nine players caught passes in a good day overall for the receivers, though.
Grade: B
Offensive line
The line opened up holes, and kept Stafford clean for the majority of the game, only allowing two sacks on the afternoon.
To no surprise to many Lions supporters at this point, Tyrell Crosby once again outperformed "prized" offseason acquisition Halapoulivaati Vaitai at right tackle.
Vaitai, who exited late in the game due to a preexisting foot injury, was largely responsible for the porous blocking on the failed third-and-goal attempt from the one-yard line in the first half involving Peterson.
Whether Vaitai's healthy or not moving forward, he should be benched, and permanently supplanted by Crosby.
Outside of Vaitai, the O-line put together a solid performance in Detroit's Week 9 tilt with Minnesota.
Grade: B
More from SI All Lions:
Local Sports Radio Host: 'Lions Need an Enema'
Week 9 Snap Count Observations
Lions Lose Stafford, Can't Stop Cook in 34-20
Stafford Leaves Vikings Games with Apparent Head Injury
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