Lions Beat WFT, 30-27: The Miracle Man + 10 Takes
The Detroit Lions have a habit of blowing leads. The Washington Football Team has a habit of shooting itself in the foot.
Both happened Sunday in Detroit, and the Lions won 30-27 on a Matt Prater 59-yard field goal as time expired.
The WFT are now 2-7 and heading almost nowhere.
READ MORE: Lions 30 Washington 27: A 'Have-Not' Loss
Here are "10 Takes'' after a crushing loss.
1. The penalty on Chase Young for 15 yards, which was clearly a huge difference, was indeed late. There's no question about that. The two-hand shove to Matt Stafford's back was the classic definition of 'ticky-tack.'
My partner on 106.7 The FAN's postgame coverage, longtime Washington and NFL tight end Logan Paulsen, called it a "boneheaded" decision on Young's part.
And Young? "Rookie mistake,'' he said. "It happens.''
2. Washington Football fans are already frustrated that the defense was playing soft or off-coverage on the play before the game-winning 59-yard field goal. I feel you. It's frustrating. I would also add that the play before that they were almost torched (and should have been) for the game-winning touchdown on a bomb by Stafford.
3. Dustin Hopkins made some big kicks down the stretch in the game but he also missed a relative chip shot in the first half that clearly cost Washington three points that could have made the difference.
This was some real-time analysis:
4. The opening drive started great for the Washington Football Team. They were moving and grooving with both the run and pass and some creative design. Then it completely fizzled out in the span of two plays. A blown-up double-reverse was stuffed followed by a third-down sack off the right edge of the offense ended that and once again, Washington walked away empty on their opening drive.
They have no points this year in that situation, the only team in the NFL to not score.
5. Once again, the first half was a debacle. Washington was out-scored 17-3 and now it is a total of 148 - 72 cumulative first-half deficit over nine games.
In other words they've been more than doubled up in terms of points allowed before halftime.
6. Alex Smith was terrific in his first start in nearly two years. Don't buy the no-touchdown-pass part of the box score. He created everything with his arm. "The Miracle Man'' was efficient, smart and showed poise.
He did miss a few potentially big hit throws (one to Logan Thomas late) but this one was about Smith completing a magical comeback.
Almost.
7. Washington took some potentially crippling penalties late. In addition to the Chase Young penalty, David Sharpe had an illegal use-of-hands flag, James Smith-Williams had a holding penalty on a late kickoff return and even Smith had a five-yard delay of game.
8. The WFT offense ran the ball 26 times but only got 89 yards out of it against a porous Lions run defense. They did punch it in for scores, so you take that but because they were down so quickly (again), the expectation should have been at least 100 yards rushing.
9. The linebackers once again struggled in several ways, not filling gaps and not making plays, especially against D'Andre Swift ... but one player stood out in a negative way to me: Cole Holcomb missed several tackles, including one on a 13-yard run by Adrian Peterson at the line of scrimmage.
Even when Washington was in the right spot, the WFT blew it. Also, Jon Bostic had Stafford wrapped up, lost him and then Kevin Pierre Louis came in high and helmet to helmet for a key personal foul.
10. Rookie Safety Kam Curl led the WFT in tackles with eight and also had a sack off a blitz. The only thing I saw him do that needs a clean-up was another blitz that led to a 22-yard screen right over him.
It was all typical of the day, really ... some positive numbers on the way to a negative result.
