Matthew Stafford was back on the field for Detroit, but missed opportunities in all phases doomed the Lions to another loss at Ford Field on Sunday 17-10 to the St. Louis Rams.
Stafford said his knee felt fine after the game, but that he definitely didn’t play as polished as he needed to. Between penalties and mistakes he said as a group the offense left a lot on the field…
"I wasn't hitting guys, the ball wasn't being placed where it needed to be placed, we had some trouble catching it today, it goes on everybody's shoulders,” Stafford said after the game.
He pointed penalties on the last possession that limited their ability to get anything going.
"We had two penalties that put us behind the sticks,” Stafford explained. “We couldn't get anything going, I mean 2nd & 20 and 3rd & 20, good luck. They were playing everybody 10 or 15 yards deep, not many places to throw the ball, so you've got to give it to them. They were up in that position and that's hard to come back from."
Stafford and the Lions also missed Calvin Johnson. The WR was a game-time decision and Jim Schwartz said the decision was made in the morning to hold the receiver out, the Lions could of used Johnson’s big play ability and great touch – Lions receivers struggled with dropped passes throughout the game.
"Obviously a big factor in the game,” Schwartz said afterwards. “We had a chance to make a big play on the very first drive of the game and don't get that one. We had drops from all our positions, wide receivers, running backs and tight ends.”
On defense it was Stephen Jackson who did the damage for the Rams. After keeping Jackson contained in the first half, the Lions couldn’t do much of anything to stop the Rams leading rusher in the second.
"We knew we had to come in and stop 39 (Steven Jackson) and all week we knew that,” Larry Foote said. “We did it for the most part, but we didn't do it for 60 minutes and so we lost."
Jackson rushed for 149 yards in the game, 111 of them in the second half. His 25-yard touchdown run during the game’s final two minutes put the Rams ahead 17-10 and gave them their first win of the season.
“"Man, he's a big guy,” DeWayne White said. “So, regardless, it's going to be a 240-pound guy coming at you. On that play, somehow he got into the secondary; obviously a 180 pound guy tackling a guy that big is going to be more difficult."
Where do the Lions go from here? Both Schwartz and Foote had similar reactions…
“In this league, any sports, when you lose like that, it sucks,” Foote said. “It sticks - but nobody is coming to save us, and we just have to keep fighting."
And Schwartz…
“There's urgency to get this done and we're going to get it done,” the coach explained. “This is a hard-working team - they've played hard - but we have to find ways to put them in position and we can't switch courses, we can't make excuses, we need to go out and win."
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