Nearly fifty eight thousand fans experienced heartache on Sunday at Ford Field. Ndamukong Suh recently made some comments indicating that the Detroit Lions would not lose another game at their home stadium this season. Unfortunately, he is already putting his foot in his mouth. He hopefully will remove it soon though since it’s evident that he’s the emergency kicker on the Lions roster.
Jason Hanson went down and Suh had to attempt an extra point against the Jets. That was not the biggest injury of the day though. Quarterback Matthew Stafford was injured once again in his young NFL career with his tender right shoulder knocking him out of the game in the fourth quarter. This gave the Jets hope to make a long comeback from ten points down to tie the game and ultimately send it to overtime.
By Patrick Herbert
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Receiver Nate Burleson led the Lions offense with over one hundred yards receiving on seven catches. He was such a big factor for Detroit because New York’s Darrelle Revis shut down future pro bowler Calvin Johnson. One catch for thirteen yards is not the whole story though because he did command the attention of the Jets defense and opened up some opportunities for others on the Lions offense.
Stafford completed passes to seven different receivers. This was a necessity because Jahvid Best had a very pedestrian day in the backfield. He only obtained forty eight yards on sixteen carries. These statistics are puzzling-especially considering that the Lions held the lead for much of the ball game. He should have been given the ball five to ten more times to solidify time of possession for Detroit. Another reason that the ball should have been in his hands more is because the other running back, Kevin Smith, was ineffective.
He only gained ten yards on five carries. Jahvid Best has young fresh legs that should be utilized at every opportunity by the head coach Jim Schwartz. Part of a coach’s job description is to put their players in positions that allow them to be successful and reach their potential. In Best’s case, this is done with more carries because he could be on the verge of breaking a big play at any moment. This is certianly true during the late portions of games when opposing defenses are more worn down. By this point he is also able to recognize more of the defensive tendencies and he can capitalize on this to gain more yardage.
It is simplistic to indicate that the Lions lost the game because Ndamukong Suh missed the extra point attempt in the third quarter. The Jets shouldn’t be able to gain that many points in less than three minutes regardless of what took place earlier in the game. The situation does beg the question of the way the roster is situated. Should there be an extra kicker for situations like this? Is it possible for the Lions to have a punter who can also kick in tumultuous times? This scenario must be on the minds of Schwartz and his staff.
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