Ochocinco's next deodorant victim...the Lions!

At first glance, the score of 32-20 looks like a pretty good victory for the Seattle Seahawks. Every NFL fan would be happy with their team after a home win of 32-20 and everything in the box score suggests that Seattle was the dominant team…except for the 17-0 first quarter Detroit lead. Something like this jumps off the page to Detroit Lions fans trying to figure out what in the hell went wrong on Sunday. How can you give up a 17-0 lead against an inferior offense that has had trouble finding the end zone all season long?

Look no further than Matthew Stafford’s stat line: 22-42, 209 yds, 2 TD 5 INT

Now before you start pointing fingers at Matthew Stafford, let’s try to figure out why the Lions would even consider throwing the ball 42 times in a game where that held a 17-0 lead after one quarter of play. My initial thought was that Seattle had fought their way back into the game and Detroit needed to throw the ball in order to keep up. Wrong. My next guess was that the Lions had too many penalties on first and second down. Wrong.

When I went back over the play-by-play breakdown, I primarily focused on the first down play calling of Lions Offensive Coordinator, Scott Linehan. I must admit that I was thinking to myself “surely this guy would run the ball at least 70% of the time on first down with a lead…and a ROOKIE playing quarterback.” Wrong again. The breakdown went like this:

First Down Plays

Penalties – 2 false start penalties

Run – 12 att, 84 yds, 7.0 yds/att

Pass – 6 -11, 45 yds, 1 TD, 1 sack (-8), 3.8 yds/play (This doesn’t include spiking to stop the clock)

The Lions offense appeared to have everything going it’s way in the first quarter. Coach Linehan scripted the first 15 plays strategically enough to mix up the run and the pass that translated into four straight possessions with an opportunity to score. They cashed in on three of these four possessions, which led to a 17-0 lead.

What happened after that? To some it may not come as a surprise, but the Seahawks proceeded to outscore the Lions 32-3 over the final three quarters. Failure to make adjustments at halftime and not taking advantage of Seattle’s shoddy run defense proved to be the difference in the game.

As I mentioned earlier, many people would like to pin this loss on Stafford and his five costly interceptions. Let’s not be hasty, we should instead attempt to understand the game situations in which his mistakes were made. All but one of his interceptions came on third and long situations. One interception was essentially a punt with 4:34 left in the fourth quarter. On 3^rd and 9 from the DET 24 yard line, Stafford went deep down the right side to Calvin Johnson and was picked off by Marcus Trufant at the SEA 40. Stafford’s other three 3^rd down interceptions came on distances of 16, 10, and 9 yards.

I understand that there’s a learning process for rookie quarterbacks in the NFL and at times it can be a lengthy one (just ask Washington and San Francisco). Quarterbacks are such easy scapegoats in this league and in most cases it’s validated. However, Stafford wasn’t the main reason the Lions lost on Sunday.

The coaching staff of Detroit needs to put Stafford in situations where he doesn’t have to be the reason they win or lose. Never underestimate the importance of not going backwards on first down. Balance the playbook to a 70-30 run/pass ratio on first down to give Stafford a chance to get to 3^rd down and manageable. Also, consider the fact that your playbook opens up quite a bit more on 2^nd and 6 than it does on 2^nd and 10.

Stafford should never attempt more than 30 passes per game this season. At this point in his young six game career, he’s averaging over 35 attempts per game. That’s absurd. When the Dallas Cowboys started Troy Aikman as a rookie and finished 1-15, he averaged only 26 attempts per game. You know you’re team is going to struggle, so why, as a coaching staff, make it harder than it has to be. Go back to the basics and run between the tackles, make a few first downs, and play a little field position. You never know what kind of bounces that funny shaped pigskin can take sometimes.