CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Free Press sports writer Dave Birkett grades the Detroit Lions after their 37-23 loss to Carolina Panthers on Saturday at Bank of America Stadium:
Quarterback
Jared Goff lost a fumble on the second play of the second quarter, his first turnover since early November, but he was only a small part of the Lions’ problems Saturday. Goff completed 25 of 42 passes for 355 yards and three touchdowns, with most of that production coming with the Lions in scramble mode in the second half. Goff had four passes tipped at the line of scrimmage, didn’t put enough on a ball to Jameson Williams in the second half and skipped another pass to Amon-Ra St. Brown on a play that would have been negated by an ineligible man downfield penalty. He took a pounding late in the game, and he wasn’t helped by the Lions’ inability to run the ball. Grade: C-plus
Running backs
The Lions have not run the ball well in more than a month, and Saturday was no exception. Jamaal Williams, D’Andre Swift and Justin Jackson combined for 22 yards rushing, though they were limited to 12 carries by the negative game script and did not have many holes to exploit. Swift finished with one catch on five targets and appeared a little out of synch with his quarterback, and Williams (two catches, 3 yards) remains a non-factor in the pass game. The group didn’t have a bad day, necessarily, but they didn’t do anything to help the Lions win, either. Grade: D-plus
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Receivers/tight ends
The Lions had four straight three-and-outs in the middle of the game, but moved the ball early and late through the air. DJ Chark had a game-high 108 yards receiving on four catches, including gains of 51 and 39 yards. Chark made a great adjustment on his third-and-10 conversion on the opening drive, St. Brown (seven catches, 76 yards) ran a crisp route to convert another third down on the same series and Kalif Raymond did a great job tracking his 56-yard catch in the third quarter. St. Brown’s best catch came when he held onto a 19-yard grab while getting leveled by safety Myles Hartsfield. Josh Reynolds wasn’t as lucky holding onto a would-be touchdown after a big hit by Xavier Woods in the second half, though offensive pass interference penalty would have negated the score. Shane Zylstra had three touchdowns catches and James Mitchell broke a tackle on his first quarter catch, but Mitchell also missed a block on Frankie Luvu on a 4-yard loss by Williams. Grade: B-minus
Offensive line
The Lions have one of the best offensive lines in the NFL, which makes their inefficiency running the ball all the more perplexing. Their 45-yard rushing day Saturday was partly a product of game script, but they didn’t have much success even when the game was close early. Matt Ioannidis steamrolled Evan Brown on Goff’s long pass to Chark and drove Frank Ragnow into the backfield on Justin Jackson’s run for a 1-yard loss in the third quarter. Brian Burns beat Taylor Decker for a sack on the third play of the second half, then beat Brown for a sack on a poorly-designed play on the next series. The Lions did pick up a fourth-and-1 with a good push up the middle from Ragnow, but they allowed seven quarterback hits as the game got away from them in the second half. Grade: D-plus
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Defensive line
The Lions had their worst defensive performance against the run since 1998, allowing seven rushes of 20-plus yards and 320 net yards on the ground. That’s a defensive-wide failure, but it starts up front with a defensive line that got overwhelmed by double-team blocks. Aidan Hutchinson over-pursued a misdirection handoff on the game’s opening play, a run by Chuba Hubbard that went for 30 yards when safety Will Harris couldn’t get off a block. Isaiah Buggs had the penetration on a run that went for minus-3 yards by Hubbard, but had a costly unnecessary roughness penalty in the third quarter. Alim McNeill (six tackles, one for loss) appeared to be out of position on D’Onta Foreman’s 21-yard run in the first quarter. Grade: F
Linebackers
Linebackers Alex Anzalone and Malcolm Rodriguez struggled to get off blocks and with missed tackles much of the day. Anzalone was one of four Lions who couldn’t bring down Laviska Shenault on his 43-yard catch-and-run, and he got overpowered on runs of 38 yards by Foreman and 33 yards by Hubbard in the first half. Rodriguez couldn’t disengage from a block on Hubbard’s 35-yard run in the first quarter and appeared to be out of position on Foreman’s 21-yard gain on the next series. Rodriguez did make a nice play to shoot a gap for a tackle for loss late in the third quarter and Derrick Barnes had good coverage on a Tommy Tremble catch near the goal line, but Barnes couldn’t get off a block on Sam Darnold’s touchdown run and Chris Board was flagged for an illegal contact penalty just before halftime. Grade: F
Defensive backs
Lions coach Dan Campbell said the Panthers exploited the Lions’ nickel package with their use of two tight end sets, which took the Lions’ force player — often a defensive back — wide of the formation and created open rushing lanes. Jerry Jacobs whiffed on a tackle in the backfield on Foreman’s 38-yard run, and Jeff Okudah missed a tackle on Carolina’s first play of the second half, a 15-yard gain. Okudah also got beat on Darnold’s 47-yard pass to DJ Moore on the same series, when he gave Moore too much cushion on third-and-13. The Lions benched Okudah for Mike Hughes in the second half. Ifeatu Melifonwu had a team-high eight tackles in his first career start at safety, but no one on the Lions defense deserves much praise on a day they allowed 570 total yards. Grade: F
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Special teams
The Lions did get positive contributions from their special teams Saturday. Jackson had a 42-yard kick return to give the Lions a glimmer of hope after they fell behind, 34-13, in the fourth quarter, Josh Woods had three tackles in the kicking game and Jack Fox netted 48.8 yards on his four punts. The Lions couldn’t recover either of their onside kicks, though that’s a tough ask, and they lined up in an illegal formation in one of the tries. Michael Badgley made his only field goal from 34 yards. Grade: A-minus
Coaching
Campbell said the Lions did not play with as much purpose as the Panthers, which is tough to explain given what was at stake. Whatever the reason — weather; a different travel schedule; being a young team playing its second straight game on the road — the Lions did not make the necessary adjustments to stop a Carolina rushing attack that everyone knew was going to be a focal point of the game, and that falls partly on coaching. I thought Campbell managed a good game. The Lions converted a fourth-and-2 for a touchdown late in the third quarter and, as much as he wanted to go for it, Campbell was right to punt on fourth-and-inches just before halftime. But Saturday’s loss could end up being a costly one in the playoff picture and Campbell and his staff didn’t have their players ready to perform. Grade: D
Contact Dave Birkett at dbirkett@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @davebirkett.