The Detroit Lions went into Carolina in Week 16 as favorites to beat the 5-9 Panthers. All that good faith and trust in the Lions quickly blew away in the frigid Bank of America Stadium.
The Panthers ran wild in a 37-23 win that wasn’t really as close as the final score would indicate. Carolina ran for a team-record 320 yards and relentlessly pummeled a hapless Lions defense. The score was 24-7 at halftime and Carolina extended that to 31-7 in the third quarter before the Lions “won” garbage time.
It was not the way head coach Dan Campbell envisioned the game playing out, nor any Lions fan. Detroit falls to 7-8 with the loss, snapping a streak where the Lions had won six of its last seven games. The Panthers improve to 6-9 but will win the NFC South if they win out, in control of their own playoff destiny.
Here are a few quick takeaways from the Lions loss.
Steve Wilks outcoached Dan Campbell
There are any number of ways to measure it, but there is one very discernible bottom line from this game:
Steve Wilks beat Dan Campbell in the coaching department.
The Panthers interim coach had his team well-prepared for exactly how to attack Campbell’s Lions. They tweaked their blocking scheme, they attacked the passing routes, they smartly anticipated the countermeasures Campbell and his staff would implement. On the flip side, the Lions were flat and seemed completely unprepared for how the Panthers would attack on both sides of the ball.
This one goes beyond just the head coaches, however. Panthers OC Ben McAdoo and DC Al Holcomb both outclassed Detroit counterparts Ben Johnson and Aaron Glenn, too. Emphatically.
Bad, bad tackling
We don’t yet have the official tally of missed tackles by the Lions defense. The statisticians probably ran out of fingers and toes to count to keep track.
The Panthers offensive line and receiving/TE corps deserve credit for some legitimately outstanding blocking. They played great. But Detroit’s soft tackling and poor overall effort in pursuit and containment was as bad as any Lions defense in memory. Giving up 320 yards on 43 carries doesn’t happen without implicit culpability from the defense.
Detroit's own run game was awful
Not that the game script afforded much running, but even early on, the Lions got next to nothing out of their own ground game.
Jamaal Williams finished with 11 yards on seven carries. D’Andre Swift netted 12 on four carries. Detroit’s leading rusher on the day was QB Jared Goff with 15 yards on three carries, 14 of which came on one garbage-time run.
The Panthers defense laid waste to the overly complex run blocking by the line. Their speed was a real problem for all the movement the Lions scheme demanded; Williams was hit in the backfield on five of his seven attempts, per the Lions radio feed. It felt like it was all seven…
Quick hits
–Bright spot: TE Shane Zylstra. He caught three touchdown passes from Jared Goff and all showed excellent hands.
–Ifeatu Melifonwu got the start at safety for an injured DeShon Elliott. He ran the wrong way on Carolina’s first rushing TD. On another long run, he was two gaps too wide for his assignment based on how the rest of the defense played it. He also missed at least two tackles. Not exactly the kind of game tape that will help save his fledgling Lions career
–DJ Chark eclipsed 100 receiving yards for the first time in a Lions uniform. He made his best catch early, a leaping contested grab over S Jeremy Chinn on Detroit’s first drive that gained 39.
–Jameson Williams got one target. Not sure of his exact snap count but I did not notice him on the field beyond that play. That question will be brought up to Campbell and OC Ben Johnson once again; you can be assured of that.
–Goff had an impressive game on the stat sheet: 25-of-42, 355 yards, 3 TDs, and no interceptions. He did lose a fumble, a red zone botched snap that ruined the Lions’ second offensive drive. Beyond that, Goff was pretty sharp and made good decisions outside of a dry patch (four straight 3-and-outs) that spanned around halftime. Unfortunately, the game is not played on the stat sheet. He took some big-time hits late, too.
–It didn’t impact the game much, but the Lions punt and kick units were solid.
–The overly complex blocking scheme against a speed-based defense is really bugging me the more I think about it. Brian Burns’ second sack was a great example of Ben Johnson trying too hard:
Making the RG come behind the line to pick off Brian Burns lined up tight to LT is just dumb. Jim Bob Cooter stuff. Was really hoping the Lions were past that
— Jeff Risdon (@JeffRisdon) December 24, 2022
–Nobody on the defense is going to enjoy the film breakdown, but CB Jeff Okudah is really not going to like what he saw from himself. Okudah’s worst game of the season in both coverage and run defense. Might have been the same for LBs Malcolm Rodriguez and Alex Anzalone, too.
–It’s a bitter end to what has been a great run for the Lions. But it’s one game. Don’t let it ruin your holiday weekend. Be safe out there and be good to one another, the world needs more of that.
