“No need to panic after Lions Molly wop to Ravens”
After the Bad Boy Detroit Pistons got blown out in a basketball game I often talked to forward Mark Aguirre who had an easy explanation.
He’d say: “Now and then you spit out a bad one. You don’t know when it is going to happen. Sometimes you don’t know why it happens. But it happens to everybody. You just spit out a bad one.”
The Lions spit out their bad one for the 2023 season during a 38-6 loss to the Baltimore Ravens. The loss exposed all the Lions flaws and it will also test the will and grit of their fans who have made national news for their love and support of this team.
After a big loss fans must now look at the big picture. The Lions (5-2) remain in first place in the NFC North Division. They still control their destiny for a home playoff game. They remain in contention for a number one seed.
The Lions are still good.
They simply were not Sunday. We will spend the week examining what went wrong. You will hear people say the Lions cannot get back what they discovered during a 13-4 run over the last 17 games.
Do not listen.
We were told the Lions run defense was shot on Christmas Eve last season when the Carolina Panthers ran roughshod over the Lions 37-23. The Lions responded by blowing out the Chicago Bears at Ford Field 41-10 and then ending the Green Bay Packers as we knew them at Lambeau Field.
We were told the sky was falling less than a month ago when the Lions defense turned soft and they lost a 37-31 overtime heartbreaker at home to the Seattle Seahawks.
The Lions can turn this around during an emotion-filled Monday night game at Ford Field against the Oakland Raiders. Then they get the Chicago Bears and Minnesota Vikings twice along with the beatable Atlanta Falcons and Denver Broncos.
The Lions had an off day and the Ravens an off the charts day.
The Ravens outcoached the Lions coaching staff. They added wrinkles to their offense that the Lions had no clue how to stop it. We saw Amon-Ra St. Brown drop passes and usually dependable right tackle Peni Sewell have a bad game filled with penalties.
The Lions offensive line was overwhelmed by the Ravens defensive line resulting in quarterback Jerad Goff running for his life and throwing worm burners into the ground.
It looked like a replay of Saturday’s Michigan-Michigan State game won 49-0 by the Wolverines.
The Ravens had 503 yards of total offense compared to 337 for the Lions. Quarterback Lamar Jackson looks like an MVP candidate again. He completed 21 of 27 passes for 357 yards and three touchdowns.
The Lions defense turned passive again, giving the Ravens receivers too much cushion. They also forgot to cover Ravens tight end Mark Andrews, who scored two touchdowns on four receptions and 63 yards.
Detroit failed their test on Sunday. Now comes your test. Do you turn on this team? Do you lose belief? Fans of all ilk routinely ignore what they see over a two or three month span and overreact to one game.
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For more from the author Terry Foster, check him out on Twitter here: @terryfosterdet
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Original Photo Credit: © Tommy Gilligan – USA TODAY Sports
