One word to describe the Lions game yesterday against the Minnesota Vikings would be… conservative. No Calvin Johnson (ankle) or Reggie Bush (ankle) and yet they were able to pull off a 17-3 at Minnesota. Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford who wasn’t able to throw it deep as he prefers was still able to take care of the ball by not turning it over and throwing for one touchdown to Theo Riddick who replaced the aforementioned Bush in the lineup. However, Riddick left the game early because of a hamstring injury and is day-to-day. Joique Bell led the rushing attack with 74 yards on 18 carries, scoring a touchdown that put the game out of reach.One aspect of the Lions that was not conservative was their number one ranked defense as they got at rookie quarterback Teddy Bridgewater.
The first round pick out of Louisville was sacked eight times and threw three interceptions while only throwing for 188 yards. Minnesota showed promised on their opening drive as they used the running game to get down into Lions territory but that promised died off as Bridgewater stared down his receiver in the end zone and Lions safety Glover Quinn picked him off in what was only the beginning of Bridgewater’s day.Despite winning on the road in Minnesota for only the second time in 19 meetings, and with their defense ranked first, the one remaining question about the Lions for this season would be their offense. With Calvin Johnson, Reggie Bush, and Golden Tate (who had seven catches for 44 yards Sunday) as weapons for Matthew Stafford, they are not putting up enough points for what they capable of doing. After winning 35-14 in the season opener against the New York Giants, where has the offense been? After being billed as one of the top offenses coming into the season,they rank at the bottom or near the bottom of most offensive categories. Stafford ranks 30th amongst the 32 qualified starting quarterbacks in the league in third-down conversions.
The running game has been mediocre at best and even the talents of a Reggie Bush and Joique Bell combined, it still is not consistent enough to consider it legitimate. Part of that blame has to do with the offensive line which allowed Stafford to be sacked five times Sunday against Minnesota.With their next game against the New Orleans Saints this Sunday, I do believe the Lions defense will have their first true test as they go up against a Saints offense that features future Hall of Fame quarterbacks Drew Brees. While it will a fun game at a sold-out Ford Field, I see the Lions coming out of this with a win 27-17.
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