| Detroit Free Press
Insiders – Colts stomp Lions 41-21
Insiders Joel A. Erickson and Jim Ayello recap the Indianapolis Colts’ 41-21 win over the Detroit Lions.
Reggie Ragland stopped a reporter dead in his Zoom tracks.
The Detroit Lions lost their seventh straight home game Sunday, 41-21, to the Indianapolis Colts. And while the half-hearted performance seemed to affirm what both some of the team’s harshest critics and most ardent supporters thought – that the Lions, despite a recent two-game winning streak, remain unfit for legitimate playoff contention – Ragland wanted none of the debate.
“Who cares what these critics got to say cause they don’t play in this league,” Ragland said. “They don’t play football. This league is hard to win. I don’t care if it’s one-win teams, two-win teams. These critics don’t play in this league. They don’t understand. Getting a win in this league is hard as it is. I don’t care what no critic got to say. Damn them. That’s why they sit behind the desk and write on papers. They don’t play this game.”
Ragland’s protestations aside, the Lions hardly look playoff-worthy as they approach the midpoint of the season.
[ Lions grades: So many D’s and F’s but one unit was a complete disaster ]
On Sunday, coming off back-to-back wins against the lowly Jacksonville Jaguars and Atlanta Falcons, and with a chance to establish themselves in the NFC wildcard race, the Lions instead turned in arguably their worst game of the season.
Matthew Stafford lost a fumble and threw an interception that was returned for a touchdown on consecutive plays in the second half, Danny Shelton and Justin Coleman committed drive-extending penalties that led to Colts touchdowns, and the Lions had no answer for either Indianapolis’ 38-year-old quarterback, Philip Rivers, or its menacing defense.
At 3-4, the Lions are sixth in the race for three wildcard spots, and with a 1-4 record against teams with winning records, they’ve shown little reason to believe they could win a game even if they reached the postseason.
[ Shawn Windsor: Lions crash back to reality in loss to Colts: They’re going nowhere ]
Along with Sunday’s loss, the Lions have been blown out by the Green Bay Packers (42-21) and New Orleans Saints (35-29, in a game where the score was nowhere near as close at it appeared), both teams currently in possession of playoff spots.
“This league is tough,” Stafford said. “You look week in and week out, there’s wins and losses every week where you didn’t expect it, quote unquote, the experts. But you’ve got to make sure you’re doing everything you can possible during the week to get ready to go play, and then you go out there and play on Sunday and try to execute as best you can. And some weeks, you execute better than others and you win the game, and other times you don’t.”
On Sunday, execution was an issue from the start.
The Lions managed 80 yards of offense on 22 first-half plays, with 45 of those yards coming on a two-minute drive that ended with another missed Matt Prater field goal just before halftime.
The Colts dominated time of possession in the first half, holding the ball for more than 22 minutes, and collecting 229 yards of offense on 42 plays.
“We got to start out staying on the field, so I think that was a major issue, especially in the first half,” wide receiver Marvin Jones said. “I think that was the issue. Our defense, I feel like, we left our defense out there for a long time, we just needed to find something to get the chains moving. That’s what it was.”
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Rivers completed 23 of 33 passes for 262 yards and three touchdowns, and Jordan Wilkins, coming off back-to-back one-touch games, had 113 yards from scrimmage as the Colts raced to a 20-7 halftime lead, and put the game away with back-to-back touchdowns early in the fourth quarter.
The Lions, who scored their first touchdown two plays after a blocked punt, mounted their only meaningful drive on the opening possession of the second half to cut their deficit to 20-14.
But Stafford lost a fumble – the Lions’ first of the season – late the third quarter to set up one Colts touchdown, and Kenny Moore returned an interception 29 yards for a score on the Lions’ next offensive play.
“Just didn’t have good enough eyes on (Moore),” Stafford said. “I didn’t see him. Obviously, it was pretty evident when you watch it. I wish I had gone somewhere else, no question about it.”
While Stafford’s turnovers were the proverbial nail in the coffin, the Lions did themselves few favors elsewhere. They finished with 29 yards rushing on 13 carries, took five sacks and killed themselves with costly penalties.
The Colts took a 14-7 lead late in the second quarter after Shelton was called for a personal foul following a third-and-4 sack that would have knocked Indianapolis out of field goal range. Rivers threw his second touchdown pass, 7 yards to Jack Doyle, three plays later.
Coleman was called for pass interference on the goal line on a third-and-14 play on the series after Stafford’s fumble, three plays before Wilkins’ score.
Stafford completed 24 of 42 passes for 336 yards and three touchdowns, two to Jones, for the Lions, who have not won a home game since Oct. 27, 2019, when they beat the New York Giants, 31-26.
“I think we didn’t execute well enough,” Stafford said. “When you look at it, myself included, if I play like that it’s going to be tough for us to win. I am sure that there a lot of guys in our locker room looking at themselves in the mirror saying if I play like that, it’s going to be tough for us to win. If you guys want to put it on somebody, put it on me. I can’t turn the ball over twice and we’ve got to get the ball in the end zone more.”
Contact Dave Birkett at dbirkett@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @davebirkett.