FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — Free Press sports writer Dave Birkett breaks down the Detroit Lions‘ 29-0 loss to the New England Patriots, and looks at players and coaches who helped and hurt their stock Sunday at Gillette Stadium:
Stock up
S DeShon Elliott
The Lions demoted Elliott from the starting lineup Sunday, but he played nearly the entire game after Saivion Smith suffered brain and neck injuries on New England’s second offensive snap. Elliott finished with a season-high 12 tackles, including three for loss, and made a diving interception for one of the Lions’ lone defensive highlights. After the game, he said the benching, which he did not want to talk about, “woke up a demon” in him.
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RB Craig Reynolds
Reynolds lost 7 yards on a key third-and-2 play one snap before Jared Goff’s fumble, but Lions coach Dan Campbell said one of his players blew a blocking assignment on that play. Take that carry out and Reynolds had 31 yards on five carries, including a team-high 19-yard run, and another 68 yards receiving. Reynolds’ gained 36 yards on a well-designed screen pass. He’ll return to the bench when D’Andre Swift comes back after the bye, but on Sunday he proved to be a capable backup with more receiving chops than most realize.
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KR Maurice Alexander
The Lions didn’t have many bright spots Sunday, but Alexander did have a 47-yard kick return in the first half. A USFL refugee, Alexander has handled returns the past two games for the Lions and signed to the active roster on Saturday. He hasn’t played much as a receiver, but after being out of football for two years, he’s someone to root for.
Stock down
Dan Campbell
Everyone loves Dan Campbell. He’s passionate and personable, and he got a well-deserved pass in his first season as Lions coach last year. But the NFL is a bottom-line business where coaches are judged on winning and losing, and Campbell is not doing enough of the former right now. He’s 4-17-1 in his Lions tenure, and on Sunday his head-scratching decision to try and convert a fourth-and-9 in the second quarter put his team in a hole it could not overcome. Campbell’s job isn’t in any jeopardy yet. But he better start winning soon or fans and players will tune him out.
LIONS GRADES:Dan Campbell, Jared Goff get Fs in rock-bottom loss to Patriots
QB Jared Goff
Just when it was starting to look like Goff could be the Lions quarterback of the future, he goes out and has a game that reminds everyone why the Los Angeles Rams traded him for Matthew Stafford. Goff completed 19 of 35 passes for 229 yards Sunday, but failed to find a rhythm passing and committed two costly turnovers. He threw an interception in the red zone on the Lions’ second possession and lost a fumble that was returned for a touchdown while trying to evade pressure in the second quarter. On the season, Goff has five turnovers, three of which opponents have returned for scores.
THE OTHER QB:Campbell on Lions losing to a third-string QB: ‘Didn’t do anything too exotic’
CB Amani Oruwariye
Oruwariye entered the season as the Lions’ No. 1 cornerback. Now, he might be out of a job. The Lions deactivated Oruwariye on Sunday and turned his starting job over to converted safety Will Harris. Harris left Sunday’s game with a groin injury, so it’s possible Oruwariye re-enters the starting lineup after the bye. But after a rough start to the season, Oruwariye seems to have played himself out of the big contract he seemed destined for after last year’s six-interception campaign.
Contact Dave Birkett at dbirkett@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @davebirkett.