Answer: Defence. Question: Who did not ‘show-up’? Spectacle of defensive failures by both teams. When is the last time you saw a 1,000 yard offensive game? Down field completions by Commanders complements of Detroit’s pass defence would have made Stevie Wonder proud. Lion’s season long scandalous containment of a ‘running QB’ was an open, fetid wound. Also cannot disregard sloppy tackling by the Lions. Yardage after first defensive contact appeared excessive.

On Lion’s offensive side, their huge total yardage was negated by Lion’s ugly turnovers. J. Goff hesitated a fatal extra second on pass/throwaway decisions to many times. Offensive line seemed to have ‘brain fart’ blocks at most inopportune times.

Get involved in a ‘shoot-out’ and make more mistakes than your opponent and this is how it ends. You lose by beating yourself.

Solvable issue are wide open for fixing as we embark on our 67 year of rebuilding.

Lions feast on Viking’s really bad day. Hints of what was to come began with the first errant throw by S. Darnold and pass drop by usually reliable J. Jefferson. Down hill until games’ end. Timing was just a ‘little off’ on everything the Vikings tried. Credit the aggressive ‘balls out’ Lion’s defensive rush. Not many ‘sacks’ but minimal maneuverability for execution by S. Darnold.

On game’s offensive side, the Lion’s offensive line paved the way for J. Gibbs to sprint, slash, dash and bully his way for a personal best effort. Downfield blocking aided in J. Gibbs’s success.

The best Lion’s defensive effort was holding Vikings 0-4 red zone opportunities.

As reported elsewhere, coach D. Campbell expressed that Lions and Vikings would see each other for a rematch in the near future. Detroit’s old QB M. Stafford may not be onboard with his assessment.

Game stats provide all the gory details. Over 900yds of total offence. Titanic defensive effort (sarcasm} by both teams. Lion’s run game offset 49ers passing effort. Without a doubt, Detroit’s two pass interceptions determined the game’s outcome.

Lion’s ‘deep’ pass defense is still an open ugly wound. Some San Francisco’s receptions could have been made by Ray Charles. Lion’s offensive line generally gave J. Goff time to work progressions for completions. For the most part, passes were ‘bullets’ devoid of ‘dying quails’. Lion’s receivers developed ‘sticky fingers’ when it counted.

J. Gibbs need some help with run game work load. Durability requires more than a single game’s performance. Coverage of ‘running’ quarterbacks and some sloppy tackling need remediation.

Lastly, less focus on juvenile celebrations and more steely dedication to the end product of a winning final score.

Game of momentum shifted ‘to and fro”. Disparate stats in third and fourth down efficiency converted into more Lion’s total offensive opportunities. In spite of the ‘wounded’ defensive line J. Love was mostly held in check. Deep Lion’s pass coverage is still suspect.

The real “drama” occurred at the game’s end. Against prevailing SOP D. Campbell spurned a field goal attempt on forth and one. Initially, everyone expected an attempt to draw a defensive ‘encroachment’ call against the Packers. Nope, J. Goff took the snap, stumbled and completed a hand-off the D. Montgomery who slashed through for a first down and enabled team Lions to run down the clock to almost nothing before J. bates put a ‘chip shot’ through the uprights for a tumultuous “W”.

Looking back on the season this was not out of character for the Lion’s team culture. No more playing ‘not to lose’ even if the risks are high.

Classic game tale of two halves. First half viewing portended a second half lopsided ending. Not to be however. Lion’s inability to ‘slam the door shut’ allowed Bears to claw their way back crowned with a comical but heart wrenching farce of game clock management.

Lion’s lack of Bear’s quarterback containment coupled with an asinine, childish, churlish school-yard display by J. Williams almost produced a stunning upset. However, not to be outdone the Bears ‘fumbled’ clock management preventing the possibility of an overtime extension. Almost right out of the ole Lion’s classic playbook.

Detroit’s rushing stats were a bright light in an otherwise ho-hum performance. Settling for field goals as touchdown replacements are generally fatal to a positive outcome.

Going forward, resurrection of ‘walking wounded’ and performance of their backups are keys to reaching deep into potential playoff success.

Not a classical battle. Key stats demonstrated balanced offensive attack via first down achievements. Ultimately played into time of possession advantage. Colts made callous errors when most beneficial to the Lions. Dropped passes, holding calls and other errors were timely and costly for the Colts.

J. Goff had a good day but not stylish by any standards. Pass target distribution and J. Gibb’s rushing kept Indy guessing. Lion’s kicking efforts were suburb as usual.

All in all, backups for starters did their job. Future game schedule will not find as much charity in favor of the Lions. But a stodgy win is still a win.

After the first five minutes this ‘game’ trans-mutated into a no holds blowout. Three Lion’s game stats define the overall finality: 645 yards of offense, 38 first downs and almost 2 to 1 time of possession. Every one joined in the melee. J. Gibbs and D. Montgomery slashed, dashed and burned their way generating about two thirds of 196 yards rushing yardage. J. Goff found his ‘groove’ targeting nine separate receivers showing favoritism to A. St. Brown and J. Williams.

Meanwhile, Lion’s defense throttled the Jaguars to a paltry 129 yrds passing and 41 yrds rushing. Most unfortunately, the party was dampened by the injury loss of A. Anzalone reported to be a broken fore arm.

Rear view mirror introspection leaves no doubt that our 66th year of rebuilding has legitimized believing in a solid chance to escape from the tunnel of wannabe oblivion.

J. Goff’s nightmares came to fruition. Lion’s defensive efforts kept the game from being be a ‘blowout’ by holding Texans scoreless the second half. Houston’s J. Mixon was held to 46 yards rushing. In an antithesis to ‘smash mouth’ football, this game’s outcome was left to the field goal kickers. However, the winning field goal was placed in jeopardy by ‘clock management’ in the last few seconds of the game.

Even though ‘time of possession’ favored Houston, J. Gibbs speed on wide-out runs were effective late in the game made possible by offensive line execution. D. Montgomery’s timely pass reception continued to augment his N/S game efforts.

Overall, Lion’s defense, not of classic purity, prevailed and made a “W” possible.

Classic ole time brutal weather football game not fit for man or beast. Nothing fancy but Lion’s brutal running and controlled passing. For a team regaled for executing under brutal weather conditions, Green Bay failed the test across the board: dropped passes, bad snaps from center, sorry run game and an ill advised desperation pass. To bad so sad.

All Packer’s mistakes do not diminish yeoman Lions’ defensive efforts and ‘meat grinder’ running game made possible by precision offensive blocking. Time of possession under weather conditions did take it’s toll. Saving D. Montgomery for a close-out effort in 4th quarter was a classic N/S tactic. J. Goff made the most of weather limited pass opportunities.

Kickers did what was expected and penalties was kept low. B. Branch’s hit was called according to the rules. Slo-mo replays could have indicated that he was trying to avoid head on collision. Ejection could be disputed. Consistency and functional discipline ruled the day regardless of putrid weather.

Continued display of execution, minimal mistakes and improving down field pass defense could portend bight things for Lion’s remaining schedule.

Usually, game stats correlate extremely high with the game outcome. This game was an extreme outlier. Titans dominated in almost every category except for the dreaded ‘turnovers’. Lions cashed every opportunity check gifted to them. Initially, the game’s opening portended a classical ‘slug fest’ validating pregame hype. Then the ancient axiom of “on any given Sunday” reared its ugly head and wheels fell off Titans wagon never to be righted.

J. Goff had a rather ‘ho hum(?)’ 12/15 passing effort for a measly 85yds but managed to squeeze in 3 TDs. Passing targets included everyone except the cheer leading squad. J. Gibbs scooped up 137 yards with excellent OL line execution and downfield blocking. Feeling left out after a TD run, running back D. Montgomery demonstrated some passing acumen passing for a TD. Beside catching Montgomery’s TD pass S. LaPorta executed his after catch style of a N/S running fullback.

As often viewed as perfunctory, but not today, special team players had their highlight moments. K. Raymond weaved and sprinted his way to a punt return TD. On the kicking side, J. Fox boomed 60yd punts to keep Titans deep.

Defense had a good day containing M. Rudolph’s passing game if you ignore C. Ridley’s offensive production. Deep downfield coverage continues to be iffy. Titans also gifted critical penalty yards mostly beneficial to Lion’s timing.