BALTIMORE, Md. – The Detroit Lions’ winning streak was snapped Sunday as they got completely embarrassed by the Baltimore Ravens.
Last week, Detroit went into Tampa Bay and took down the first-place Buccaneers for their fourth win in a row. Sunday could not have been more different.
Shocking first half performance
Lamar Jackson and the Ravens jumped all over Detroit from the opening whistle, scoring touchdowns on drives of 75, 68, 92, and 80 yards their first four possessions.
Meanwhile, the Lions’ offense couldn’t even get a first down. They went three-and-out on each of the first three possessions, and the game was over before the middle of the second quarter. While the Ravens had 325 yards and 16 first downs at the 7:45 mark of the second quarter, the Lions were at 13 total yards and had failed to move the chains even once.
The third Ravens drive was particularly backbreaking. Jack Fox had pinned Baltimore inside the 10-yard line, but on the very first play, Jackson hit Odell Beckham Jr. for 20 yards. A holding penalty and an incomplete pass set Baltimore back with a 2nd and 20, but the Lions gave up nine yards on the following run and 22 yards on 3rd and 11 to end the first quarter.
Things didn’t get any better in the second, as the Ravens marched easily into the end zone to polish off a 92-yard drive.
Dan Campbell stresses grit and resilience, but his team didn’t show any on Sunday. Falling behind early was bad enough, but the Lions never really fought back.
It took until the 7:30 mark of the second quarter for Jared Goff to hit Kalif Raymond and finally pick up a first down. That small taste of success didn’t last, though, as the Lions turned the ball over on downs five plays later at midfield.
It was, frankly, a pitiful first-half performance by the Lions, especially on defense. The Ravens started their fifth drive averaging over 12 yards per play. That number got even higher after an easy 22-yard gain on 1st and 20.
The Lions finally caught a break when Jackson and Justice Hill fumbled an exchange and the ball bounced into the hands of Aidan Hutchinson, who had just been called for a personal foul on the previous play.
Detroit failed to capitalize. A second holding penalty on Penei Sewell erased a completion to Amon-Ra St. Brown that would have given the Lions a first down in the red zone, and they went into the locker room down by 28 points.
READ: Fans roast Lions after pitiful first-half performance against Ravens
Second half
Any chance of a comeback was squashed on the opening drive after the break, when the Lions marched all the way down to the 6-yard line, but then turned the ball over on downs again with three straight incomplete passes.
On the second play of the next possession, Jackson hit running back Gus Edwards with a short dump-off pass, and Edwards took it 80 yards. Two plays later, Mark Andrews caught his second touchdown pass of the day to make it 35-0.
INJURY: New Lions running back carted off field after very first touch
Jahmyr Gibbs finally got the Lions on the board early in the fourth quarter with a 21-yard run for his first career NFL touchdown. Goff passed to Gibbs on the two-point conversion attempt, but he was tackled well short of the goal line.
Baltimore recovered the ensuing onside kick attempt and drove into the red zone before settling for a Justin Tucker field goal that made the score 38-6.
Gibbs finished the day with a nice stat line, but most of his production was in garbage time after the outcome had long since been decided. He gained 66 yards on the ground and 58 yards on nine catches.
What this means
The Lions are still two games ahead of the Green Bay Packers in the NFC North Division, so Sunday’s loss isn’t necessarily the end of the world.
If we learned anything from this performance, it’s that Detroit probably doesn’t belong in the conversation with San Francisco and Philadelphia at the top of the conference. Those teams aren’t losing many games by 30 points.
Detroit needs to get back to the drawing board and bounce back when the Las Vegas Raiders come to Ford Field next Monday.