STOCK WATCH
Three up
Lions Insider
Dave Birkett
Detroit Free Press
USA TODAY NETWORK
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Free Press sports writer Dave Birkett looks at Detroit Lions players and coaches who helped their stock or hurt it after their 37-23 loss to Carolina Panthers on Saturday at Bank of America Stadium:
WR DJ Chark: The Lions didn’t do a whole lot right Saturday, but Chark continued his hot play with four catches for a season-high 108 yards. Chark was on the receiving end of two of Jared Goff’s three longest passes, a 51yarder late in the fourth quarter and a 39yarder on third-and-10 early in the game that he made a great adjustment on. After missing six games early this season with an ankle injury, Chark has given the Lions the deep threat they lacked in the passing game. The Lions will have to think hard about re-signing him this offseason, even with Jameson Williams waiting in the wings.
TE Shane Zylstra: Zylstra caught touchdown passes Saturday of 3, 7 and 1 yards to account for most of the Lions scoring. He finished with five catches for 26 yards, and the Lions tight ends — Zylstra, Brock Wright and James Mitchell — now have seven touchdowns in the eight games since the T.J. Hockenson trade. Hockenson is a better singular talent than any tight end on the Lions roster; he made the Pro Bowl with the Minnesota Vikings. But Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson knows how to scheme tight ends open.
LB Josh Woods: Woods did not play a defensive snap Saturday, so he can’t be blamed for the Lions’ atrocious effort against the run. But he made three tackles on four Jack Fox punts — the Panthers muffed the fourth punt, so no tackle was awarded — and continued his stellar special teams play this season. Coverage specialists don’t get much recognition, and on a day when the Lions didn’t have many standouts, it feels right to mention Woods for his performance.
Three down
LB Alex Anzalone: The Lions’ entire linebacking corps probably deserves a down vote, but Anzalone gets the headline here as the leader of the unit. Panthers running backs D’Onte Foreman (165 yards) and Chuba Hubbard (125 yards) both had career days, and the Lions allowed a whopping seven runs of 20-plus yards. Anzalone got stuck on blocks on runs of 38 yards by Foreman and 33 yards by Hubbard in the first half and missed two tackles on Laviska Shenault on one play late in the game. Anzalone has had his best season, but Saturday was a forgettable game for him and the rest of his unit.
CB Jeff Okudah: Okudah has had a nice season, especially coming off the ruptured Achilles he suffered last September, but he hasn’t been the lockdown corner some Lions fans have made him out to be, and he was benched most of Saturday’s second half after a rough series of plays. Okudah missed a tackle on a 15-yard Foreman run on Carolina’s first play of the second half and got beat on a 47-yard catch by DJ Moore five plays later. If the Lions do defense-defense with their first two picks of next year’s draft, they should strongly consider a cornerback with one of those picks.
RB D’Andre Swift: The Lions don’t seem to trust their run game much right now, understandably so given their struggles on the ground in recent weeks. Swift didn’t have many opportunities Saturday given the game script, but his star has fallen dramatically since injuries derailed his impressive start to the season. He had four carries for 12 yards against the Panthers, caught one pass (on five targets) for 13 yards and seemed out of synch with Goff in the passing game.
Contact Dave Birkett at dbirkett@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @davebirkett.