Marvin Jones Jr. gets place in Detroit’s ‘penthouse’
On Sunday, the Lions played their best football in weeks, pulling out a 34-30 victory over the Chicago Bears in come-from-behind fashion.
It was an impressive win for Darrell Bevell in his debut as Detroit’s interim head man.
Without further ado, here are the players that deserve a spot in the “Penthouse” and the “Doghouse” after the team’s Week 13 contest in Chicago.
Penthouse
QB MATTHEW STAFFORD
It’s an easy decision to place Detroit’s franchise passer in the Penthouse for Week 13.
He just played his best statistical game of the season, throwing for 402 yards and three touchdowns, to go along with one interception.
His 402 yards leads all quarterbacks from Week 13, going into Tuesday’s Dallas Cowboys-Baltimore Ravens tilt.
Stafford also led the Lions on a seven-play, 96-yard scoring drive late in the fourth quarter that cut Detroit’s deficit against the Bears to three, 30-27.
For all the above, the 12thyear passer certainly deserves inclusion in the Penthouse for this week.
DE ROMEO OKWARA
His strip-sack of Bears quarterback Mitchell Trubisky with 1:54 to play in the fourth quarter led to
Detroit getting the ball on Chicago’s seven-yard line.
On the subsequent offensive possession for Matthew Stafford & Co., veteran running back Adrian Peterson punched it in for the game-winning score.
The strip-sack marked Okwara’s team-leading seventh sack on the season, and earned him a spot inside the Penthouse for the week.
WR MARVIN JONES JR.
The veteran wideout made difficult catch after difficult catch in Sunday’s contest, and finished with a season-high eight receptions for a season-best 116 yards and a score.
He certainly made up for the absence of Kenny Golladay, and there’s no way the Lions would’ve been able to pull out the win without his big-time performance.
He easily earned inclusion in Detroit’s Penthouse for Week 13.
Doghouse
K MATT PRATER
The veteran kicker has not been anywhere close to his usual self this year.
He’s missed seven field-goal attempts on the year (18-of-25) — the only year in which he missed more was during his first season as a full-time kicker with the Denver Broncos in 2008 (25-of34).
He didn’t attempt a field goal Sunday, but he did miss his first point-after-try of the season.
It’s the reason why Prater finds himself in the Lions’ Week 13 Doghouse.
Secondary
The secondary was so bad collectively that I couldn’t pick one individual.
The position group as a whole allowed Trubisky to complete 76.5 percent of his passes and to throw for 267 yards.
Just like in past games against the Bears’ fourth-year passer, it was far too easy for the beleaguered quarterback to pick apart Detroit’s defensive backs and safeties.
For that and the group’s struggles with making tackles in the open field, each member of the secondary gets a spot in the Doghouse this week.