Lions held a lead and looked sharp on defense
DETROIT (AP) — Forgive Detroit fans if they rolledtheir eyes after the Lions took an early 14-3 lead against Jacksonville. On too many occasions lately, those double- digit advantages have slipped away.
Not this time.
The Lions looked recharged after their open date, and on Sunday they did exactly what they needed to against a struggling Jacksonville team. Detroit took an early lead and held it, beating the Jaguars 34-16 in a game that offered some hope for the Lions as they began what looks like an easier stretch in their schedule.
Detroit was particularly impressive against the run — anarea that’s beenaproblem for the Lions. Jacksonvillemanaged only 44 yards rushing. Detroit rookie D’Andre Swift had more than that on one play.
“I think they tried to step up to a challenge that we knew was going to be difficult against Jacksonville’s run game. I thought they executed well in those situations,” Lions coach Matt Patricia said. “We had some good fundamental plays on tape, which was nice — definitely some things that we had beenworking on the last couple weeks that showed up.”
Thewin was big for Patricia, who is in his third season and facing questions about the direction of the team. It’s hard to evaluate a victory against a weak opponent, but at the very least, this game was a reminder that it’s a long season and there’s plenty of time left.
“I think that’s good for everybody just to have a little bit of confidence in some of the things we were doing and be able to see it — and honestly see what I would call twoweeks ofwork really show up in a game,” Patricia said. “I thought thatwas really great.”
Defensive end Romeo Okwara said the teamneeds to be consistent and can’t simply rely onmomentumfrom one week to the next. However, there is certainly plenty for the Lions to be pleased with from last weekend.
“It gives us an opportunity to look back at what we did to succeed and how we can build on those things,” Okwara said.
What’sWorking
Aftermissingthefirst two games of this season, Kenny Golladay has made a consistent impact since returning. He caught a touchdown pass in each of his first two games back against Arizona andNewOrleans— thenhad four receptions for 105 yards against the Jaguars.
What Needs Help
Although Detroit was impressive against the run, the Lions allowed Keelan Cole to catch six passes for 143 yards. Detroit may still be vulnerable when facing the league’s better quarterbacks.
Stock Up
Swift ran for 116 yards and two touchdowns, and his 54-yard burst was the team’s longest rushing play of the season.
Swift got off to a rough start this season when he dropped what could have been the winning touchdown in the final seconds of the opener against Chicago. But he’s been fairly productive on the whole, ranking second on the team with 16 receptions and averaging 6.1 yards per rush.
Stock Down
Matt Prater’s accuracy from long distance has covered up a lot of problems for the Lions since they acquired hima fewyears ago. So it’s of some concern that he’s now 0 for 3 from50yards andbeyond this season. Praterwas 7 of 8 fromthat distance last season.