Lions Controlled by Bengals in 23-13 Loss

by Sean Yuille on Dec 6, 2009 4:31 PM EST in Detroit Lions Game Recaps

The Lions made a statement early on today and led the Bengals 7-0, but Cincinnati quickly took over and showed why it is the second-best team in the AFC. The Bengals didn't blow Detroit out of the stadium or anything like that, but they played solid defense and controlled the ball en route to a 23-13 win over the Lions. The score really doesn't reflect the closeness of the game because Detroit was pretty much out of it by the time the second half got going. Cincinnati outgained the Lions by a pretty good amount of yards and completely owned them in time of possession. The Bengals had the ball for more than 38 minutes, and it seemed like Detroit's offense was barely on the field in the second half.

The start of this game was actually great for the Lions; believe it or not. After picking off Carson Palmer, the Lions went for it all on the very next play and scored on a 54-yard pass to Calvin Johnson. Just like that the Lions took a 7-0 lead, but that was the only time they were able to score today until the game was already basically over.

Cincinnati turned this game around in the second quarter when Matthew Stafford threw an interception on a screen pass. It was third down and the play was set up for Aaron Brown to get the ball as a receiver, but the pass was tipped, picked off, and returned 45 yards for a Bengals touchdown. Cincinnati closed out the half with a 36-yard touchdown pass to Chad Ochocinco and a field goal to take a 17-7 lead into halftime.

The second half was pretty uneventful for the most part. Cincinnati put together a couple long drives that ended in field goals, which was just enough to put the game out of reach. The Lions did get into the end zone toward the end of the game on a Kevin Smith run that was set up by another amazing catch by Calvin Johnson, but it was too little, too late.

Daunte Culpepper was the Lions' quarterback at this point because Matthew Stafford took a hard hit on the Lions' previous possession and was in even more pain than earlier in the game. Culpepper sailed a pass over Calvin on the 2-point conversion try, which basically brought any slim hopes of a comeback to an end. Cincinnati recovered an onside kick and took a knee to run out the clock and win 23-13.

This game was a tough one to swallow because the defense played fairly well. They gave up only 16 points, with the other 7 coming off an interception. It was really the offense who let the team down, though it didn't get much of a chance to do anything for most of the second half. In that sense the defense played poorly by allowing Cincinnati to control the ball for so long, but they made up for it by holding the Bengals to field goals except for one time. Basically the Lions' biggest problem today was that Cincinnati shut Matthew Stafford down outside of the touchdown pass to Calvin Johnson. He struggled mightily, which just can't happen if the Lions are even going to think about winning.

Next up for the Lions is a trip to Baltimore to play the Ravens. The Ravens are fighting for a playoff spot, meaning they will be going all out to avoid falling prey to an upset. It will be interesting to see how injured Matthew Stafford is, but even if he is completely healthy I don't see any way that the Lions will win this game. In all likelihood, Detroit will be 2-11 when they return home to play Arizona on December 20.

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Seen form Europe

The O-Line looked sputtering after a quarter and half ; before first interception we recorded a run for a loss, a sack (nullified by face mask) and a pair of other poor plays. And I noticed no change in this trend all game long until Stafford’s injury

by RomanLion on Dec 6, 2009 5:11 PM EST reply actions

I was still impressed

With Louis Delmas,that man is gonna be a stud for years to come . It seemed as if he was there on every single play or tackle.If we could only be lucky enough to Draft KONG SUH we might have a very promising defence for years to come.aAt this point i’m torn between wanting to Win a game or just trying to go after the stud from Nebraska,either way we have a long ways to go from the looks of our team.GO LIONS!!!!!

Cory Smith

by cmonee on Dec 6, 2009 5:48 PM EST reply actions

My overall impressions (in no particular order)

1.) Staff needs to improve his accuracy, his decision making and cut out the interceptions. That 2 minute drill before the half was AWFUL by Staff
2.) KSmith had a very solid game. We don’t need to address RB in the draft
3.) The OL played decent
4.) The defense played better than I anticipated – but the rush Defense has been OK all year. The secondary played better than past weeks for sure
5.) I completely disagree with Schwartz keeping a very ineffective, injured Staff in the game so long. No need for it.

All in all the score was closer than I thought it would be. Unfortunately the only thing that matters now for us is the draft and hopefully going 2 – 2 in the final four weeks (that would be a great way to end the year for this team and coaching staff)

I spray paint my dog Honolulu Blue and Silver

Pic - me vs. Bears fans

by NYCLionsfan on Dec 6, 2009 5:56 PM EST reply actions

Gotta agree with most of that

I really think that injury to Stafford is a lot worse and affecting his game play a lot more than we’re let on.
Good day running the ball too, Smith looks healthier too, this is his typical level of production. I dunno why ppl are down on him, he’s doing at least as well as most of his 2008 Draft RB members especially given his team.
Good defense sans the pass rush, that’s really the area of concern more than the secondary

by Transplanted on Dec 6, 2009 7:18 PM EST up reply actions

I think your being to kind

I completely agree that stafford needs to improve the accuracy, but I would say at least half the picks he has had this year are because he has to throw it in 2 or 3 seconds. They don’t even have him take balls under center as much anymore because of how bad our line is.
Our rush defense probably had two games that were okay. The fact that our front four are getting pushed backwards half the time is pathetic. We desperately need a new DT or DE with our first pick (hopefully nebraska boy).
Smith has played better but is nothing more than a average running back. You will never have to worry about stacking the line against him. If there is a player in the draft that has electric speed aka c.j. spiller you have to at least entertain looking at him. Although I would be surprise if they didn’t take a dL and OL with the first two picks.

by MPLS Lions Fan on Dec 7, 2009 4:16 PM EST up reply actions

I did not see a lot of the game but KSmith definitely looked better.

Staff’s numbers were not good, but for those who saw the whole game, are the receivers getting open?
When I see other games, receivers seem to be wide open and it is a simple pitch and catch. Staff seems to be throwing into tight coverage constantly. Is it his decision making or are our receivers not getting any separation?
I’ll disagree with some of the other posters and say we might just as well lose out to get the best pick. Although I will be cheering for the Lions to win every week.

by NorthLeft12 on Dec 6, 2009 9:08 PM EST reply actions

game

I watch the game at the bar and while staff did not play great neither did anyone else really. It seemed that Staff had two seconds to throw the ball at best most plays. The D suprise me though even though obviously still weak. Staff never looked comfortable out there today though and most of his passes were into tight coverages but he looked as though he was trying not to throw a pic and worried about getting sacked. Recievers need more time to get open because they cannot get downfield in two seconds..

by bmehne on Dec 6, 2009 11:19 PM EST up reply actions

Stafford

I agree. People keep pointing the fingure at stafford like everything is his fault. Yes he needs to get better but he’s a rookie and our OL is garbage. We have no Gaurds and personally i think our center is too small. Backus is average but would benefit from some new solid gaurds, and cherlius should pretty much be the only player we could build around.

by MPLS Lions Fan on Dec 7, 2009 4:20 PM EST up reply actions

I hate missing games

As some of you may have noticed, I wasn’t there for the game thread. My internet has been down for the past 2 days so that left me to watch the Colts-Titans game while looking at the little game-tracker down the bottom for the Lions score. I was actually pretty happy that we only lost 23-13 at the time. I mean, you can never really be happy at a loss, but I was expecting worse. However, after reading the game thread it seems as though we didn’t play all together that good.

It’s hard to talk about something I didn’t even see or even get to follow live, but from the comments I’ve read it seems as if Staff struggled, CJ was awesome and our Defence improved a bit. Well, hopefully I don’t miss anymore games this year.

2009 = The start of the Lions Golden Age (We hope).
Zack Follett: he will hurt your mind.

by Hyperion Ecta on Dec 7, 2009 8:28 PM EST reply actions