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Because this slipped my mind last week, this week's Lions red zone recap looks back at both the Dolphins game and Sunday's win over the Vikings.

Dolphins Game

Lions - 2 scores on 2 chances (1 touchdown, 1 field goal)

Officially, the Lions had two red zone appearances against Miami. The first resulted in a 39-yard Dave Rayner field goal after the Lions went three and out. Detroit recovered a fumble on a punt and started the drive inside the red zone. The other red zone appearance came in the third quarter. Maurice Morris scored on a five-yard run that tied the game up at 17. (The reason I said "officially" is because the Lions scored on a 20-yard touchdown pass to Brandon Pettigrew, but the NFL didn't count that as a red zone appearance since the Lions weren't technically inside the 20-yard line.)

Dolphins - 4 scores on 4 chances (3 touchdowns, 1 field goal)

The Dolphins had four red zone appearances and scored on all of them. The first three trips inside the 20 resulted in touchdowns (two rushing and one passing) and the fourth one produced only a field goal. The Dolphins had 3rd and goal on the 14 before the field goal, but they opted to play it safe and run the ball rather than pass and try to get a touchdown.

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Lions - 5 scores on 5 chances (2 touchdowns, 3 field goals)

The Lions had been having some trouble getting the ball into the red zone in recent weeks, but that was not the case this past Sunday against Tampa Bay. The Lions drove the ball inside the 20 on five different occasions, which resulted in two touchdowns and three field goals.

The two touchdowns came on plays from the 10-yard line. In the first quarter, Nate Burleson caught a pass and was hit by a defender at the four-yard line. He kept his feet moving and forced his way into the end zone for a touchdown that gave the Lions an early lead. In the third quarter, Maurice Morris blasted through the Bucs' defense and into the end zone to give the lead back to the Lions.

Detroit's three field goals all came from red zone appearances. The first didn't actually take place in the red zone, but the Lions got down to the 13 before a holding penalty backed them up, killing the drive and forcing a 41-yard field goal. The other kicks were at the end of the game and in overtime. Had the Lions had more time, a touchdown could have been scored at the end of regulation, and had they not needed to play it safe in OT, a touchdown could have been scored then as well. They settled for field goals in both cases, so it wasn't necessarily that Tampa Bay stopped them. (TB did technically hold them to fourth down in OT, though.)

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Lions - 1 score on 1 chance (1 touchdown)

The Lions' lone red zone appearance produced their lone score, a 13-yard touchdown pass from Drew Stanton to Will Heller on a tight end screen. Detroit spent only two plays in the red zone all game, but they luckily converted this one trip inside the 20 into a touchdown, which was enough to win.

Packers - 0 scores on 1 chance (1 interception)

Green Bay also had only one red zone appearance. Unlike the Lions, however, the Packers failed to score on their only trip inside the 20. Matt Flynn was picked off by DeAndre Levy in the end zone, ending the threat of a touchdown or even a field goal. The turnover turned out to be big, as the Packers were unable to get into the end zone at all during this game.

Overall

As the score suggests, red zone appearances were rare during this game. The downside is that the Lions' offense only had one during the game, but they did score a touchdown, so it wasn't all bad. That's especially true when you consider that the defense allowed Green Bay into the red zone only once and forced a turnover.

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Lions - 2 scores on 2 chances (1 touchdown, 1 field goal)

The Lions only had two red zone opportunities against Chicago. The first came on the Lions' second drive of the game. They got good field position thanks to a 19-yard punt return by Stefan Logan and quickly got down inside the 20 thanks to a pass to Nate Burleson. A few plays later the Lions scored on a three-yard QB draw by Drew Stanton.

The other red zone opportunity came at the beginning of the second half. Turk McBride forced a fumble and recovered it at the Chicago nine-yard line. Unfortunately the offense couldn't capitalize on the outstanding field position, as they went three and out and had to settle for a field goal.

Bears - 3 scores on 3 chances (3 touchdowns)

Detroit's defense hasn't done a very good job of holding teams to field goals once they get inside the red zone, and that was again the case this past Sunday. The Bears had three trips to the red zone and all of them resulted in a touchdown. The first was a one-yard touchdown run by Chester Taylor, capping off a 13-play drive. On the very next drive, Chicago took eight plays to go 83 yards and scored on a 14-yard Matt Forte touchdown run. The final red zone trip was when Ndamukong Suh got his unnecessary roughing penalty. The Bears scored on a touchdown pass on the very next play for the go-ahead score.

Overall

Like the end of last season, the Lions need to start getting more red zone trips on offense and need to start holding teams to field goals on defense. Offensively, Detroit has been the best in the league at converting red zone trips into touchdowns, but that doesn't necessarily mean a whole lot if you're only getting one or two red zone opportunities a game. For the defense, they need to start playing like they did against the Jets. In that game, three of New York's four red zone opportunities resulted in field goals. Since then, though, there have been a lot of touchdowns scored on the Lions' defense when the opponent gets inside the 20.

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Lions - 3 scores on 4 chances (3 touchdowns, 1 turnover on downs)

The Lions continued their success in the red zone on Thanksgiving against the Patriots. Detroit's first three red zone opportunities were all touchdowns, and the only reason their fourth appearance didn't produce points is because they were just trying to add a garbage touchdown at the end of the game to make the score look better than it actually was.

Detroit's three red zone touchdowns were as follows: 19-yard pass from Shaun Hill to Calvin Johnson, one-yard run by Maurice Morris and another one-yard run by Morris. The fourth red zone appearance saw the Lions moving down the field rather quickly, but things stalled once Detroit got inside the 20. They did have a shot at scoring a touchdown, but Bryant Johnson dropped yet another pass. This drop came on fourth down in the end zone and gave the ball back to the Patriots, which were able to just take a knee to end the game.

Patriots - 5 scores on 5 chances (4 touchdowns, 1 field goal)

The first red zone appearance for New England was very positive for the Lions. The Pats got all the way down to the two-yard line but were stuffed and held to fourth and one. It looked like New England gave some thought to just going for it since it only needed one yard, but the Pats opted for a field goal instead.

The next four red zone appearances were all bad for the Lions. They resulted in the following four touchdowns: 15-yard run by BenJarvus Green-Ellis, five-yard pass from Tom Brady to Wes Welker, 16-yard pass from Brady to Welker and a one-yard run by Ellis.

Overall

Offensively, the Lions did what they have done all season long: play well inside the red zone. Despite not having Matthew Stafford for most of the season, the Lions have had a lot of red zone success, which allowed them to build an early lead in this game. On defense, the first red zone appearance went well, but it was all downhill from there. New England scored through the air and on the ground and the Lions' defense had no answers in the red zone on the Pats' final four trips inside the 20.

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Lions - 2 scores on 2 chances (2 touchdowns)

The Lions had two red zone appearances in this game. The first came at the end of the first half thanks to a Felix Jones fumble. It was recovered by Detroit at the Dallas 14, putting the Lions in the red zone to start the drive. Detroit capitalized on the awesome field position, scoring on a nine-yard touchdown pass to Nate Burleson on the third play of the drive.

The second red zone appearance for Detroit came after a rough stretch in the third quarter. Dallas returned a punt for a touchdown, recovered a fumble and then scored another touchdown in a span of about three minutes. The Lions were reeling, but they rebounded with an 80-yard scoring drive. Burleson had a 58-yard catch to put the Lions in the red zone, and two plays later Shaun Hill found Calvin Johnson in the back of the end zone for a 14-yard touchdown.

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Lions - 1 score on 1 chance (1 field goal)

Considering how much of a problem it was for the Lions to consistently move the ball last week, it probably shouldn't be too surprising that they had only one red zone trip. The one trip inside the Bills' 20-yard line came at the end of the first half. The Lions finally got something going and got down inside the 20 with less than a minute to play. All they got out of the drive was a field goal, but that wasn't only because there wasn't much time. The Bills held Detroit to fourth down, meaning a 25-yard kick was going to happen regardless of what the clock said.

Bills - 2 scores on 3 chances (2 touchdowns, 1 turnover on downs)

The Bills had three red zone appearances and all involved Fred Jackson in some form. The first appearance resulted in a turnover on downs when Jackson was stuffed on fourth and one. The play was a nice stand early on by the Lions defense to get the stop. The second appearance was some redemption for Jackson, who scored from a yard out to give the Bills a 7-0 lead. The final appearance came at the beginning of the second half. Jackson caught a pass and ran past a few Lions defenders for a 16-yard touchdown for his second red-zone TD of the game.

Overall

The Lions' offense did a really poor job of moving the ball and getting into the red zone. Their final drive of the game was a yard away from being a red zone appearance, but you have to get closer to the 20 more often against a team like the Bills. For the defense, it did a good job on that first red zone appearance, getting a stop on fourth and short, but the other two trips were all Fred Jackson and there was definitely some room for improvement.

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Lions - 3 scores on 3 chances (3 touchdowns)

The Lions' offense had a very good day in the red zone against the Jets last Sunday, scoring a touchdown every time they made it inside the 20. The first red zone appearance came on the opening drive of the game. The Lions scored on a 10-yard pass from Matthew Stafford to Brandon Pettigrew, taking an early lead. Stafford scored a touchdown on a one-yard run the next time the Lions got inside the red zone. This drive was kept alive by the roughing the kicker penalty that injured Jason Hanson. If not for the penalty, the Lions would have had to settle for a field goal. The final red zone appearance came in the fourth quarter and the Lions scored on a two-yard pass to Nate Burleson.

Jets - 4 scores on 4 chances (1 touchdown, 3 field goals)

The stats for the Jets' red zone appearances are a bit misleading. Here's why: New York's first red zone appearance came in the second quarter and resulted in a field goal. After that they didn't make it into the red zone again until the end of the game. The second red zone appearance resulted in a touchdown that cut the lead down to three points, which is why the third red zone appearance resulted in a field goal. The Jets had the clock working against them and needed only a field goal to tie the game, so they kicked one as time expired. If they had more time, NY probably would have scored another TD with the way they were playing. The situation was similar in overtime. The Jets quickly got into the red zone and could have scored a touchdown, but they didn't need one and simply kicked another field goal, winning the game.

Overall

The offense was very efficient in the red zone, which is why the Lions are near the top of this statistical category on a league-wide basis. Defensively, the Lions did a great job of not even allowing the Jets to get near the 20-yard line up until the last few minutes of the game. Before Detroit went into the prevent defense and let New York make its comeback, the Jets had only one red zone appearance, and that one appearance only resulted in a field goal. The final minutes of the game and overtime were a much different story, unfortunately.