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- Pretty disheartening to see the Detroit Lions defense come out with such a poor start to the game. Credit to Blaine Gabbert for some of those passes, but the Lions made it easy for him sometimes.
- Perhaps even more worrisome was the Lions' run defense. The 49ers didn't have an experienced back suited up this week, yet San Francisco ran for 121 yards at a clip of 5.3 a carry.
- That being said, the defense really responded in the second half, completely shutting out the 49ers. Oh, and there's this:
In shutting out the 49ers the final two quarters, the Lions gave up just 57 yards in the second half. Sloppy first half, closed strong.
— Justin Rogers (@Justin_Rogers) December 27, 2015 - On the offensive side of the ball, the Lions can't seem to figure out how to use their running backs. Ameer Abdullah finished with eight carries, and both Theo Riddick and Joique Bell finished with seven apiece.
- 137.8, 102.1, 84.1, 148.6, 118.6. Those are Matthew Stafford's passer ratings over the past five games. Stafford has also thrown 14 touchdowns to one interception over that time.
- Both Riddick and Golden Tate continue to do magical things after the catch. Tate's third down conversion that needed to be reviewed was straight up wizardry.
- Ezekiel Ansah sadly did not pick up a sack against the 49ers, but he did apply a few huge pressures in the second half.
- Yeah, I don't know what a catch is.
- Whoever the Lions' general manager is in 2016, they are going to face some tough decisions right away. The Lions are finally playing well enough to at least consider keeping the coaching staff around for a trial year. And he'll have some tough personnel decisions with Calvin Johnson, Haloti Ngata, Rashean Mathis and Kyle Van Noy, among many others.